by Lia Ellison
“You’re doing great,” he said.
“Ah, now you tell me that.” I groaned, lifting my hand toward him. “Pull me up. I need to grab something to eat. I’m starving.”
He caught my hand and raised me to my feet. “All right. Let’s get back inside. We can come back later.”
“But it’s going to be dark by then.”
“I know.”
I arched an eyebrow at him.
“You can’t expect it’ll always be daylight.”
“You know what? I hate you right now.” The corners of my lips quirked up.
“I’m sure you do.” His lips turned into a smile too.
“But isn’t that, like, risky?”
“My men are closely watching the perimeter. If anyone attacks, there’ll be enough time for us to get back in the house.”
“You’ve planned everything, haven’t you?”
“Maybe.”
I rolled my achy shoulder. I was so not looking forward to more shooting practice.
“You can try your left hand,” he said, and I shot him a glare.
“Really?”
“If your right arm hurts so much, then why not? You might find yourself in a situation where you won’t be able to use your right hand,” he said as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
“Uh-huh.”
“I just want you to be safe.” His gaze met mine. “No matter what. Especially if I’m not around.”
“Why wouldn’t you be around?” I froze, searching his eyes for some kind of a clue, but he was giving me nothing.
“You never know what might happen, but I want you to be ready.”
“Right. So after we’re done, you’ll teach me how to shoot with my feet too. I mean, if my hands are busy...” I wiggled my eyebrows, and he burst into laughter.
“I don’t know. Maybe we’ll skip that.”
“Are you sure? Are you afraid I’m going to be better than you or something?” I winked.
“Oh, if you want a competition, you’re going to get it.”
“I’ll think about it.”
As we made our way to the house, I wondered what exactly Aiden was preparing me for. Sure, maybe he was just worried that I might find myself defenseless, but really, with all the guards around, if someone got through all of them, they were going to get through me too.
But maybe once my training was done, I could feel a bit safer.
“What about hand-to-hand combat?” I asked. “If I don’t have my gun with me, then what?”
“Yeah, we can try that too. We can start in bed.” He gave me a mischievous smile. “I don’t want to go too hard on you.”
I shook my head at him. “Be careful what you wish for. The bed is kind of my thing. I have some moves you’ve never seen.”
“Really? Then I can’t wait for it.”
“And I can’t wait to show you.”
As Aiden closed the door behind us, I stared at it for a few moments.
When was I going to get to leave this house? When would we be able to go out and act like normal people?
“I forgot to mention,” Aiden suddenly said. “The renovation’s going great. Your club is almost ready.”
I gave him a grateful smile, but a part of me wondered when I was going to get the chance to see my club again.
I missed it.
I missed Sophia too, and everyone else.
I missed the flashy lights and loud music.
I missed all of it.
Chapter 15
“ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT to come with me?” Aiden asked as he straightened his tie.
“Yeah, of course I do.”
Weeks had gone by since we’d heard anything about the Ritos. Even though Aiden’s men were looking everywhere, they couldn’t find them, but at least no one had been killed either.
Rumor had it that the Ritos had returned to their city and were working on new jobs, but we had no idea if that meant they’d decided not to attack us or if they were just biding their time and waiting for the right moment.
“I know you can’t wait to get out of the house and I understand that, but maybe you don’t have to come with me to Oliver’s place. We could go out somewhere later. Just the two of us. With our guards, of course.” He glanced at his reflection in the mirror and turned toward me.
Oliver was the politician Aiden intended to strike a deal with. He was some shady guy who wanted to run for mayor, and Aiden had somehow found a way to get a meeting with him.
Apparently, Oliver was hosting some kind of a party, and he’d invited Aiden. Since it was some political thing, there would be plenty of important guests, and plenty of security too, so Aiden thought that it wouldn’t be too dangerous to go there.
A deal with Oliver could help him gain a big advantage over the other gangs in the city and would also earn him a lot of money. Oliver was mostly interested in money laundering, and Aiden thought that he could help.
In exchange, Oliver just might be able to provide us with more protection from the cops and help Aiden secure his rule over the city. I hadn’t really asked for all the details, but I was aware how important the deal was for Aiden.
“I want to go. I think you’ll look less suspicious if you bring a date with you. Besides, once you slip away to talk with Oliver, I can cover for you. We don’t know who’ll be there.”
“But it could be risky. The Ritos might be waiting for something like this. I don’t want you to get hurt. The public might think I’m just another businessman, but there might be people who know exactly who I am. Sure, no one can prove anything, and the cops have nothing on me, but once people see you with me, someone might get interested because they’ll think you’re the key to getting to me.”
“Look, if you don’t want me to go, then just tell me that. But I’m not worried about someone investigating me or whatever. And yeah, the Ritos might be there, but our whole security team is coming with us, so why worry? Besides, I might get to test my new shooting skills.”
I hoped like hell that it wouldn’t come to that. I wanted my first night out of this house to be nice and calm. The last thing I needed was to be the target of an attack, but I knew that I had to be ready for everything.
