Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 94076 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94076 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Which makes me even more curious about who she is.
Instinct stirs in my gut.
But I can’t put a finger on it.
I walk around the counter so I’m standing in front of her, and when she looks up at me, I have an urge to put my arms around her. To protect her. Which makes no sense. I don’t know this woman.
But I do know she wasn’t rattled by what happened, and I want to know why. “It didn’t scare you?”
“It was a surprise. But I wasn’t scared.”
Okay, interesting.
“Most people would be a little rattled,” I say, meeting her gaze.
“I guess I’m not like most people.”
I search her eyes. Her face.
Who are you?
“No, I can see that,” I say.
Her eyes drop to my lips.
And there’s that urge again. The one I have whenever I’m with her.
To take her in my arms and devour her lips until we’re both breathless.
“So what happens now?” she asks.
“Beast will retaliate.”
She nods, as if in agreement.
Again, she doesn’t ask questions.
And again, my instincts stir.
But I don’t have time to question her.
Because Beast sends me a text.
In my office now.
“Who the fuck tipped them off?” Beast growls.
It’s just the two of us standing in his office in the clubhouse. And I know why it’s just the two of us. It’s because he knows we’ve got a rat, and while neither of us believes it could be a Knight, we need to take precautions until we figure it out. Beast trusts me. Probably only me. Because he knows I would die for him and my brothers.
It will cut us both deep if one of our brothers is a rat.
No, that’s not an option.
There’s no way one of our brothers sold us out.
Beast is agitated. “The only people who knew about our pending visit to the warehouse were the faces present in church—”
“And the informant who gave you the information.”
“That’s why we’re going to Jacksonville.”
Jacksonville is a day’s ride away.
Making it a three-day turnaround. Two days at best.
“Jacksonville is a long way to go for a chat,” I say. “Who is this informant?”
“Hamashuto.”
Otherwise known as The Hammer.
Otherwise known as the president of the Devil’s Rattlers, an outlaw MC who run the east coast of Florida.
The Knights and the Rattlers have always been tight.
“We have a strong alliance with the Rattlers. Hamashuto has no reason to set us up.”
“No, he doesn’t. But I want to be looking at him when he tells me that.” Beast’s phone buzzes, and he checks the message. The small smile that tugs at his lips tells me it’s from Belle. But his smile quickly fades. He holds up the phone. “I want to leave Belle alone to deal with a teething nine-month-old as much as I want a fucking hole in the head. But it needs to be done. You know the old biker doesn’t trust talking over the phone. Not to mention, Hamashuto doesn’t say much about anything unless it’s in person. And I’ve got questions.”
So do I.
He starts for the door. “We leave tomorrow.”
CHAPTER 23
Ella
I don’t see Lars for the rest of the day. Something is brewing following the incident with Stone. And by late afternoon, the clubhouse feels empty.
At four o’clock, Mrs. V. lets me finish up. But I don’t leave right away. I take advantage of the clubhouse being quiet and decide to sneak into the library.
Cracking the door open, I check to see if anyone is inside, but the vast room is empty.
Inside, I close the door behind me and pause to even my racing pulse. I draw in a deep breath, then slowly release it, telling myself it’s going to be okay.
Five minutes pass.
Then ten.
Then another fifteen.
My finger runs along the old spines. My lips whisper the name of each book as I pass over it. First edition books worth a fortune. My curiosity to know what hidden gems are in this library is getting the better of me.
When I come to a book about flowers, my heart kicks inside my chest.
Could it be?
Pulling it open, I check inside the cover.
And there it is. A handwritten note scribbled onto the old paper.
In Latin.
And scrawled in a flowing handwriting of decades past.
This has to be the recipe.
To be honest, when Viktor mentioned this to me, I thought it was an urban legend. Something made up. A really, really bad rumor.
But here it is.
Obviously, I can’t read what it all says.
But it’s written the same way someone would write out a recipe. With measurements and what looks like a list of ingredients.
I shake my head.
If Viktor is right, then this is the very first record of the Fantasia recipe.
Hidden in plain sight.
It’s so easy, it’s pure genius.
Most people would put something so valuable behind glass, or lock it in a safe, or do…something.
But not the Knights.
I laugh out loud, because I figure they did it because no one has the balls to walk into their clubhouse and steal it from under their noses.