Page 88 of Secret Vendettay

I didn’t bother arguing that I wasn’t alone, that Sean had been staying with me. Thank God he’d been on a jog, or something might have happened to him—all because he’d stayed here to try to keep me safe.

“Even a security system has its limitations.”

Hunter exchanged a brief glance with me, and I remembered the desperation in his voice that day in his kitchen when he begged me to stay at his house. I couldn’t let myself feel guilty about that now, though.

“You should’ve seen them coming!” Hunter demanded. “Do you know how much money I pay you guys? With one objective—to keep her safe.”

The security guard’s jaw looked so tight, I wondered if he was cracking his teeth in irritation.

“We have cameras positioned on every road leading up to these buildings,” Hunter continued.

“The perpetrator didn’t come in from a road, sir. He must’ve come in through the woods.”

“So, he’s a professional.”

“That’s my guess, yes.”

Rinaldi studied the broken dining room window.

“This was Franco,” I said to Detective Rinaldi. “Wasn’t it?”

Her eyes softened, brimming with empathy. “We’ve turned Dominic’s apartment upside down, looking for that USB drive. Twice. It’s possible he gave it to somebody else for safekeeping. Or that it never existed in the first place. It’s possible Dominic was claiming he had evidence over Franco when he really didn’t. He might’ve just been saying that to try to keep himself alive.”

“And where are we at with finding Franco?” I didn’t mean for my voice to sound so tense, and I doubted the detective appreciated the glare coming from Hunter.

“We’ll get him,” Rinaldi said.

“He’s escalating and getting more desperate,” Sean said. “First, he sent a thug in that prison parking lot. Now, he took a big risk to break into her home, and he still doesn’t have what he needs. Desperate people do desperate things, so there’s no telling what he’ll do next…”

CHAPTER34

Luna

“Would you slow down?” I was basically being dragged up the slight hill, for crying out loud.

The sprawling lawn extended as far as my eye could see, peppered with trees that stretched up toward the sky, filtering the moonlight that joined the landscape fixtures to lightly illuminate the space. Hunter’s front lawn was pristine, perfectly manicured and in control, unlike the frazzled state he was in.

“Let her go!” Sean demanded.

But Hunter entwined his fingers with mine and continued pulling me toward his mansion.

I could have fought him the whole way, but I had to be realistic. After the detective left, he’d taken me by surprise when he grabbed my hand and pulled me out the front door. His strength was impossible to match, and yanking my hand away would only make things worse.

The better scenario was to let him calm down first.

Plus, deep down, a strange thrill ignited at his fierce determination to protect me. His decisive grasp warmed my chest and spread heat to my lower belly that I didn’t want to fight against.

Sean didn’t find anything sexy about this, though.

After countless demands that Hunter release my hand, Sean broke into a sprint, headed directly for Hunter, ready to shove him, but Hunter’s guard, Adam, intercepted and slammed Sean to the ground.

So hard, Sean moaned.

“Oh my God! You’re hurting him. Let him go!” I snapped.

Adam’s stare bored into me, then Hunter, his brow furrowing as he evidently waited for his boss’s approval. He eventually tore away from Sean and shuffled back a step, his fists clenched at his sides.

I offered my hand to help Sean stand up.

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