Page 169 of Hot Tycoons Boxset

“I’m sorry, Michael. Can we reschedule the meeting? I’m not feeling so good.”

He blinks. “Yeah, of course. Definitely. You want me to take you to the hospital or something?”

The poor man looks flustered, and weirdly enough it makes me feel a little better. “No, no. Jacob can take me. I just want to go home. I’ll have my assistant call you and set up another time.”

He nods. “Okay. Feel better. I’ll send you an email of the points I wanted to discuss.”

“That would be great.”

My eyes are anxiously looking towards the entrance of the hall that leads to the bathroom. I bid Michael a hasty goodbye and see Jacob coming out of the hall. When his eyes meet mine, he shakes his head.

“He was long gone,” he tells me on reaching me. “One of the staffers saw someone in a hoodie running out through the back door which is, conveniently enough, located at the end of that hall. But he didn’t catch a glimpse of his face. He had the hood pulled over.”

I draw in an unsteady breath. “I think I want to go home. And, uh, could you get in touch with Henry and let him know?”

Since Jacob is working with Philip’s company, he and Henry have a direct line about this whole mess. I honestly don’t want to talk to anyone but Ian at the moment. I want his arms around me so that I can feel safe.

However, we won’t be going anywhere for a while, because when we get to the parking spot where the car is parked, the tires are slashed.

9

Ian

I lean against the door jamb of the bedroom and watch Agatha throw in my clothes into a suitcase.

“I’ll unpack that the minute you’re done,” I tell her, calmly.

“I want your ass out of this house,” she snarls.

I don’t take her words personally.

When I found out about the incident from yesterday afternoon, I rushed home to her, dread crawling in my veins.

I found her at home with Jacob sitting on the couch. Her face was white, her fingers tightly interlaced and her back ramrod straight.

The minute I laid eyes on her, all my anger drained, and I just strode over to her and pulled her into my arms. She came willingly, and when Jacob left, locking the door behind him, I just held on to her, not saying a word.

She seemed to have drawn strength from me and hours later, her mood was better.

That lasted ‘til she received another envelope on her doorstep.

What struck me as odd is that no one suspicious came up on the security cameras of the lobby. Nobody hiding their face, everyone going about their business.

The picture was of me kissing Agatha in front of her office window. Another cross was on my face and a thin red cross over Agatha’s chest.

Henry identified the blood as chicken blood, something which is just as creepy.

I always knew Agatha was a strong personality, and right now I know she is trying to kick

me out because she thinks it will keep me safe.

I appreciate the thought, but I am not planning on going anywhere.

“You think he’s going to leave me be if he thinks I’m not living with you anymore?”

Agatha throws in another shirt of mine, and I wince at how roughly she is handling the fine silk. She closes her eyes momentarily as if trying to collect her thoughts and then turns to look at me. “You’re not thinking this through. He can go at you through your brothers. Or your parents. God knows how psycho this person is.”

My blood chills at the reminder, but that is a possibility I’ve already thought about and handled. “Jake and Ryan have had their winter holidays extended so I sent them with Mom and Dad to Thailand for a long vacation. They’re out of harm’s way for two weeks.”

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