Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 55606 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 278(@200wpm)___ 222(@250wpm)___ 185(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55606 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 278(@200wpm)___ 222(@250wpm)___ 185(@300wpm)
Dusan snapped his fingers and Michel’s two bodyguards immediately left the son and moved to the father. Dusan’s two remained like stone statues.
Lance didn’t move his arm from around Jasmine, continuing to stroke her arm.
Dusan got about ten feet away before he barked, “Lance, come.”
Brushing his lips over her forehead, he stopped the motion on her arm and took up her other hand, the one without the coffee, twining their fingers. The men who’d come with Dusan, his personal guards, remained back there with his son. Michel’s men were trailing Dusan.
Silence lingered in the woods as they strode back to the dark SUVs waiting along a path she wouldn’t even consider calling a road. Lance held the back door of the second one for her and they climbed in while Dusan got in the front. When the second guy tried to get in on her side, Lance growled low and she patted him on the leg, letting him know not to make an issue of this. She had a feeling they would be scrambling later. Right now having a sleaze sit beside her wasn’t a huge thing on the grand scale.
“Do you like music?” Dusan asked the question as he looked over his shoulder.
“Yes.” Lance bit off his word.
She nodded when Dusan looked at her but didn’t speak, instead continuing to sip her coffee, paying attention to the bodyguard beside her and what he was doing.
His gun was at the small of his back and he wore a backup on his right ankle. Other than that, he wasn’t armed. A plus in her favor. Dusan’s typical men had shoulder holsters for quick draw even in a car. This guy would bumble first.
They drove an hour and finally got back into the city. Dusan took them to a botanical garden. As they got out, she shared a look with Lance. His confusion matched hers.
Dusan charmed the woman at the front who waved them through. He led the way into a section of the garden that was being renovated. Tall plants in both burlap wrapping and pots waited for whatever was being done here.
“I love it in this place.”
Dusan’s voice was low and smooth. He crouched down and pushed his hand into the fertile soil and allowed a fistful to filter though his fingers.
All three of the men with them looked on edge. She didn’t work for the man so she wasn’t sure what was normal for him, but from their looks, this wasn’t it.
“You know why I love it here so much?” Dusan looked over each of them individually.
“Because when you kill someone, if you put an endangered plant over it they won’t be dug up.” The words just slipped from her mouth, and the second they had, she wished she could recall them.
Dusan smiled, his blue eyes crinkling at the corners. In that moment, she saw a handsome, charming businessman, not a ruthless cartel leader who ran a human trafficking ring as one of his means of income.
“You and I, Jasmine, could do a lot together.” His gaze snapped to Lance. “Hold onto this one or she will be snatched up.”
“Don’t ever plan on letting her go.” Lance wrapped his arm around her again, tucking her into his side.
Dusan rose, brushing off his hands. “She is correct. Out here no one would know if you kill and bury a body. They are so worried about the beautification projects no one thinks to ask why the soil is so fertile.”
The lighter-haired one of the duo who typically guarded Michel got shifty feet and couldn’t hold still. There was something else in play here.
“You two,” the man began with a quick glance down to his hands before he looked back at them. “You are supposed to protect my son.”
They nodded.
Jasmine believed she knew where this was going to end and she didn’t want to be part of it.
“So explain to me how two of the guys closest to him turned out to be undercover cops.” He straightened his suit coat. “The knowledge that such a thing has happened, tells me he has been in danger this entire time.” His mouth thinned. “I don’t like the fact this was going on under your noses.”
Fidgety blond stabbed finger in her and Lance’s direction. “He’s a cop.”
Jasmine tipped her head to look up at Lance, whose expression couldn’t be read.
“That’s your response?” Dusan shook his head. “I come to you with concerns about the men you allow around my son and you point at one of my men and call him a cop. Instead of shifting the blame, perhaps you should try to figure out a way to save your ass, because right now, this hole has your name all over it.”
The blond blanched. The darker-haired man beside him hadn’t moved a bit, his expression stone.