Page 87 of Something Borrowed

All I need to do is be patient and wait. And not lose my mind which is steadily happening.

A plate gets shoved through the slot in the door.

I stare at it for a long time then sigh.

Eat. Stay strong. Be ready for when he comes.

I pick it up and carry it over to the bed. I sit on the edge with the food on my lap I stare at it again - thinking about how much I’ve changed.

How the things I want in my life have shifted.

“He’ll come for me.” I sigh, picking up the plastic fork and twirling the pasta around it.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Rufino

“Yes, I’ve got what you asked for.” He nods, pushing his thick glasses up the bridge of his nose with his fat fingers. I always pictured hackers looking cool. Dressed in neon colors and sporting wild attitudes. But this guy looks like he belongs in a library. Or like he lives in his mother’s basement which I’m sure he doesn’t with the amount of money I paid for this information.

I eye him up and down, waiting.

Dresden leans over his computer and tugs something out of a slot in the black. Sitting up again, he hands me a flash drive.

“Are you sure this is everything?” I ask, staring down at the small black rectangle, no bigger than a lighter.

“Every single one of the properties he owns. Including several in trusts and several that he tried very hard to conceal from public knowledge. He even used faked names for some of them. But I got them all. I don’t doubt it for a second.” He looks smug. Proud of his work.

“Residential and commercial?” I ask, flipping the drive in my hand.

“What - do you think I’m an amateur?” he snorts. “Everythingthat Luca A’Vara owns. Like I said. Even his well-hidden crypto-assets and some questionable charity funds.”

I slip the flash drive into my pocket.

“We transferred the balance to your account this morning. It’s all there.”

“I know.” He smiles, a weird sort of inhumane smirk that doesn’t reach his eyes. He gives me the creeps. Lookin at him is like having ants crawling over my skin.

It’s a relief to walk out of his weird underground office. It’s crowded with too much tech. There are too many flashing lights and flickering screens. It’s claustrophobic in there and smells of stale cheese.

In my car I slot the flash drive into the console of my LCD screen on the dashboard. Double tapping the only icon that shows up I grin when it opens a list of addresses. It better be everything. But even if it’s not - it’s enough to cause a lot of issues for the man.

I scroll down the list then back to the top. There’s a lot of property to burn.

A lot of fires to light.

He has a lot to lose.

But before I start my rampage, I will give him a chance to do the right thing.

My engine purrs as I pull away from the hackers building and drive deeper into the city.

I punch my finger against the LCD Screen again and a list of phone numbers comes up.

“A’Vara.” I say and the list narrows down to two names.

Verity and Luca.

My heart constricts at the sight of her name. The letters that make up the shape of her - I pull my mouth tight and punch my finger against ‘Luca’. The pain of not having her can’t distract me. Not now. Not when I am so close to getting her back. I’ve tried to dial Verity’s number too. Over and over again. It always goes straight to voicemail. Her phone hasn’t been on since we left my mansion.

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