I need tomovebecause sitting on this couch waiting for news from Ronan is no longer an option.
I get to my feet and hurry out of the lounge and down the hall to Ronan’s office. If I have any chance of leaving this house and going to find Mila, I need to make sure there’s no way that Ronan or any of his cronies, who have currently taken up residence in the kitchen, can track me.
The door to the office is still open from when Ronan left and expected me to sit around and obey his orders without question. If I wasn’t so scared about losing Mila, I’d be insulted at how little he seems to know me.
I slip inside the office and close the door softly behind me. It’s almost completely dark outside, so I switch on one of the small lamps on the table beside the couch before headingover to the desk and opening the second drawer on the left-hand side.
Sure enough, the burner phones are still in there, tucked away under some old files and a handful of spare handgun magazines.
I grab one of the phones and quickly power it on so I can copy Mila’s number over to it as well as Ronan’s, just in case I need it, before tossing my own phone in the drawer and closing it softly.
“I’m sorry I have to do this, Ronan. But I can’t just sit by and do nothing.”
When I get downstairs, the men have vacated the kitchen, their break clearly over, and have once more taken up their posts outside the front of the house.
I move quietly across the foyer and through the kitchen before ducking inside the adjoining garage where half a dozen cars are lined up.
As much as I’d love to be able to get behind the wheel and simply drive into the city, life is not that simple, especially when you’re married to a man like Ronan.
So, I have to create a distraction, and what better way than to set off a few alarms?
Using the keys from the lockbox, I trigger as many remote alarms as I can, grab the key to the Range Rover for the gate access, and then run to the back door.
Just as the cold outside air hits my face, thundering footsteps and muffled cursing come from the front door.
I have maybe thirty seconds before Ronan’s watchdogs realize what’s happened, so without looking back, I take off at a sprint and hope to god I’m fast enough to reach the end of the driveway before they catch up to me.
My lungs start to burn as my feet pound over the gravel, but I don’t care. I need to get the hell away from this house if I have any chance of finding my best friend.
She’s counting on me to help her, and I won’t let her down, even if it costs me everything in the process.
As soon as the main gates come into view, I pull up the fob on the set of car keys and wave it at the sensor.
“Comeon.” I glance over my shoulder.
The second the gates open enough for me to slip through, I’m gone, taking off to try to put as much distance between me and Ronan’s cronies as possible.
But as my heartbeat races at an almost painful rate, so do my thoughts, playing the worst-case scenarios on a loop in my mind as I run.
What if I’m already too late?
But that’s not the only thought eating away at me. I can’t deny there’s also something else gnawing at me, lingering underneath the panic and the fear.
Max is dead, and I’m starting to think it’s because of me.
It’s too much of a coincidence that mere hours after I asked him to help me decode a set of encrypted payments, he’s found dead in his apartment.
Did I do this?
Did I kill Mila’s brother?
I have to find my best friend and make it up to her.
This is all my fault.
I swallow past the lump in my throat as I try to push the thoughts away. I can’t afford to waste my energy, not when Mila is depending on me.
I just have to hope that I can find her and call Ronan to help me get to her in time, before they decide to silence her too.