My new life as a gang leader’s girlfriend, here I come.
“I want you to go,” he finally said.
“Great. We can’t live in fear forever. Can you help me out with this?” I waved with the gun, then lifted my leg on the bed and pushed my dress up.
Since it was a fancy party, I had to wear a dress, which meant I’d have to strap my gun to my thigh. It would be a bit complicated to get to it, but I thought that I could manage. I just had to avoid getting shot in the meantime.
Aiden’s lips parted as he made his way toward me. He seemed to like my long flowy red dress with a deep neckline. His fingers brushed mine as he took the gun from me, and as he fiddled with the straps that were supposed to hold it securely attached to my leg, a current of electricity shot through me.
His hand lingered on my leg a bit too long, and it was suddenly way too hot in the room.
“We need to... um, go,” I said, my voice husky. “We don’t want to be late.”
“You’re right.” He pulled away from me, taking deep breaths, but the bulge in his pants didn’t go away so easily.
A smile tugged at my lips.
“You okay?” I asked.
He cleared his throat. “I will be. Can you look a little less hot?”
“Um, nope. Sorry.”
“I thought so.” He smiled as he glanced at me over his shoulder.
His black suit fit him perfectly, and for a moment, I imagined grabbing his tie and pulling him to me, but we so didn’t have time for that now.
Maybe later.
Oh yeah, I was so ready to get him out of that suit after the party.
THE PARTY TURNED OUT to be so not my thing. The room was full of people I didn’t know, and my bodyguards were flanking me all the time, so I had a feelin
g everyone was too afraid to approach me.
Besides, people had no clue who I was, which was good, but some of them weren’t so subtle at staring and whispering as I passed them by. It was for the best, though, because I wasn’t someone who could keep up a conversation about politics without getting into an argument anyway.
In the middle of the party, when everyone was busy with something, Oliver called Aiden aside, and they went to Oliver’s private office.
Since I didn’t want to stay alone with the guards and didn’t want to pry either—I was sure Oliver wouldn’t want to talk to Aiden with me present—I decided to stay in the hallway.
Jo gave me a small smile as she made her way down the hallway. She was constantly checking the rooms and everything for any threats, and I leaned against the wall while my guards stood on each side of me.
I was as well protected as I could be, and I didn’t think I’d even need to go for my gun in case of an attack. I just hoped Aiden would finish soon so we could have one dance together or at least try to have some fun.
A thud coming from somewhere to my left caught my attention. My guards tensed too, their hands hovering over their guns.
The door at the end of the hallway briefly flew open, but it was enough for me to see Jo trying to fight off someone who had grabbed her from behind.
I let out a gasp, and the guards immediately stepped in front of me.
“What are you waiting for? Go help her!” I yelled when I realized they had their guns out but didn’t move.
“Ma’am, you should come with us. It’s not safe for you...” one of them started to say.
“But Jo’s in trouble!” They were here to protect me, so did that mean that they’d stay with me no matter what and weren’t allowed to go help Jo?
Fuck!
I hiked my dress up, snatched my gun, and before the guards knew what I was doing, I raced down the hallway as fast as I could in my stupid heels.
They rushed after me, shouting for me to stop, but I had to get to that door. Maybe then the guards would be able to do something.
But as I pushed the door open, my gun ready, I found myself in yet another hallway.
It was empty.
I glanced right and left, but I couldn’t see anyone. Nothing stirred. There weren’t any sounds of fighting or any shots fired.
Where was Jo?
What had happened?
I started down the hallway, ignoring the guards who kept asking me to come with them. Then I noticed the open window. Shit.
The attacker must’ve gone through it.
And he had Jo.
I peered through it, but I couldn’t see anyone in the darkness.
Jo was just gone.
Chapter 16
“SIR, ARE YOU SURE SOMEONE took her?” the man who’d come to report to Aiden about Jo’s disappearance said.
As soon as Aiden had heard what had happened, we’d returned to the house and he’d sent as many of his men as he could to look for Jo.
“Get the fuck out of my sight. Now!” Aiden yelled, his fingers clenching into a fist. “And don’t come back until you have something. Do you fucking understand?”
“Yes, sir,” the guy said sheepishly and trudged off.
Aiden raked his hand through his hair. “I can’t believe this shit. I swear they were never so damn useless.”
“I’m sure they’re trying their best, but whoever took Jo is clearly good, or he would’ve never managed to do it.” That was basically why the guy who’d just been here had suggested that maybe Jo had gone with her attacker of her own free will for some reason.
Did some of them believe she was a traitor and had staged her kidnapping so she could turn against Aiden?
“It has to be the Ritos. I shouldn’t have...”
I approached him, placing my hand on his shoulder. “It’s not your fault. You made that deal with Oliver. It was important.”
“Yeah, but what if they’d come after you?” He turned his troubled gaze toward me. “What if something had happened to you while I was in there?”
