Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 75748 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75748 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
I wondered if things would have been different if Blair had Goya with her. He’d been a good watchdog. But even the best watchdogs didn’t always engage in an attack when someone broke in.
“Blair said Matt was having second thoughts at the end. That’s why the files and laptop were so stashed. He was going back on a deal.”
“From a personal standpoint, that’s good, I guess. From a professional one, though, it just means—”
“That there is a crew in the city and hell-bent on taking us down. And they’ve got a lot of money.”
“Yep,” Leo agreed. “Well, it wouldn’t be organized crime if there wasn’t someone gunning for us. We’ll figure this out like we always have in the past.”
Yeah, we would.
I had a lot more riding on it than ever before.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Blair
I don’t remember much about the day following my abduction. I slipped in and out of a sleep that clawed at me, pulling me back down each time I tried to surface.
In those brief moments of consciousness, panic swelled. Part of it, I was sure, was just the aftermath of the drugs, but also the fear of how exhausted I felt, how hard it was for me to stay awake.
Each time, though, Nico was right there with me, pulling me close, murmuring reassurances, stroking my hair.
At some point, he’d forced me to sip a sports drink and eat some cheese before I passed back out.
It was the following morning, with the sun already bright and golden in the sky.
I was alone in the bed.
No Nico.
No Goya.
But on the good side, I was fully awake, and the headache seemed to have finally vanished.
I climbed out of bed carefully, waiting for any lingering dizziness. But it never came.
“Thank God,” I said as I made my way to the bathroom to shower and brush the tangles out of my hair.
When I went back to the room to steal another of Nico’s shirts, I found my own clothing in his closet.
Knowing I’d heard a revolving door of voices in the apartment between moments of consciousness, I chose slacks and a simple blouse. But I didn’t bother with earrings or tying back my hair.
I walked out into the main area of the house and gasped to find a stranger standing there.
“Sorry, babe,” the man said, holding up his hands. “I’m Miko,” he told me. But the name meant nothing. “I work with Nico. He just took the dog out. He’ll be right back.”
I seemed frozen on the spot, though, still unsure.
“You scaring the poor woman?” Leo asked, coming in from the balcony. “Miko’s good people,” he told me. “You feeling better?”
“So much better,” I admitted.
“Can I get you some coffee?”
“God, yes.”
“And how about something to eat?”
“I can—”
“Sit on the couch and relax while I get you something to eat? Yeah, you can do that,” he said, giving me that one-dimple smile.
Miko moved away, trying to give me some privacy as I sat on the couch and reached for the remote just to have something to do.
It wasn’t long before I had a coffee in my hand. And just a few more minutes for an omelet to appear before me, loaded up with mushrooms, kale, and gooey mozzarella.
“Do all of you know how to cook?” I asked.
“Most of us, yeah. Some better than others. Dunno what you’d get if you asked Zeno to make something for you. Whatever it was, I’d bet it would be overcooked because he forgot he was cooking.”
“What about Gav?”
“He got the same training we did, but I don’t know if I’ve ever heard him say he’s cooking anything. He’s a fan of takeout.”
“But not when they don’t respect his ‘leave at the door’ note,” I said, getting a big smile out of Leo.
“Exactly.”
“I find his grumpiness charming.”
Just then, the door opened.
And I needed to quickly lift my plate out of the way as Goya came bounding over to me.
“Hey, buddy. How was your walk?” I asked, rubbing his head with my free hand. “Did you see any squirrels?”
“Just a bunch of pigeons,” Nico said, walking over to me. “How are you feeling?”
“So much better. Leo cooked for me,” I said, settling my plate back down.
“Thanks,” Nico said to his brother, getting a shrug in return.
“We’re gonna let you guys talk,” Leo said, leading Miko out the door so we could be alone.
“That sounds serious,” I said, steeling my stomach for bad news. “Did something happen?”
“Here, bud,” Nico said, grabbing a chew for Goya and tossing it over on his bed so he could sit down next to me. “So, yes and no. We did finally find Ronny, Tom, and the aunts.”
“Oh,” I said, thinking of them with ankle weights in the Hudson.
“When shit went south, they boarded a plane to Argentina.”
“Argentina?”
“Apparently, that’s where Tom’s family was from. Or so Zeno says. Jury’s out whether he actually has family there or if it was just the first place they thought of when the shit hit the fan. We don’t know if they’re running from us, or the guys Matt welshed a deal with, or both, but they were gone late last night.”