Page 152 of Penny For Your Thoughts
It took a minute for my brain to catch up. A baby. My cousin’s baby. It was Monday.
“Oh my god. Is it Monday?”
“Sunday. She went on her own. Labor started last night.”
“In my defense, things have been…” I scanned the marina. “Nuts lately.”
My cousin chuckled. “They always are with you. I don’t want to know. Today, I don’t care.”
“Congratulations. I really can’t talk. I’m in the middle of something, but we’ll pop in as soon as we can.”
“Don’t rush to the hospital. The family is here, and I know that’s probably uncomfortable for you.”
The thought made me shiver. “Let me know when Tia’s discharged. We’ll swing by the house.”
I rushed to end the call, feeling bad that I didn’t have time to share my cousin’s elation.
We hung up, and I got out and glanced at the row of vehicles. None of Lukyan’s notable cars were there. He’d probably ditched the Bentley since the windshield was smashed. It would have drawn unwanted attention. Was he not here? Had Aaron’s call sent him fleeing? Did I miss him?
“Shit.”
It was cold by the lake. A bitter wind cut across the water and nipped at my unprotected ears. I’d raced out of the house without a coat, too hell-bent on confronting Aaron in my snazzy outfit and bending him to my will. I regretted that decision as my thin shirt fluttered and goose bumps broke out all over my body.
My attention caught on a line of empty boat slips in the distance. A man in a black wool coat paced the dock with a phone pressed to his ear.
I couldn’t tell for sure from where I stood, but I thought it was Lukyan. The agitation fit. The pictures I’d seen online matched the starchily dressed guy who paced a strip, conversing with hand gestures that suggested anger or irritation.
He hadn’t noticed me, and considering Diem was the one who encountered him at the storage unit, it was possible he wouldn’t recognize me as a threat. At least not right away. Aaron might have described me, but descriptions got lost in translation… or so I hoped.
I contemplated what to do. Approaching could be disastrous. If the millionaire suspected danger, he might run or get violent. Cornered animals tended to strike, no matter the consequences. It was a survival instinct. Self-preservation. They wouldn’t go down without a fight. Unfortunately, I was not exactly a threatening predator. Having knowledge of his crime would not save my ass in a confrontation. If anything, it putmein danger.
Besides, it wasn’t like Lukyan was taking off any time soon. I glanced behind me to confirm the boat was still nestled in its slot. The choreography required to remove it was no simple affair. If Diem could secure those files, I would have leverage. We could get the police involved. They didn’t have to know how we got them. So long as I kept tabs on Lukyan and didn’t let him slip away, we could do this properly.
“See, D? I’m not reckless.” The wind blew, and I shivered, hugging myself. “I’m fucking freezing, but not reckless.”
In fact, I was so proud of my plan that I removed my phone to text my overconcerned boyfriend, but before I could properly word a message, a tickling sensation crawled up the back of my neck—and it wasn’t the icy fingers of a new breeze licking my spine.
I darted my attention to the dock and caught Lukyan staring. At me. He still had the phone pressed to his ear, but his mindless pacing had stopped. His frantic energy had simmered. The open storage building sat behind me, but that wasn’t where his attention had landed. No. It was definitely on me. Any hope of remaining a stranger on the periphery vanished. Any hope of a peaceful encounter died.
I froze, locked in a silent standoff, unsure what he would do.
A steadybeep, beep, beepsounded behind me, a noise associated with a work vehicle reversing. The crane. The boat. It was coming down.
I didn’t look. I didn’t move. I wasn’t sure I breathed.
Lukyan lowered the hand holding the phone and tucked the device into the pocket of his stylish coat.
Alert, I clocked the distance between us. A good seventy or eighty yards—a gravel lot, a lengthy wooden dock, and a knee-high stone barricade between the two.
Lukyan broke eye contact and surveyed his surroundings. Noon on a weekend meant the marina was unoccupied. Apart from the men removing the boat from storage, we were the only people around. The guys inside the building were too busy to notice trouble brewing. Too busy to see Lukyan make a decision.
He took off at a sprint.
“You motherfucker.”
I pushed off, intent on launching into a run, and immediately face-planted in the gravel when my loafers slipped on the loose stones because, of course, he was going to make me run. Of course, I wasn’t appropriately attired for a fucking chase.
Of course, of course, of course.
