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Eva had gone on and on about this thing like it was some sacred old money bible. As I flipped through pages, I doubted she could even read it.
I sure as hell couldn’t, which was more than likely why Mateo didn’t care if I saw it or not.
The hand writing was neat, easily legible.
The part that was throwing me was the list of names, either a person or a business, followed by a set of numbers in random sequences of four, six, or eight.
The entire book was the same way, until I hit a point where Mateo’s name was circled with an arrow pointing to one word.
Ace had been written—no, gouged—so many times it tore through the remaining pages in a mess of bleeding blue ink. A softly printed question mark was beside it. This handwriting was different than all the rest. I was positive it was Eva’s. She was the only person I knew who curled their letters at the ends.
I was still staring at the page trying to decipher what it could mean when Peyton’s name flashed across my phone screen for a third time, giving me my light-bulb moment.
Not having charged my cell since hours earlier the previous day, a red ten percent sat glaringly in the corner.
Manually turning the brightness higher, I went to camera mode and took as many clear pictures of the pages within the book as I could.
I heard a door shut and my stomach dropped. Intently listening for the sound of footsteps, I flipped the book closed and hurriedly attached as many of the images to a text as I was able, with a lone question mark. I added in the word Roulette by way of explanation.
I watched the photos load painstakingly slow. The battery message popped up again with another warning and my palms began to sweat. I paced back and forth, willing the damn thing to just send, expelling a nervous breath when it finally said sent.
I anxiously waited for Peyton’s reply. Exactly three minutes and eight percent charge later, it came through.
Peyton: Give me 24h! B Safe.
I exhaled with a smile. God, I loved him. Peyton lived for shit like this. He was intelligent as hell when it came to anything to do with numbers and hacking. If anyone could decipher this mumbo jumbo, it was him.
I deleted the text and all the pictures from my gallery before powering the phone off.
I didn’t want Mateo to know that I intended to have Peyton decipher his precious book.
After securing my cell back in my clutch, I snagged the manila folder I’d been given off the desk, debating what I should do next.
Slipping out the doors that led to the terrace would be easy, but I highly doubted the guards manning the property gates would open them for me. Even if they did, where would I go and what would I do once I got there?
I knew zero people with enough spine to go against Mateo, precisely why I’d intended to use him to help me find Eva.
That had worked out fabulously.
“Okay…” I slowly exhaled, trying to get my thoughts in order.
I didn’t have a solid plan, didn’t even know what the hell was going on yet exactly, but I did know that anything I came up with would more than likely be derailed.
I decided to start with getting out of Mateo’s office.
Making a beeline for the exit, I reached for the door just as it was swinging open, bringing me face to face with the devil himself.
Chapter Two
Mateo fucking Remmington.
His head tilted to the right slightly as he perused me with his beautifully bold, tiger-like eyes, clocking every inch of my body.
I did the same unabashedly, starting at his head full of silky onyx locks that had just been threaded through my fingers. My gaze drifted downward, over his form fitting suit.
I knew underneath the flawlessly stitched fabric was luminescent golden skin and a body hand sculpted by the gods.
His high cheek bones and flawless jaw-line adorned with freshly shaved stubble only amplified his attractiveness.
