Page 109 of Unleashed
Because I am one.
"Harper, are you okay?"
I run my fingers through my hair and take a breath that doesn't quite fill my lungs. No.I'm not. Because I don't want to be here. I want to be back at Sterling Ranch, curled into Ace's side on that couch, proving to the man I've loved for almost my entire life that I won't mess this up again. That I love him. That I wish I'd never left.
And instead, here I am. Back in LA. Back to pretending. Back to lying. Being the exact opposite of the woman Ace deserves.
"It’s just the traveling," I say. Half true. "I'm tired. And I have work to do." Also true. I need to finish rewriting the property documents for Gianna, the ones I've been carefully reconstructing to give her only the information the Sterlings want her to see.
I'm also waiting to hear from Ace with a location on Gianna's brother's killer. Today, he’s kidnapping Thomas Graves. That'sthe kind of sentence that would've made me nauseous eight months ago. Now it barely registers. I don't know what that says about me.
Hudson scratches his stubble. "Gianna is actually coming here."
My mouth almost hits the floor. "What?"
The word comes out at a pitch that could shatter the obscene number of windows in this house.
"Of all the things you remembered to tell me, like picking up flowers, what outfits to wear, this engagement ring—" I hold up my hand, and the diamond catches the light like it's mocking me. "You failed to mention that the Italian mafia is coming here, and I still haven't put together all her files because you made me drive to the outskirts of the goddamn city!"
He blinks at me. "Are you quite finished, Harper?"
I suck in a breath, snap my mouth shut, and remember exactly where I fall in this food chain.
At the bottom. Right at the bottom. That isn’t where I want to be. And when I was at the ranch, questioning those guys, it didn’t feel like rock bottom. It felt really damn good.
"Yes. Sorry." I straighten my shoulders. "Can you show me my room? I'll finish the document write-up. Do you have a printer?"
He frowns. "Don't you have the originals?"
Shit."No. By law, they can't hand them over."
He nods, accepting my lie. The originals are at Sterling Ranch. "Yes. Just email them to me, I'll print them off. Gianna will be here in about an hour. Then my parents arrive at seven. Sharp."
"Got it, boss."
I grab my bag and follow him down a hallway that's longer than my entire apartment. My phone buzzes in my back pocket. I don't look at it. Not yet. Not while Hudson's watching.
But I know who it is. And just the thought of his name steadies something inside me that this house and this ring and this life keep trying to shake loose.
One night,I remind myself.
Then I'm going home.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Ace
One way to keep my brain occupied instead of thinking about Harper having dinner with her fake fiancé is a kidnapping.
One in broad daylight and a plan that, if executed correctly, is worthy of a movie. Although I could also end up with a bullet in my head. I’m betting on the first one. Because I made this plan and it’s fuckin’ airtight.
The lunchtime heat is scorching as Colten blows his smoke out through the truck window. The stock trailer rattles empty behind us. Jett and Tate left an hour before—ATVs loaded in Tate's blacked-out pickup, staging east. Paulie and Xander took the long route south to set up on the ridge without crossing the property's sight line.
The target is Thomas fucking Graves, tied to the murder of Gianna’s brother. He's been holed up in a safe house south of Prescott for two weeks. Single-story cinder block, one access road, flat desert on all sides. Light security. Two to three guys, rotating.
They thought killing Max Milano was a power move, and all it did was put their top trainer into hiding.
Hunter wants him alive. Leverage, not justice. The LA family can't be trusted to handle this cleanly, and the Greeks sure as hell won't police their own. So Enzo called Romeo, Romeo called Hunter, and Hunter handed me the field.
