Page 90 of Hot for Hostage

My only regret as I hustled out to the balcony with an armful of tied-together sheets was I hadn’t waited for Vince to return with that ice cream before I escaped.

And also that I hadn’t confronted Davian.

But it was just too risky to chance.

Instead, I scribbled out a quick note explaining things as best I could and left it on his dresser like a coward.

I turned on the bath to buy myself more time when Vince returned—fully regretting not getting the chance to soak in Davian’s beautiful tub.

Cargo space was limited, so I stuffed my phone into my bra and grabbed my plant, Walter, before making my way down the makeshift blanket rope I’d knotted together.

It was slower going than yesterday. With my heart in my throat and my ankles clamped around the rope, I descended at snail speed.

It wasn’t until I was halfway down and a breeze hit that I realized I hadn’t grabbed a fresh pair of underwear. But it was too late to turn around—plus, I didn’t have the upper body strength to go backupmy little escape route.

“Commando it is,” I whispered as I inched down the rope, breathing shallowly.

My heart threatened to burst out of my chest from the adrenaline coursing through my body. I was down to three minutes until Ryan would be at the eastern wall, and I still needed to track down Bear in Davian’s ginormous backyard. There was no time for dillydallying.

When I reached the bottom of my blanket rope, the grass looked even further away than last time. But I squeezed my eyes shut and forced my fingers to unclench before dropping through the air like a dead weight.

“Oof,” I huffed upon landing on the hard ground, silently apologizing to my poor butt.

Scrambling to my feet, I tucked Walter under my arm and headed in the direction I really,reallyhoped was east.

I kept my eyes peeled for Bear along the way, praying he hadn’t ventured too deep into the woods.

Luck was on my side, because while hurrying across the patio, I ran right into a chair and knocked it over. Not exactly ideal—and my elbow throbbed in pain from the hit—butwhen I stopped to pick the chair back up, a familiar brown and black lump caught my eye. Bear was lying on the patio in a sunny spot, stretched out on his side.

Even as relief weakened my knees, I paused for a moment to stare. I’d been getting leered at by Davian’s father andfreaking out over mafia princesses, while Bear was out here… sunbathing?

That was so not fair.

“Bear!” I whisper-shouted, running to him. “I’m so happy to see you.”

Bear lifted his head—tail thumping happily against the ground—and revealed a familiar piece of footwear with chew marks all over it, which he’d been using as a pillow.

Oh no.

“Where did you even get that from?” I moaned, shaking my head in exasperation—though I had to admit, part of me was impressed by his dedication to pilfering Davian’s shoes.

Bear’s tongue lolled out, and he looked far too pleased with himself.

I couldn’t stop my heart from melting. He really was the cutest thing I’d ever seen.

But we needed to focus.

Checking the doors to the back of the house and the areas near us, I still didn’t spot any guards around. Fingers crossed it stayed that way.

“Let’s go, boy,” I commanded, beckoning Bear to follow as I took off toward the wall. “Come!”

Luckily, Bear jumped up and followed me like the good boy he was.

Not so luckily, he brought his recently acquired footwear prize with him.

It was a rough jog to the wall. Walter was heavier than I’d expected for such a slim plant, and Bear stayed glued so close to my hip that he tripped me twice. He must’ve noticed something was up.

Dogs were intuitive like that.

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