Page 149 of Ruthless Heir

“Nolan?”

The line goes dead.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Asher

Come to the old shoe factory on the wharf at two and bring the cash. Ten million dollars in a black case. Alert the police and your girl is dead. Any attempt to fuck with us and your girl is dead. Make sure you come alone. Or else…Vito.

I stare at the phone in my hand and re-read the message, the ball of nerves in my stomach expanding to the size of a planet.

It’s ten minutes to two.

We’ve just arrived at the wharf and parked on a residential block close to the factory. Josh drove because his car is more inconspicuous than mine.

He kills the engine and we both stare out the windows, scanning the perimeter of the derelict run-down surroundings. I can just imagine what the meeting point must look like if this area looks so bad.

We—Josh and I—ignored the warning in the message to come alone.

At first I tried to get him to stay but he insisted, then he awakened my senses by pointing out the obvious. That this was a trap that would most likely see both Harper and me dead.

The threat that Harper could still die is the only reason I allowed Josh to come.

The clues of a trap with the end result of all our deaths areallthere. The most prominent clue being that I know who the kidnappers are—Vito and Nolan.

They wouldn’t have allowed me to know it’s them if they didn’t want me to know. And I’m sure they’re not just going to allow me to walk away with that knowledge. Especially that fucker Nolan.

I feel like such a fool now for thinking that I’d seen the last of him after I exposed him and Nigel.

That was just the beginning. Nolan and Nigel got bailed out the same night they were put in jail. Of course, that was pending trial, but Nolan got working quickly with a grand idea on how he could still get money from me.

Take the person who matters most to me and hold her for ransom. I assume he got Vito involved because he had the resources and know-how to pull off a kidnapping like this.

I glance at my phone again, checking the time. It’s five minutes to the hour.

Josh looks at the time, too and his frown deepens.

“I’m gonna go,” I tell him, reaching into the back of the car to grab the briefcase with the money.

In all my years I’ve never carried around this much money. As expected the bank questioned it but thought nothing when I told them I was heading to a poker tournament in Monaco.

“I feel completely unprepared. I don’t like this one bit,” Josh scoffs, glancing around worried.

“Neither do I. And we have no plan.”

“I’m right behind you. Just wait for my signal, then get yourself and Harper out of danger.”

I nod, trying to reassure myself with the knowledge that I have someone with me who has military experience.

While I went to get the cash from the bank, Josh got his guns. There are two colleagues of his around somewhere to back us up but that’s it.

I didn’t risk calling anyone on my phone or making contact through any other means just in case Nolan or Vito had found a way to listen in. With everything happening so fast and in a short space of time, I never got the chance to check anything out.

All I knew was that they were clearly watching Josh and Harper at the hotel.

The only thing I may have on my side is that I don’t think they know Josh is with me. At least that’s what I’m hoping. If they’re watching us now and detect that I didn’t come alone, I’m fucked.

Dragging in a deep breath, I open the door. Josh grabs my arm and stares at me with pleading eyes.

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