Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 136425 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 682(@200wpm)___ 546(@250wpm)___ 455(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 136425 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 682(@200wpm)___ 546(@250wpm)___ 455(@300wpm)
She stood and moved out of the little office that served as her sewing and design room. She was currently working on some commissioned fet wear. A Dom at The Club was spending lavishly on his new sub, and Devi was here for it. This commission alone meant she could stay in her apartment for at least four more months. By then she would have heard about her applications.
She was thinking positive, which was why she stopped in front of the mirror and made sure she didn’t look terrible. She unbuttoned the top button of the shirt she was wearing, showing off some cleavage. Zach liked her boobs, but then he seemed to like almost everything about her.
She took a deep breath and threw open the door.
To her brother.
Her incredibly weary-looking, grim brother.
Devi’s heart sank. Zach was… His job was dangerous. He was in the line of fire most of the time. Tears sprang to her eyes. If something happened to Zach, TJ would want to be the one to tell her. The world blurred. “Zach?”
TJ reached out a hand, putting it on her shoulder. “He’s alive, but we have other problems. Devi, I need to talk to you.”
He was alive. She breathed a sigh of relief. He might be in foreign custody. She had to be ready for it. But as long as he was breathing, she could deal with it. It would be okay. “Come in.”
TJ moved inside the door, and when they sat down she found it wasn’t okay. Not even close.
Part Two
One month later
Chapter Five
Outside of Winchester, Virginia
“You need stitches,” a voice was saying.
Devi tried to follow it, but she was so tired. The voice sounded far away. She was warm and cuddled up against something. Where was she? What happened?
“I don’t need stitches. It’s a nothing wound. I barely notice it. We’re going to look after her first. She hit her head or something. I’m not quite sure. She was out by the time I got to the basement.” That deep voice. Zach Reed. The man she hated for what he did to her and her family. The man she couldn’t forget.
Her life was shitty because of that man.
Her life had become bodyguards and sympathetic looks and nights spent sitting up pissed at him. Wondering why he’d had to pick her.
She knew why. Someone had told her why he’d selected her as his next scheme, but she couldn’t remember. It was something about her family.
“I told you she’s fine,” the feminine voice said in a British accent. Not a posh one. “I checked her out before I gave her the sedative, and don’t yell at me. I have to get us all the way across the bloody Atlantic, and I can’t do that if she’s screaming. She can scream all she likes once we’re on the plane, but until then I need her quiet. We’re only supposed to be a party of two, you know. The plane was gassed up and checked out for two. Lucky for you I bet she weighs one fifteen soaking wet.”
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t avoid it, but you should have known I didn’t want her drugged,” Zach said.
Drugged. Yeah, that was what she was. Nice and drugged. It would be so easy to go back to sleep. Or was she already asleep?
She thought about opening her eyes, but she didn’t.
“Why would I have known that? Up until tonight I thought she was nothing but a girl you played at a club with,” the woman shot back.
“I thought it was best no one knew how I felt. Lace, you have no idea what those drugs could do to her,” Zach accused.
“I know they’ll keep her calm until we can figure out where to stash her. Don’t you get mad at me. I did not expect you to show up with a girl,” the angry Brit said. “Besides, it’s a light sedative. She’ll likely be in and out of consciousness, but she won’t scream and try to get away. I promise she doesn’t have a concussion. She’ll be fine when she wakes up, but you’ll be dead because of that knife wound.”
Knife wound? Who stabbed him? Had she stabbed him? She’d dreamed about stabbing him and tossing him in a shallow grave.
She missed him so much.
“I’m not going to die. It’s superficial,” he replied. “A couple of butterflies will close it.”
“Well, the butterflies won’t stop the infection you likely got from moving through those tunnels.” The other woman’s voice held a bit of distaste. “You have no idea what’s down there.”
She felt arms squeeze around her and realized they were moving. In a car or something, and she was on Zach’s lap. Oh, she could smell him, feel the warmth of his body.
“I know Huisman was keeping a stash of stuff. I’m pretty sure some of those boxes were weapons. I gave Coop a heads-up, but I’m worried the fire will take everything out,” Zach admitted.