Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 131651 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 658(@200wpm)___ 527(@250wpm)___ 439(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131651 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 658(@200wpm)___ 527(@250wpm)___ 439(@300wpm)
“The cats are okay. Just spoiled rotten,” he admits, looking at me.
I grab a carafe of black iced tea from the fridge I threw together this morning and join them, a little nervous.
Technically, this is my first real family dinner since the little brunch gathering at Margot’s wedding.
Nervous or not, I’m glad, knowing I’m in good company.
Oh shit, it’s late.
That’s the first thing I notice when I jerk awake, my heart rabbiting in my throat.
Still dark.
I listen intently, but there’s nothing obviously wrong. It’s not like leaping out of a nightmare, either.
Only the ragged, heavy sound of my own breathing and the slight wind coming from the window I left cracked.
But that doesn’t explain the goosebumps running up my arms.
My stomach twists.
My sixth sense whispers something’s wrong.
That prickling imminent spider feeling intensifies as I stumble out of bed, stubbing my toe in the darkness. I bite my tongue, then rip my phone from its charger and switch on the flashlight app.
Cold, clinical white light splashes across the floor.
My eyes scan slowly, deeply into the shadows. Nothing looks out of place in here.
Everything’s right where it should be.
Some instinct tells me to move. Move!
Just because everything seems okay doesn’t mean it is.
Holding my breath, I pad to my bedroom door and open it very cautiously.
Heavy footsteps come charging down the hallway.
What the—
I shriek, falling back, but it’s Holden. I think?
He’s a massive blur, sprinting like a mad bull, bellowing through the darkness after someone.
My heart jumps up my throat so fast I nearly gag.
What’s going on?
My flashlight catches the fierce concentration on his face, and something darker. Something scarier.
I recover quickly, slipping out and jogging after him—and stopping just short of smacking into Kit as she stumbles out of her room.
We both freeze and squeal before I grab her.
“You’re okay! It’s just me.”
“Cleo? What’s going on?” Her eyes are wide and glassy.
I grab her shoulders. “I don’t know yet, kiddo. You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Where’s Dad?”
My lips purse. Jesus, what do I say?
If I take her downstairs, where there’s potential danger, Holden will kill me if some prowler doesn’t do it first.
“I don’t know. Stay with me,” I say, tucking her against my side.
My pulse chugs on, so hard and so fast I feel faint.
“But Dad—”
“Just stay.” I turn on my grown-up voice, wrapping my arm more tightly around her thin shoulders.
She’s shaking like a leaf.
The sight of Holden charging like a wolf must have left her as petrified as me. I didn’t even know he could move that fast.
But why? What did he see? What’s wrong?
My spine glazes over.
We’re in danger. That’s the only reasonable explanation.
It’s a weird feeling, suddenly being responsible for this lovely girl.
I walk her back to my room, not knowing what else to do or even if the house is safe anymore.
Sweeping the curtain aside, I glance out the window just in time to see two slim figures in the early morning fog pounding over the lawn.
Two mystery men disappear into the heavy mist drifting up from the shore with Holden on their heels. Is that a gun swinging in his hand?
Holy crap!
Jasper Fairfax’s warning storms back into my mind.
Before, I didn’t take it that seriously, and I realize I haven’t given Holden the respect he deserves. This is real, the dark side of digging up lost treasure.
My heart drops into my ankles as the full backbreaking weight of my inheritance comes home.
14
DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH (HOLDEN)
Iwas in bed when the alert hit my phone, just drifting off a couple hours after getting Kit settled and brooding too much.
Mistake number one.
The camera to the basement door pinged first. The closest one to the vault.
Of fucking course.
Somehow, the bastards got past the perimeter, all the other cameras near the gate, plus the extra motion sensors I installed after Leonidas was gone and I knew this house would be vacant for a while.
It’s not an imminent disaster. They can’t possibly know where we’ve stored it, let alone how to break through bank-grade security.
It takes approximately one second to clear my head and scrub the grit from my eyes.
Another half a second to process what’s happening.
One more to remember Cleo and my daughter are in the house, where we’ve now got at least one intruder.
I’m up like a bolt, grabbing my gun, running.
Charging out the service door, down the stairs for the fire escape, just a short walk to the basement and the vault.
I know I’ve been slacking lately with my knees and all.
That’s why it takes me more than sixty seconds to reach the bandit I fling through the door. He must’ve been searching on the other side, checking the little service door for entry to the rest of the house when I burst through it.
I’m on him before he regains his balance. Before he knows what the fuck just hit him.