“It didn’t. I’m fine, okay? And we’ll find Jo. But are you sure it’s the Ritos? Why would they take her?” I didn’t want Jo to be dead, but it didn’t make sense they’d just come to grab her and hadn’t tried anything else.
“They must’ve figured out that she could provide them with the information about me.”
“But Jo would never tell them anything. Do you think they’re going to torture her?”
“I don’t know.”
“And you’re sure she would never switch sides or anything? Does she have any family? If they threatened her somehow...” No matter how loyal Jo had been to him, there might be someone more important to her. Someone she wanted to protect.
“I’m sure. She doesn’t have anyone.”
“Not even a good friend or a lover?” Surely, working for Aiden couldn’t be the only thing in her life.
What was she doing in her spare time? It would drive me crazy to be all on my own all the time.
“Maybe there’s someone you don’t know about because she was keeping it a secret to protect them, but the Ritos have somehow found out.”
“Or they just took her right from under our noses!” he snapped, then exhaled loudly. “I’m sorry. I’m just worried about her.”
“I know.”
His phone vibrated and he immediately checked it. “Oliver will send me all the footage from the security cameras.”
“That’s good. Then we might be able to find her attacker, right?”
“I hope so. I’ll be right back.” He gave me a quick kiss and headed for the door.
Since there wasn’t much for me to do and I wanted to help him find Jo, I headed out into the hallway. Jo’s room was just at the end, since Aiden had wanted her to be nearby in case she needed to protect me.
Maybe he didn’t believe that there was someone in Jo’s life, but if there was, we needed to make sure that person was safe. It just might lead us to Jo’s attackers, especially if they’d kidnapped someone else too.
I tried the knob, expecting the door to be locked, but it wasn’t, so I pushed it wide open. The room was nice and spacious, but there didn’t seem to be too many personal belongings in it.
Sure, I hadn’t come with any of my stuff either, since everything I had was still back at my apartment, but Aiden’s and my room was already full of my things. My new clothes, my books, my makeup, my favorite snacks...
I loved having a lot of stuff lying around, but it seemed like Jo didn’t, unless she kept her things at her apartment somewhere. Maybe it was easier for her that way in case she needed to change her location, but I still expected to find something, especially since we’d been here for weeks.
I spotted a black duffel bag next to the bed. Maybe it was wrong to go through her stuff, but if it would save her life and help us find her, then it would all be worth it, and I was sure she wouldn’t mind.
But as I opened the bag, I realized it was full of weapons.
I pulled open the drawer of the nightstand, but it was empty. The closet was full of clothes, mostly black. I searched for a jacket or something with pockets. When I slid my hand into the pocket of a leather jacket, my fingers closed around something.
I pulled it out. It felt like a photograph and it was folded over.
Maybe Aiden was wrong.
Maybe there was someone in Jo’s life.
Even though she didn’t seem to have anything personal here, she’d risked having this photo, which meant it had to be very important to her.
As I unfolded it, a frown creased my brow.
It was a photo of Aiden and Jo, and his arm was affectionately wrapped around her shoulders as they both seemed to laugh at the camera.
Okay, I hadn’t really considered something like this.
Was Jo in love with Aiden? Had there been something between them?
Look how upset he is that she’s gone.
Do you really think he�
��d be like that if he didn’t care about her?
And she was staying just down the hallway from you. Do you really think Aiden couldn’t have paid her a visit at night?
Wait, what?
My brain was jumping to some pretty insane conclusions. That photo wasn’t new, and I hadn’t noticed anything going on between Aiden and Jo, had I?
He seemed to trust her a lot, but surely, they wouldn’t be hooking up right under my nose. It was silly to think that.
I slipped the photo into the pocket of my jeans and continued the search while trying to ignore the tiny voice in my head that was telling me all the wrong things.
Maybe you don’t want him to find Jo now, do you?
Okay, seriously now. Stop it, brain. Just freakin’ stop it!
But there wasn’t anything else.
Just the damn photo.
Would Jo carry a photo of someone important with her while she was out? Surely not; that would be too risky in case she was captured.
“Veronica?” Aiden’s voice from the door startled me. “What are you doing?”
“I was trying to see if there was someone in Jo’s life who the Ritos might’ve snatched or threatened so she’d come with them or so she’d tell them everything about this place and you. Are you sure we should be staying here? If she reveals our location...”
“She won’t,” he said with absolute certainty. “Did you find anything?”
“Only this.” I took out the photo and showed it to him. For some reason, my pulse sped up.
A small smile stretched across his lips as he looked down at the photo. “This was taken after she got out of the hospital and I offered to hire her. She told me that I’d given her life purpose again because she’d been so lost.”
“I hate asking this, but... did you two hook up or something?” I stared deep into his eyes. “She seems to care a lot about you, and you about her.”
“What? No!” His head jerked back as he gave me an incredulous look. “She’s always been a really good friend and an awesome spy. I could never really trust anyone, but I knew I could trust her.”