Page 125 of Hard Luck (Blackstone House)

“And you think that would have been better?”

“Yes? You wouldn’t have developed feelings for me that way.”

“Just because you want to avoid relationships for therest of your life doesn’t mean I do. You said that when we got back to Vegas, we’d find a way to make things work. Was that another lie?”

“No?”

“You don’t sound certain.”

“I don’t get much free time when I’m working, but I would have come over whenever I was in town. And I’m not quitting the Jimmy case until it’s solved. Thereisa loan. A cool million in Bitcoin.”

“How can you possibly know that?”

“You really need to tell your finance team not to click on random links in their emails.”

“You hacked my accounting system?”

“Not personally. Digging through cyberspace isn’t my forte, so I leave that part to the experts. Look, it’ll be fine—just keep your head down and don’t go anywhere alone while we get everything sorted out. A PI is working on the case as we speak. How do you feel about staying at the hotel?”

“A PI? How the hell did a PI get involved?”

“I hired her. She’s very good.”

“I can’t believe this.”

“You say that a lot, and honestly, it can be better to live life in blissful ignorance. Sometimes I wish I could do that.” Bella shrugged out of his grip and rose to her feet. “But it is what it is. We shouldn’t sit around talking any longer. I can’t be certain that there isn’t another way out of the prison building, and we definitely don’t want that motherfucker flanking us, or worse, escaping the island.”

Cole wasn’t sure being flanked was better than the guy escaping, but he kept his mouth shut on that point. He wasn’t the one in control here. No, that honour belonged to the woman who, until two hours ago, he’d hoped to spend his future with.

“I need some shoes,” she said.

“Tell me you’re not going to take the corpse’s shoes.”

“She wasn’t wearing any shoes. I’m going to check out the guys from the boat and pick the one with the smallest feet and the least blood splatter.”

Cole failed to suppress the shudder that ran through him. “Blood splatter?”

“Chill, you don’t have to look at them. Just tuck yourself into the trees and stay quiet.”

“Are you going to kill the guy left inside?”

“If there’s a safe way to capture him, I’ll do it, but I’m not risking my life or yours. Taking people alive requires more planning, manpower, and equipment than taking them dead.”

“Can’t we just leave? Their boat is in the harbour, and it isn’t your job to round up every criminal on the planet.”

Bella might have misrepresented herself in the worst possible way, but Cole still didn’t want to see her die. Not to mention the fact that if she did get hurt, he’d be stranded on this island with only a gun-wielding psycho for company.

“That is literally my job.”

“We could go back to Emerald Shores. Forget the last two months ever happened.”

Forget the good times as well as the bad. Why did the thought of that hurt so much? Cole should have been horrified that his girlfriend could kill five men without breaking a sweat, but if she hadn’t done that, he’d have no thoughts at all because he’d be dead.

“We could try to forget, but you’d still be stuck with some guy who may or may not be called Jimmy. And you’d still owe a million bucks in Bitcoin.”

Okay, so that was a problem. At least if he were dead, Cole wouldn’t need to worry about the Galaxy anymore.

“And if we leave now,” Bella continued, “Number Six could start destroying evidence of whatever it is they’redoing in the prison. Or maybe he has friends, and they’ll come and pick him up?”

---