Page 83 of Aydin

He nudged me in the arm, and we laughed.

“Fuck when the right woman comes around.”

“True, makes you do things differently.”

“How long do you think she’ll stay before she wants to go back home?”

“She’s probably planning to leave you right now and already packing,” he joked.

“I have guards with her now, and Nicco told me he’d check in on her.”

“Don’t put too much pressure on her. Have her ready to run.”

“She met my parents.”

An hour later, he stopped the car at the front gate of Addison’s massive home and rolled the window down.

“Can I help you gentlemen?”

“We’re a part of Addison’s security team, and she wanted us to do a check of the premises before her event?” Nasir lied.

“What event? She hadn’t informed me or anyone on her team.”

“We’re from TN Security?”

“Oh, I remember you’ve been here before with her father.”

“Yeah, and to try to avoid her firing you and us, we just need about twenty minutes to check the area and create a report.”

“When’s the event?” He started to remove his phone.

“I’d rather not bug her with a phone call. You know how women get if we interrupt with simple questions.”

He looked hesitant. Nasir removed his badge and showed him our ID.

“All right, twenty minutes.” He stepped back and pushed the gate open. We drove up the winding driveway and parked. I stepped out and walked up to the door. Eloise, the house manager, who worked at her father’s estate, opened the door.

“Mr. Nasir and Aydin. How can I help you?”

“Nice to see you again, Eloise. We’re just doing a final check. Is Addison here?”

“No, she’s in Tennessee with her father.”

Nasir and I looked at each other.

“How long has she been gone?”

“I want to say almost a week.”

“Did she say what she was going for besides her father?”

“No, she keeps her plans to a minimum.”

“We won’t interrupt you. We’ll be out of your way,” Nasir said, and I walked into her living room and peered around at the portraits of her family on the wall. Nasir came up around the corner.

“Check the office, and I’ll go into her bedroom. She’s bound to keep something lingering.”

“You’re right,” I said and headed in the direction of her office. I pushed the door open and looked around at the pictures of her on the wall with other political leaders and celebrities. I checked over my shoulder, shut the door, strolled to the dresser drawer first, and opened it up. All her files were color coordinated and mostly her business files on the foundation. Nothing looked out of the ordinary. I shut it, moved to her desk, and turned on her computer. I saw she didn’t have a password and went to her email. I scrolled through and noticed many messages between her and Tristan.

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