AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Well, keep up, then. I’ve got a lot—”
My throat seizes around the rest of that thought as I yank Logan behind a wine cart.
“What the hell are you doing?”
With a finger to my lips, I jerk my head toward the other side of the cart and urge him into silence.
Following the line of my panicked stare, his body goes stock-still when he spots his dad talking on the phone.
“Eep,” I gasp when he wrenches us downward into a crouch.
A group of clucking chickens eye us curiously, inching closer to our feet with their pecking beaks.
“Shoo, tiny feathered demons.” When they bawk louder, Logan shoots me a stern look, and I wince. “Sorry.”
I place my head under his chin, peering around the cart and up at Silas, who’s absently sifting through wine bottles.
“What is he doing out here?” I whisper.
Logan’s mouth moves to my ear, tickling the hair at my temple. “I’m not sure. Looks like he just left a meeting with the way he’s dressed.”
A sleek gray suit, blood-red tie, and black leather shoes give Silas an air of power as he speaks. “I already told you not to worry, Reid. It’s going to be worth it. I’ll have an update on the newest development at the fundraiser next weekend. We can chat more then.”
I look at Logan curiously, feeling his uneven breaths at my back as we listen. “Who’s he talking to?”
“Nathan Reid. He’s a real estate investor with a lot of money, and he’s helped fund a few Elite Properties’ bigger developments in Tauntuma.” He appears distracted by his thoughts when he says, “I’ve never liked him.”
Logan gently nudges me, and I shuffle backward as Silas’s feet appear beside the cart. People around us are starting to stare now, and dirt sticks to my sweaty palms as we duck around the cart, trying to remain unseen.
“Sounds like they’re scheming…”
I half expect to be met with the same defensiveness from earlier this week, but he surprises me when he agrees, “It does.”
Silas pauses again, humming in response to something Reid says, and when I inch back, I bump into a wooden crate on the ground, jostling several wine bottles.
“Hey, what are you doing?” the vendor asks from across the area, where he was adjusting a display.
At his accusatory tone, my hands jolt off the box. “Oh, no, no. This isn’t what it looks like. I’m not…”
“Trying to steal from me, huh?” He points at me, shouting a garbled mix of rapid-fire Spanish as he marches toward us.
“Hold on a minute,” Silas says.
“Shit,” Logan groans, knowing we’re fucked.
It’s a split-second decision—stand our ground or run like hell. But I know Silas’s games, and if he finds us together, Logan will suffer one way or another.
And I’ll be damned if I let that happen.
I scan the area for an exit. Behind us, the market stretches for another half-mile, but there’s an alleyway that cuts between this sector and the main road. If we can make it there, we’re home free.
“Time to make a run for it.”
“He’ll see us,” he argues.
“Not if I’ve got anything to say about it.” I snatch up one of the fowl still plucking around our feet and it squawks obnoxiously.
“What the fuck are you going to do with that?”
