Page 92 of Pin-up Girl

They let me lead the way to the entrance, but no young, beautiful Asian woman greeted us this time. In fact, the door didn’t open at all. I peered over my shoulder, but Emmett just smirked.

Where the hell were Milo and Jules?

“I can see what you’re thinking. This is my thing, and we’re doing it together.” With a hand to the small of my back, he urged me toward the door.

It opened without any trouble, and we descended the dark stairs. Stale scents of Chinese food lingered in the hallway, light enough that no meals had been prepared today. At the base of the stairs, I gasped.

The entire place was empty. No tables, chairs, or even Chinese decorations. Everything was stripped, even the carpet. This easily would have taken days.

“Come on, someone is waiting for us.” Emmett took my hand, tugging me along behind him as I gaped anew in the hallway, then in the sitting room where the girls were viewed.

Gone. It was all gone. If there wasn’t a hint of greasy fried rice in the air, I would have never guessed it had been a restaurant.

At Clownface’s office, Emmett shoved the door open without knocking.

Standing over his desk, arranging an assortment of files, was Chao. The man who ruined so many childhoods of innocent girls. Girls just like me who had no clue they were being sold.

“Mr. Ellis. Ms. Stanton. I would say it’s a pleasure, but I’m sure you understand.”

No, I didn’t understand at all.

“I do. Is that everything?” Emmett left me to approach the desk. He opened various files, checking the papers inside.

Meanwhile, I couldn’t move. I was so confused—but not? This was what we asked him to do. Did the guys negotiate for him to leave?

“Yes, check it if you want. But every client who has ever come through my door has a file there. Some have pictures, others just details. I had no reason to collect evidence on men when I needed proof of my operation like I needed a hole in the head.” Chao tapped two fingers on the desk as he looked at the folders with disgust.

Emmett merely hummed while he continued his perusal. “And the hard drives?”

Chao lifted a tote onto the desk, bulging with different CD cases. “Everything since the night you were here burned onto disks. I destroyed the server, so don’t bother asking for that.”

“Perfect.” Emmett stacked all the folders, leaving one on the desk until they were all collected. Then it went on top. “Elise, will you carry these?”

I took them from his outstretched hand. There must have been more than fifty different folders here.

“Your plan now?” Emmett slung the tote over his shoulder as he moved into my personal space without touching me, all the while keeping his focus on Chao.

“What do you mean? Plan? There is no plan. I am going back to China to hide. Thanks to you, I’ve ruined everything I worked so hard for. I’ll be dead the first time you let any of this leak, there’s no question where this information came from.” He spat on the floor.

Hell. Fucking.Yes!

“Then I suggest you board a plane within the next hour.” Emmett slid an arm around my waist and we left. Just like that.

I stopped him in the hallway, unsure of what I wanted to ask. When he looked down at me, the green flecks in his brown eyes were so vivid, I lost my train of thought.

He brushed fingers over the apple of my cheek. “Elise, they’re waiting on us.”

“What happened? Did Milo’s threat work?” I pushed my fingers into the waist of his pants and pulled him closer.

The corners of his mouth tipped up. So arrogant, so fucking handsome. “No. He figured out pretty quick we weren’t working under orders from the top. We had another card up our sleeve, though.” He dipped his head until his breath whispered against my temple. “All of those secrets I collected? Quite a few were from Chao’s girls. Not the ones he sold. Others that were older, had trusted positions in his operation. They hated him. And they sharedallhis secrets. Made it easy to add to our already short file, which I happily delivered to Chao.”

Oh my God. I wanted to jump around and pump my fists. Emmett single handedly broke the foundation of Clownface’s business. All through secrets he sexed out of girls.

At that thought, my excitement died. I didn’t care about the girls before me. It was almost like they didn’t exist, just faceless nameless girls that were too dumb to protect their secrets. But CarterfuckingKensington was very real.

He must have sensed the change in me, because he took my hand from his waist and threaded his fingers through mine. “Don’t go there. Just think about the shitload of blackmail gold we have in our hands right now.”

I gave him a half-hearted smile and nodded. “Yeah, you’re right.”

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