Page 23 of Escape You

“Is there anything you can tell me that might help me? How do you expect me to trust you if you don’t tell me anything?”

“Get some rest.” He strode out of the bathroom.

I shut off the water and went after him. But when I reached the alcove, he was gone. Dammit. I kicked off my boots and lay down on the soft mattress. My eyes felt heavy as all the events of the night swirled in my head.

The next day, I woke up exactly where I’d rested my head. My entire body hurt from sleeping curled up in the corner. When I saw the time, I jumped out of bed. How did I sleep until one in the afternoon? I’d wasted an entire morning. Incriminating information on Rossi wasn’t going to fall out of the sky and into my lap. I had to get moving.

I pulled on my top where it’d left a mark on my chest. Until someone brought me a suitcase with my stuff, I had nothing to wear, but I needed to get out of these dirty clothes. The tight pants and jacket were good for a gun job, but they were not so great to sit around all day doing nothing. Being in this high-rise for months would drive me insane for sure. I padded over to the bathroom and ran the shower before I disrobed. The warm water felt good on my sore muscles.

I used the small shampoo bottles they had. Was this place really Rossi’s place? If it weren’t, I’d have a hard time finding intel on him or any of his illegal dealings. I turned off the lever and walked over to the walk-in closet to find a bathrobe. I gasped when I swung open the door. Did someone else live here? The wardrobe was fully stocked with evening gowns, street clothes, handbags, shoes, and even my favorite perfume. I picked up a pair of brand-new pumps, which happened to be just my size.

How long had the old man been planning to kidnap me? I didn’t dwell on the word too much last night, but that was exactly what it was. He’d coerced me to come with him and then to stay. I didn’t have time to dwell on any of it. I needed to get started on operation get Jac Rossi. I grabbed a pair of jeans off the shelf on my right and a white T- shirt. When I dropped my towel, I realized I also needed underthings. I pulled on the first drawer to my left. It was full of bras and panties, all my size. So creepy. I got dressed, brushed my teeth, and headed out for a quick recon mission.

As soon as I opened the door, I ran into Vic. “Oh fuck. You scared the crap out of me.”

“Telltale heart.” he deadpanned. “You wanted to see me?” He pointed at the bodyguard standing at least six inches taller than him.

“Yes. Come on in. How are our teams doing out there?” If everything went well last night, our guns should be getting to Arizona sometime today.

“We’re on target.” He strolled in, shutting the door before the guard had any ideas to come in and sit in on our conversation. “Care to explain to me what the hell is going on?”

I put a finger to my lips. He nodded and took out his phone, tapping on it to get to the app he needed. I sat on the sofa facing a small fireplace while he did his thing. Sure enough, he found a bug under the coffee table and on the french door that led to the balcony.

“It’s a bug app that disrupts the signal. Talk fast.”

“Right. So my mystery man is Jac Rossi’s grandson.” I offered him a sheepish smile. He slow-blinked, shaking his head. His version of “I told you so.” “Yeah, I learned my lesson. Next time, you can vet candidates to your heart’s content.”

“Doesn’t look like there’ll be a next time.”

“They told you?”

“I want to hear it from you. It sounds too fucked up.”

“Rossi wants me to marry his grandson so he can take over Rogue River and eventually Jersey.”

Vic chuckled. “He’s going for the Big 5, huh?”

“That’s what I said. He didn’t deny it. How long has the Big 5 been waiting for this moment?”

“I’d say a while. You becoming boss opened the door for them. What’s your plan to get out of this?”

My throat felt thick. The more I thought about the implication of all this on the baby, the more I wanted to see the old man rot in jail. “Rossi also wants a successor to his successor.”

“Well, you’re nothing if not efficient.” He pointed at my belly.

“Vic, he can’t know about this.” A small tremor settled in the middle of my spine.

“You’re right on that.”

“I’m in his house. I thought I could snoop around and see what I can use against him. I don’t want him anywhere near us.”

“What did Chase say about all this?”

“He was surprised, but he also agreed to the marriage.”

“And the baby?”

I shook my head. “I didn’t tell him.”

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