Page 75 of Gangster's Empire: Leeza & Havel

Confused, she sat up, shoving a mass of tangled hair off her face. A sharp pain drilled through her skull and had her taking deep breaths through her nose to stop herself from vomiting.

She squinted out the window and then blinked a few times at the bright sun. How could it be so bright? Her confusion grew as she took stock of what she was seeing.

Cars. Everywhere. Most in terrible condition but a few like her SUV.

“Where am I?”

Had she been kidnapped or robbed and shoved in a car? Where were her bodyguards? Why couldn’t she remember how she got here? Had she been drugged too?

As snippets of memory returned, she realized nothing terrible had happened. She’d drunk enough the night before to drop a full-grown elephant. It was the tequila. It was always the fucking tequila that led her into trouble.

She was going to have Yolanda quietly killed so she could never do this to Leeza again. There had to be some perks to being part of a mafia family. Having her ex-yoga instructor neutralized seemed like a good use of family resources.

Groping for the door handle, she shoved it open and crawled out of the car, pushing herself onto unsteady legs. She shaded her eyes and breathed the diesel-scented air into her lungs as she looked around.

She was in an impound lot. As bits of the evening before started filtering through the fog, she realized what must’ve happened and started laughing, which hurt, so she immediately stopped, clutching her head.

She remembered exiting the club through the back door for a breath of fresh air. She’d assumed there were bodyguards nearby, but with all the people moving and dancing in the club, she had to admit, she didn’t know who’d been watching over her.

“Okay, let’s see if I was smart enough to pass out with my phone.” She climbed back into the car and found her purse right away. Digging out her phone, she growled in annoyance. Dead battery.

Havel was probably freaking out. No. He was definitely freaking out. She just hoped he hadn’t killed anyone while searching for her. It really was no one’s fault. She simply got too drunk, accidentally slipped past her bodyguards and then relocated to a junk yard. At least there were no dogs.

Dogs? Dogs! She took a quick look around, then clutched her head and moaned. She had to stop doing that.

She took a slower look around. Nope, so far, there were no big toothy dogs to object to her presence.

All she had to do was search the yard for either a gate or a guard, let herself out and take a cab back to Zmatek. She and Havel would have a laugh over a cup of coffee, she would shower and go to bed.

Sounded perfect.

Except as Leeza stumbled through the junk yard, which turned out to be quite large, it became clear that there was no one around. It was Saturday. They were probably closed.

After several minutes of searching, she found a huge gate, which was shut and locked.

“Fuck.” She slumped against a rusty Volkswagen rubbing her throbbing temples.

A low whistle caught her attention and her head shot up. Fuck. She had to stop doing that.

But… yes! Havel was standing on the other side of the gate, his big body crammed into a pair of dark blue jeans and a T-shirt that should be illegal the way it stretched over slabs of muscle.

The best thing about seeing him though was the amusement on his face. Thank god, he wasn’t mad. Bad things happened when Havel got pissed.

She rushed to the gate, rattling the chain-link fence. “You found me!”

“Took some detective work, but I figured it out.” He eyed her through the bars. “You don’t look too bad for a woman who passed out in the back of a stranger’s vehicle and got towed out of town.”

She shrugged. “You know me, always looking for adventure.” She beamed at him. Her knight in shining armour. “Tell me you didn’t kill anyone when I disappeared.”

He flashed her a feral grin. “You can let Ayaan out of the basement when we get back. Though, she’s not happy with a woman named Yolanda, so maybe give her some time to cool down first.”

They laughed together.

“I would commit murder for some of your blueberry pancakes,” Leeza sighed.

“Come over to my side of the fence and I’ll arrange some for you.” He looked at the gate, then said, “Stay there. I’ll find someone to unlock it.”

“Don’t do that.” She smirked as she looked up. “I got this. Even with a hangover.”

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