Page 28 of Beautiful Chaos

Sometimes, he really gets under my skin.

“Are you going to say anything, or will I have to slap it out of you?” I asked calmly, pushing his feet to the ground causing him to lose grip on the file.

It fell to the ground with a thud. He bent down to retrieve it and tossed it in my direction, I barely caught it, making a loud smack on either side.

“That sir, is everything to know about the Jenkins family. From colleges her parents attended, to their financial statements from 2023. You know, for people who own one of the top security businesses in the US, they do nothing for personal identity protection,” he nodded his head in the direction of the file, I opened it up to a picture of a familiar red-haired woman.

She looked exactly as she did when I first saw her in the lounge. When I looked up from the photo to meet Max’s eyes his face was flushed. I narrowed my brows at him.

“Don’t tell me you are into redheads too, is there anything you won’t fuck?”

I skimmed through the file, stopping when I saw the name Prestyn Bennett.

“Only when they look like that brother. She is hot!”

“Who is Prestyn?” I asked, confused at the extra name that hadn’t been mentioned in the brief call earlier today.

“I guess that’s the guy Aster Jenkins is currently seeing. He’s into a lot of illegal shit that he fronts with a line of dry cleaners and car washes,” he smirked, proud that he was able to breach through his security systems.

I closed the file, placed it into my briefcase, and clicked off my desk lamp.

“Good work brother,” I praised walking towards the door as Max followed, strolling with his hands in his pocket, he whistled a series of high pitches in no order in particular.

I knew that behavior all too well.

“Max, leave her alone. Don’t do anything that’s going to fuck up what I’m trying to do.”

His whistling halted. “And what’s that exactly?” he accusingly retorted, giving me a side-eye.

“I don’t know yet,” I admitted. Then I pressed the button to call the elevator.

* * *

Stepping out of the elevator into the penthouse, I walked straight to the wet bar in the corner of my living space. My mind was overwhelmed by everything with the Petrov fiasco, I needed a stiff drink. I poured a generous glass and loosened my tie. I kicked off my shoes and plopped down on the sofa.

The silence was so loud, as I took a large gulp of my scotch and listened to the ice clink against the glass, I let out a breathy sigh, grabbing my phone from my jacket pocket to pull up my emails again.

Nothing from Harper.

browsing through my call log, I contemplated calling Joseph for more information, but I stopped myself, we had just spoken two hours ago. I didn’t want to be excessive. Heading to my office with my briefcase, opening it to find the file marked ‘Hot Red Head’. Chuckling to myself, I shook my head, typical Max. I don’t know how I overlooked that detail before.

I pushed the file aside on my desk and booted up my laptop to sift through my emails. My cursor lingered over Harper’s message thread; if she wasn’t going to respond, I wouldn’t risk calling her—not without a solid reason. Knowing the security team was rotating shifts to guard her at home, gave me some peace of mind about her safety, but it did little to settle the persistent impulse to check on her.

Hey there Firecracker,

I haven’t heard from you in a bit. How’s life treating you? There is no more need for a weirdo Knight in your life. I have been busy, so I’ve had to put my creeper lurking on pause. I hope you are well.

-J.W.

Chapter 22

HARPER

The fabric of the cloth bag, thrown over my head stuck to my cheeks from the tears that streaked my face. My throat burned like I swallowed shards of glass from my screams that no one heard. Trapped in what I could only assume was a trunk, because of the muffled sound of an engine, an occasional honk, and the swaying as my body was jerked back and forth from what felt like the brakes being applied periodically. I was certain we were well out of the city limits because of the time passed since I was thrown in here. The hope of being saved dissipated with every minute that passed. My eyes were heavy and my will to survive was slipping.

My head throbbed as I felt warm liquid dripping down my face. I felt my eyelids grow heavier as the warm liquid puddled. I let the darkness take over and everything was silenced.

I jolted awake with a sudden feeling of being held underwater. Once my vision cleared, I saw a muscular man with a bald head. He had tattoos all over. His eyes were pitch black, with a piercing look that was intimidating.

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