Page 120 of High Reward

Grace lays her head on my shoulder. “I had enough. But you and Victor should eat too. Is he up?”

I nod and blush and Grace grins. “I’m glad I left you two alone then. You needed some alone time.”

“Well, we certainly got it. He was rather mean to me in the shower.”

Grace beams and raises a knowing eyebrow. “And you loved every second of it.”

I let out a snort. “Maybe. Definitely. Just don’t tell him I said that.”

“Your secret is safe with me. Is he in his office? I should take him food.”

I grip her shoulder and nod to the screen. “Don’t. I’ll take care of it. He would want you to keep writing if you’re inspired. I want you to keep writing. And I’m immensely proud of you, Grace. You’re going to be a very successful author.”

She looks at the screen and back at me. “Are you sure? I’m his submissive. It’s a joy to take care of him.”

I kiss her cheek. “It is, and you do a lovely job. But sometimes taking care of him is taking care of what makes you happy. And right now, darling, you’re fucking radiant. We both know he would want you to stay like this.”

I stand to make my way to the kitchen, but a noise at the front stops me.

“You can’t come in here, Sir. We’re not open.” I recognize the voice as one of the men guarding us, and I make my way to the front and into the back room of the sandwich shop. There, I’m confronted with Jacob the assassin, looking frantic.

“I need to see Victor right away. It’s important.”

My heart is in my chest as I face the man who attacked me a year ago, but something about his demeanor says we should hear him out, so I lean over and murmur to the guard. “Keep him here. I’ll go get Victor.”

Chapter 30

Victor

“Kara seems to have gone dormant, and I don’t like it. Does she know we’re watching her so she’s lying low?”

I pace behind my desk as I wait for Owen to respond on speakerphone. He’s at work at the casino, so we’re forced to communicate this way about his progress on finding out what Kara’s next move will be.

“There’s no reason to believe she suspects us, mate. It’s likely that she realizes Grace isn’t at home right now, and she’s regrouping. I’m still not finding any connection to Griffin Price, but it doesn’t mean it’s not there. I did find some potential overlap around the time Grace was with them, but it’s not been corroborated yet, so it’s in the maybe column.”

A knock on the door interrupts, and I ask Owen to wait while I answer it. Lili is standing there with a panicked look on her face. I’ve only ever seen her this pale one other time. Not even when I pulled a gun on her.

“What is it? Is Grace OK?” I step back to make room for her.

She’s quiet as she steps into the office, but immediately steps into my bubble.

“I heard you on the phone. Is it safe to talk?”

I pull her closer and cup her jaw. “It’s Owen. He’s on speaker. What’s going on?”

“Jacob, yes that Jacob, is in the sandwich shop. Insists on talking to you. Says it’s important.”

I frown. “Did he say what it was about?”

“No. I was about to get you something to eat when I heard the commotion in the front. The security guy wouldn’t let him past the shop, but something about the way he was acting told me it might be important, so I told him to keep Jacob up there and I would get you.”

“You hearing this, Owen?” I call over my shoulder.

“Yep. Go. Update me when you know what that fucker wants.”

It’s good to know that Owen feels the same way about the bastard as I do. Matteo and Luke were a little more forgiving.

I end the call and slip the phone in my pocket. “You can wait in here if you don’t want to see him again, Spitfire,” I murmur, pulling her close.