Page 13 of Whispered Desire

I don't like being indebted to people, and a life debt? That's untenable. A million dollars should be enough to make us even.

That's what I told myself, anyway, but it’s hardly doing its job while sitting untouched in her account.

Every day I check it, and every day it's the same.

She withdrew a minuscule $19,678 the first day, which went straight to the government for her student loans, but that’s it.

She could do anything with the money. Go on another trip, buy a house, get a new car.Anything. The world is her oyster. Yet she's done nothing, opting instead to use money earned from her job to pay for things.

And I don’t fucking understand—an uncomfortable sensation that’s become something of a habit with the woman.

“Back to checking your girl's bank account?” Luca asks as he enters the great room with a towel draped over his shoulder. He must be on his way to swim laps in the manor's indoor pool—his preferred way to relax because of the quiet underwater.

“I don't know what you're talking about.” I slam the laptop shut.

Luca chuckles. “You realize we’re capable of tracking each other's movements, right? So we know you sent Allison a fuckton of cash she’s leaving unused, and we know that you’re monitoring her not using it. Why don't you just go see her if you're that obsessed?”

“I'm not obsessed.” I’ve always had a penchant for puzzles, and Allison is a five-thousand piece Rembrandt I’m determined to solve. “Don't be ridiculous. She's an enigma. I'm trying to figure out how she fits into the drive-by.”

Liar.

Luca calls me on it.

“I thought we agreed she was a random civilian who got caught up in the moment, and you're lucky for it. You really think this girl—a former straight-A student, perfect attendance, no speeding tickets to her name—is part of a larger scheme to either swindle or kill you?”

No, but I’m not admitting that aloud. It'll confirm his false belief of my obsession with Allison.

I don't like loose ends, and that's what she feels like because she doesn't react normally to anything. Rather, she doesn't react how I believe a regular person, not raised in an assassin's manor, would behave.

Stretching to my full height, I tuck the laptop under my arm and walk towards the door, a vague plan beginning to form. Perhaps it’s time I gather intel up close and personal since distance has my mind spinning in circles.

“Have fun in Raleigh.” Luca smirks, and I flip him the bird because he's right about my destination.

A text to our pilot lets him know to fuel the jet for a short trip. The plan is to touch down in North Carolina in two hours.

I'm going to figure out what the hell is going on with my mystery woman and finally lay this fixation to rest.

CHAPTER EIGHT

MATHIAS

The town car parks in front of a dingy apartment building after picking me up at the private airfield. Beige paint tries to make the structure blend into the woods surrounding it, but all the color does is scream the seventies.

A fortune in Allison’s account yet she chooses to live here.

It boggles the mind.

“I won't be long,” I tell the driver before exiting the car. It's warmer here than it is in Boston, but there's enough of a chill to warrant my coat.

Recalling her apartment number, 19H, I take the stairs two at a time. They creak beneath my weight, and the only positive thing going for them is that they're covered, because if left open to the elements, they'd rot in no time.

Finding the chipped black door heralding Allison's address, I knock next to the peephole and wait. A teal welcome mat crunches beneath my shoes as I shift backwards to read the cheerful cursive.Hello, Gorgeous!The peppy greeting and bright burst of color is incongruous with an otherwise drab environment.

Shuffling occurs behind the door along with a chorus of barks and growls.

So she has dogs.

The door creaks open an inch, and then another, as I watch a sliver of Allison beat back the canines rushing the entry. The dogs refuse to listen to her commands, forcing her to squeeze through the cracked opening to step outside and shut the door on their rabid excitement.

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