I press myself against the cold marble, my hands clammy. The door doesn’t open, but that doesn’t seem to matter.
Footsteps. A deep, smooth voice. “Boss.”
Boss?
A chill slides down my spine. My stomach churns, my body caught between fight and flight. This isn’t just business. It’s control. Absolute. Unshakable. A force that makes the air in the room feel thinner, pressing in on my chest.
My breath catches, stomach twisting into knots. Asher isn’t just some rich asshole who dabbles in shady business. He stalked me. He kidnapped me. He locked me in this penthouse. And now someone—someone who does not look like he deals in boardroom takeovers—is calling him Boss.
I swallow hard and press closer to the door, straining to hear. The voices are muffled, but I catch fragments. Choppy, ominous pieces of something bigger. Something worse.
“…drugs… shipments late… profits still down.”
A pause. A heavier voice—Asher’s? It must be.
“…Russian woman… find her.”
I suck in a sharp breath, pulse roaring in my ears.Russian woman?
My skin prickles.Are they talking about her? The woman who set me up? The reason Asher took me? Why now? Why are they looking for her? What does she have to do with all of this?
Another murmur, lower, tense. “…war’s coming… need to move first.”
War?My nails bite into my palms. My body tenses so tightly I might shatter.War against who? And why? What the hell is Asher involved in?
“Maverick…keep eyes on her.”
I freeze.
Her.
Me?
I hold my breath, my chest aching from the effort to stay still, to stay invisible.
“…dangerous…mistake.”
A mistake.
I’m suffocating. My skin is burning with the need to run, to hide, and to do anything but stand here and listen.
The blood drains from my face. I don’t know if they mean me, the woman they’re hunting, or something else entirely, but the air feels too thick, suffocating. My thoughts are spinning, but one thing sticks—Maverick.
I heard his name. That’s what Asher said, wasn’t it?Maverick.
My stomach knots. I’ve heard Cami mention that name before. Maverick. It all starts clicking into place, the way a nightmare solidifies when you wake up gasping. Making my pulse skyrocket. If Maverick works for Asher, if Asher is his boss… then everything Cami thought she knew is a lie.
I need to move before I’m caught.
My legs feel like jelly as I back away from the door, heart hammering against my ribs. Every part of me screams to run, but where? There’s nowhere to go.
I stumble back into the Living room, hands shaking as I grab my phone, my fingers fumbling as I pull up Cami’s contact.
ME: Cami. We need to talk.
I stare at the phone and pray that she answers me quickly. I feel like I am going to burst.
Her message comes in shortly after I let out a breath of annoyance.
