Page 2 of Echo

I ripped off my headphones and yanked out my phone, stabbing the answer button before putting it to my ear. “Yeah?”

“Hey,” greeted my club brother, Wizard. He was a tech genius and had earned his road name because he could make shit appear from thin air…which meant finding stuff no one else had been able to get their hands on, often by looking in places no one had ever thought to consider. “I’ve been tracking all of Jeff’s accounts and was able to compile a list of former victims. Sending it to you in case he drops any info about them. Also, I’m still working on the accounts he transfers the money to. The account is constantly changing, and they’re buried behind a fuck ton of aliases and shit. He’s never given his cut from the same account either. Keep an ear out for anything he says about banking or former employers paying him, shit like that.”

“Will do,” I agreed.

We talked for another couple of minutes, analyzing some of the stuff Jeff had said over the past couple of days. Sometimes, things that sounded like useless bullshit were more helpful than others realized.

Violet was still on my mind during our conversation, and I hadn’t come up with an explanation for what I’d heard. So before we hung up, I unexpectedly blurted out a request. “Need some information on his neighbor. Get a dossier together for me.”

“Sure. You think she’s involved?”

“No.” I quickly tried to come up with an excuse that would make more sense than me being a stalker who was turned on by her voice but wouldn’t implicate her in Jeff’s activities. “She’s got the best access to his place with the balconies next to each other and sharing a wall. If I can get on friendly terms with her, it would make getting the cameras in his place easier.”

“Good idea. I’ll send you some info today and get started on a deep dive. If she’s got skeletons, you could use blackmail to get her cooperation.”

The idea of doing something underhanded to get close to her didn’t sit well with me…which was weird because it had never bothered me before. Not one of us would ever hurt someone innocent, especially a woman, but that hadn’t stopped us from using subversive tactics to get what we needed.

“Just get me her information.” I schooled my tone to make sure it was nonchalant when I added, “A picture would help.”

“Yeah, then you’ll recognize her if you see her outside the building first,” he assumed.

“Right,” I murmured, relieved that he’d come up with his own reason, rather than having to lie so he didn’t know I simply wanted to see if Violet’s looks matched her incredibly sexy voice.

We hung up, and I put on my headphones once again, listening to Violet speak and getting lost in her voice again.

“‘For now, it’s just you and me. Nobody and nothing else matters.’

‘I like the sound of that,’ I sighed, my cheeks heating.

“You’re going to like the feel of it even more,” he promised, dropping our hands onto his lap and pressing my palm against his hard-on.

‘Holy crap,’ I whispered, wondering how he was ever going to possibly fit inside me.

As though he could read my mind, he chuckled. ‘Don’t worry, sweet girl. Just like I did when I had you spread out on my desk, I’m going to make tonight very, very good for you.’

Remembering the five mind-blowing orgasms he’d given me, my fingers flexed as my cheeks heated further. ‘I’m sure you will.’”

Fucking hell. My body tingled from the overtly sexual tone in her words and voice.

A notification popped up on my computer screen, and I clicked open my email to see a message from Wizard.

I turned down the volume on my headset and opened the email, quickly downloading the attachment.

My intention was to look at her picture first, but for some reason, her occupation caught my attention.

Audiobook narrator.

Relief slithered through my body, and an amused smile curled my lips. I’d quickly realized I wasn’t listening to Violet with another man, but it hadn’t occurred to me that she was reading a book.

Considering how she’d pulled me in with her narration, she was obviously damn good at her job. However, it made me wonder if she would sound anything like her character when she was in the throes of real passion.

I skipped down the rest of the information and clicked on her picture, blowing it up on the screen.

Holy. Fucking. Shit.

The buzz of sexual chemistry I’d been feeling exploded into deep hunger, an almost overpowering desire to storm across the hall and fuck the unbelievably sexy woman from the photograph.

Violet stood next to a table where another woman sat, her head bent over a book as she signed it. There was a banner behind Violet with a book cover and “Narrator: Violet Kimball” printed just below the author’s much larger name.

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