Page 64 of Hold On

I know she’s scared, but she’s so fuckingsexywhen she gets that glare in her eyes.

“Oh. So now we’re here to do your dirty work?” she spits at Cade. I squeeze her leg, leveling her with a stare. She scrunches her nose at me and turns away.

“Lina Girl, take a breath please,” I beg as she rolls her eyes and closes her mouth. “Cade. Are you asking us to partner up with you on this shit?” I throw at him and he nods his head yes.

“Isn’t that what you’re looking for?” Gilda asks us.

“I’m still deciding that,” Alina answers sarcastically. The silence at the table is uncomfortable as the women glare at each other.

“I don’t think you have any other options,” Gilda challenges as she leans onto her arm, moving further into the center of the table.

“You may be right,” Alina reluctantly admits. “I want immunity, though. I’m at the point I’ll rip the fucking throat from that fucker, but I want to be protected, and I want Bash to be protected too. That’s only fair, seeing as we’re the ones who will be spilling the blood.”

“Done.” Cade stares at Alina as she quietly assesses him back. “You’re both safe. I’ll take down the dirty cops along with Luke so nothing will be put back on any of us.”

“How do we do this, then?” I ask him and Alina, thankfully, keeps her fucking mouth shut so he can answer.

“I can get him alone and subdue him, but we’ll have one shot at this,” he says seriously. “If Luke isn’t taken care of, he will freak out and double security while redoing the rounds, making it virtually impossible for me to get close to him again.”

“We get it! We’re not gonna fuck this up!” Alina says defensively. I roll my eyes, hoping to any god this is all over soon. My head is pounding from the tension my girl is giving off.

“Our original plan was to get him at his home,” I say quickly, taking over the conversation. “When Alina doesn’t show for work Friday, I was going to pay everyone on his staff to grab any weapons and walk away. Direct deposit, thanks to your mother and her access to payroll. We wanted to be waiting for him when he couldn’t find Alina at her house or the bar or wherever else he thinks she’ll be.”

“It’s not a terrible plan, but I could save you the money and still have everything take place in an area that would make it personal,” he offers.

“The Bengal,” Alina says and Cade nods.

“He loves that bar more than his home,” he says.

“I don’t care! I’m setting his fucking Dobermans free on him, and they live at his house,” seethes Alina.

“Wait. That’s not a bad idea,” Cade considers.

“So, what? Are we back to paying the staff to leave?” I ask. Cade shakes his head no.

“Not necessarily. They’re scared of the dogs, though. If I can set them loose, everyone will flee on their own. I’ve worked with them personally, and they’ll mind me to return to their cages so you can come onto the property after it’s been cleared,” Cade says and Alina scoffs.

“You’re a guard, not a dog trainer. What makes you so sure?” she throws at him. Gilda clears her throat and interlaces her fingers together in front of her.

“Some skills are ours since birth and Cade has always been excellent with animals. He works with the dogs on his own time because he can’t stay away from them. That’s more of a connection than one who just feeds them, and barks orders their way,” she says with a bite and Alina throws an eyebrow in the air, but saysnothing,to my great relief.

“Ok, great. Dogs are set loose after Luke leaves. The staff flees. We arrive and wait for you to corral them?” I ask him and he nods. “Then, what?”

“The rest is up to you,” Cade says quietly, and Alina grabs my arm. “I’ll supply the bastard and clear out anyone remaining that the dogs didn’t take care of. You worry about taking care ofhim. I just have to get back to a place where someone sees me before it’s announced he’s dead in order to prove that I wasn’t the one who killed him. And unfortunately, we need his body, so don’t release the dogs again. I can’t guarantee your safety either if you do.”

“Great. We’ll take care of the details from there,” Alina says, leveling me with a knowing stare. I nod, trusting her. “Let’s make sure we message each other Friday morning and that things are set to go by the evening then.”

“As you wish,” Cade says with a nod. He and his mom are silent as the conversation dies. I start to squirm, not sure how to end this meet up.

“Let’s exchange numbers,” I suggest to him. We flip our phones across the table, entering each other’s contact information into the devices.

“That’s that, then,” Gilda says matter-of-factly.

We all nod before leaving through separate doors.

Chapter Thirty-Four - Then

Sebastian:

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