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Kass is strong and tough. She can play a part. I should know. We could tell her what we’re doing. Instead, I’m being forced to hurt her in this shitty way. I know we’re not together at the moment, but dammit. We were making our way back.
Now it’s all shot to hell.
She’s supposed to think I’ve moved on.
Mission accomplished.
I linger outside the kitchen listening to Reggie and Freddie’s story about Zika virus. They don’t name it, but they basically describe all the symptoms. It’s not a completely far-fetched lie. Cases of the virus have been detected in Florida, but if Kass had the disease, we’d know by now.
Reggie exits the small room first and gives me an approving nod. He might be the king’s great uncle, but I’ve wanted to punch him in the face for going on eighteen months now. He’s not helping his case.
Freddie takes several minutes longer to emerge, and when he does, he catches my arm and pulls me deeper into the house, away from Kass’s room.
“Give me your phone.” I fish in my pocket and hand it to him.
He spends a few moments pecking on the screen while I wait, watching. Finally he hands it back to me. “There she is.”
I look down at the device, and on the screen is what looks like a common map of the city with overlapping red, blue, and yellow dots flashing right near the shore, right where Occitan is located.
“Which one is Kass?”
“All three.” He smiles with the pride of a techno geek. “We’re tracking the GPS in her phone, which is the red dot. The blue one is a bug I slipped into her purse, and the yellow is the chip I just injected right below her skin.”
My eyebrows shoot up, and I confess I feel an enormous weight lifted off my shoulders. “You’ve got her covered,” I say.
“And you’re determined to be there in person.” He pats me on the arm. “I’d say the chances of us losing track of Cassandra Kroft are slim to none.”
All three dots start to move, and my eyes flick to Freddie’s. “Where is she going?”
“I told her she could leave.”
Even with all this technology, his words send a blast of panic through my insides. “Have we checked her apartment? Is it clean?”
I’m moving fast to my room, Freddie’s right behind me. “We can get someone there ahead of her. The guys watching her brother are the closest.”
“Jesus, Freddie!” I snap. “What the hell. You should have told her she had to stay another night. Tell Ava goodbye or anything.”
“She was ready. If I’d told her to stay, she might have changed her mind.”
It was the fucking Skype call that did it. My stomach twists hard, and I’m ready to punch all these assholes who don’t love her like I do. To them she’s a bridge to a goal, but to me she is the goal. She’s all I want.
“Call the guys. Tell them to do a quick sweep, but let them know I’m on the way. If they need backup, I’m less than five minutes out.”
“What about Ava?” Freddie calls as I grab the keys to my bike off the small table in my bedroom. “You’re assigned to guard the queen regent.”
“Rowan changed my assignment when he decided to use Kass as bait.”
“I’ll tell him you said that.”
At this point, I don’t give a shit. I’m shooting out in the night on my bike, doing my best to beat that fucking Uber to Kass’s apartment. In the front of my mind is that stairway and the old man who didn’t even care that he let me walk right into the building that first day. If Blix has anybody watching her place, she’s as good as captured within the first twenty-four hours.
I have to cut the speed considerably as I maneuver my way through the narrow city streets. My only comfort is I’m pretty far ahead of the Uber, and Freddie said he’d send the boys from Cameron’s watch over to check out the place. I don’t like leaving her brother unguarded, but I won’t risk anything happening to Kass.
It’s after eleven when I pull the bike into that same alley where we’d been together that last night. The rain has left everything wet and smelling of copper and water. The air is cool, and the dampness makes it even cooler. There’s no moon tonight, but I can still see Kass’s beautiful body arched against my chest in the dim light of the alley. My hands covered her small breasts, thumbs circling, moving down her smooth skin. Moonlight glistened off her hair, and she was just so fucking mine. I have to shake the memory away and focus.
Checking my phone, I see the three dots are five blocks away. My bike is hidden in the dark alley, and I pause, unsure if I want to chance going to the front door. Blix has had long enough to recognize Rex and Stefano, the two guys watching Cam.
If they’re keeping tabs on us at all, they won’t think twice about them coming here to check on Kass’s place. My appearance, however, moves her return to a whole new level. It gives everything away. Yes, I get now why Rowan doesn’t want me here, but I’ll be damned if I trust Kass’s safety to anyone else.
