Page 25 of Mine

“Soon,” I whisper, tapping the pistol with my other hand.

Soon.

Thirteen

Astor

“What did you do with her?” I demand, stepping into my office where Cillian has already set up shop.

“I locked her in the bedroom next to the master—yours, I assume. She’s still gagged and tied.”

I blink, my stride faltering.

Cillian scowls. “Don’t give me that look. I don’t know what the hell to do with a kidnapped woman.”

“You don’t know what to do with any woman, Cillian.” I round to the back of the desk.

“Exactly. So, you handle her. Or have Leo handle her.”

“Leo manages my properties, not my women, and he has plenty to do right now with the list of groceries and amenities you’ve demanded.”

“Might as well live it up while I’m here. He’s put on weight since last I saw him.”

“Muscle, yeah. I noticed that too. You should have seen him when he first started working for me. The dude looked like the Rock.”

“What happened?”

“Hurt his back on his third-ever mission for me.”

“And you didn’t just let him go?”

“I was looking for someone to manage my properties, so I hired him to do that. It’s not an easy job. He works in solitary and is on-call 24/7 to prepare any of my properties before my arrival, and to get whatever I need while I’m there.”

“What’s it like to have an ego the size of Texas?”

“It’s almost as exhausting as this conversation. What have you dug up on our prisoner?”

A grin tugs at the corner of Cillian’s lips. “Well ...”

“Well, what?”

“She’s interesting.”

“I doubt that.”

“She’s a genius.”

I snort.

“Seriously. She got her master’s degree in mathematics from University of California Berkeley and has made a name for herself in the math world.”

“Sounds riveting.”

“She’s been nominated for a handful of national awards from the American Mathematical Society and the Mathematical Association of America. After graduating college, she moved back to Vegas—her hometown—and accepted a position with Sloane and Associates. She works there as a financial analyst.” Cillian arches his brow. “In a nutshell, she’s not just a pretty face.”

“Hadn’t noticed.”

“Bullshit. The woman’s a smoke show, Astor.”

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