Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 125248 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 501(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125248 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 501(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
He moved through the suite with unhurried efficiency, checking the rooms, windows, and terrace access, before he came back and held the door open for him.
Xander walked inside.
The suite of course was beautiful. It looked like a millionaire’s condo staged for a magazine spread.
There was a sleek kitchen on one side with dark cabinets, stone counters, hidden appliances, and a bar stocked better than a private club.
The living area was furnished with deep heather-gray sofas around a wide glass table, soft area rugs, and warm lights tucked into recesses in the high ceiling.
Two doors were on either side of the suite, each one likely leading to a master bedroom.
Beyond the living room, the far wall was all floor-to-ceiling windows, opening onto a terrace shining with low amber lights. The wide lounge chairs that surrounded the modern gas firepit had cushions so big they could probably swallow his plus-sized body.
If he wasn’t so exhausted, he’d go straight to the glowing blue Jacuzzi and dive in headfirst.
Their suite towered high enough above the city no one could see in.
He wondered if Free had chosen this room for that purpose.
Xander drifted aimlessly toward the windows and stared out at the blank sky. He bet the sunsets were stunning from this side of the hotel, but at the moment, he didn’t care.
In the reflective glass, Xander watched Cassidy set his bags on a huge ottoman before stopping in the middle of the room, looking almost awkward for the first time since he’d met him.
“You okay?” Cassidy asked.
That rough voice stroked over him in ways it had no business doing.
Xander’s nod was jerky and probably unconvincing. He didn’t turn around. If he did, Cassidy would see the truth in his eyes. He’d see the no, the plea.
The prayer to not leave him alone…not yet.
The suite was safer than his house. He knew that. His mind could list all the reasons why it was—God’s men were near and watching. Free had secured the floor. Cassidy was in the adjoining room. He wore a ring that could summon an army.
But his hands still trembled, his body refused to believe it.
After a moment, Cassidy moved toward one of the bedroom doors. “I’ll be right in here if you need me.”
I do need you.
He almost let the words out, but he pressed his lips together until they stayed trapped behind his teeth.
“Try to get some rest,” Cassidy said. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
The adjoining door closed and Xander slumped against the cool window and fought to level his breathing.
Now that he was out of sight of God and all those big, confident men, and no one was watching him, the truth of what had happened pressed in from every direction.
Someone had been inside his house…with a gun. They’d planned, orchestrated, and executed. They’d come so close.
Whoever was after him wasn’t some troll shouting insults behind a fake profile on social media. They were committed and smart.
Maybe next time, Cassidy wouldn’t arrive fast enough.
Xander didn’t know how long he stood there staring at nothing. Long enough that the city lights blurred, his shaking got worse, and his knees began to feel untrustworthy.
He was so damn tired, but afraid to sleep…to dream.
The bar caught his eye.
He opened the mini fridge tucked beneath the counter and grabbed the bottle of top-shelf vodka from the freezer compartment and an old-fashioned tumbler.
Both slipped from his shaky hands and hit the bar top with a sharp clatter that made him flinch so hard he bit his tongue.
“Damnit.”
He managed to pour a shot, though half of it sloshed across the stone counter. He didn’t bother to wipe it up before he threw the drink back.
The burn was instant and violent.
He coughed, squeezing his eyes shut as heat tore down his throat and landed hard in his chest.
The door opened across the suite.
Fuck.
He didn’t have the energy to pretend he was just enjoying a nightcap. He turned the bottle up again, spilling more on the bar but managing to get enough to cover the bottom of the glass.
He threw that back too, groaning at the burn, wondering how much it would take before his body gave up and passed out.
That was the only way he would sleep.
He lifted the freezing bottle again.
A big hand reached over his shoulder, closed around his own, and forced it back down to the bar.
“Enough.”
Cassidy
Hearing the clink of glass in the front room, Cassidy was out of his chair before he even thought about it.
Free had cc’d him on the email to his bosses. He’d been reading his preliminary system notes from Xander’s property break-in, plus the text messages copied to the studio security detail.
He was glad he always kept a packed duffle bag with the essentials and a laptop in the trunk of his Mustang, because his emergencies never allowed for him to swing by his house first.