AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“How can this be happening?” I said, feeling off-balance as the contract gained more and more interest. Some killer would accept it eventually. Especially if the person who wanted me dead kept raising the payoff.
“It’s fine, baby,” Gian said, looking stressed, but in control of the situation. My men didn’t panic easily. They couldn’t afford to. Pounding the keys on his laptop, he said, “I have to download their IP addresses before they log off. We’re gonna find this motherfucker.”
“More are dropping out again, Giancarlo,” Anthony said. “How can we track them then?”
“Worry about them later. We need to focus on whoever wins the contract.” Giancarlo remained brilliantly cool and thank God he could think straight. “Whoever’s offering this contract will find a hitman willing to take the risk for the right price eventually,” he added.
“Gian, look,” Anthony said low and dangerous.
“Holy fucking shit.” He stood up, his mouth dangling open. “It’s now five-hundred thousand.”
“That’s not good,” I said, sitting down.
Anthony squeezed my arm. “The higher the price goes, a more unscrupulous, more lethal hitman will take the job. A real pro. The type you never see coming.”
“The kind of crazy motherfucker who isn’t afraid of us,” Bastien ground out.
“Oh God, no,” Gian said.
“What’s that link blinking?” Sebastien asked.
“That’s the guy who accepted the contract.”
I stared at the number next to FC157. $550,000. It was nice to know how much I was worth. A nervous laugh escaped me.
“Get out of my way.” Gian pushed past Bastien.
“Where are you going?” I asked, fear shooting through me.
“To kill off your Wi-Fi. Fry it, erase all the history.”
“I got it,” Gil said, and rushed out of the office.
“If anyone else on that site does what I did and captures IP addresses to start tracking, it will lead them back here to you. Right now, they have no reason to believe we were on that site, watching the sale of that damn contract.” He flung his laptop against the wall, leaving a sizeable dent in the drywall. “They probably already know where you live. We have to get you out of here.”
“Where?” Anthony said.
“Not sure. Let me think a minute. She needs to go someplace no one knows about.” Gian ran his hand through his hair. “My safehouse. We’ll take her there.”
“We’re all gonna disappear? Won’t that look suspicious?” Anthony said.
“You think I give a fuck how this looks?” Bastien said.
“I have an escape plan for Becca,” Vale spoke up. “I’ve had it for months now.”
I spun around and faced him. “And when were you going to tell me?”
“You have enough to worry about. Your security is my job,” Vale answered with his head held high.
“Sorry. I won’t be forced from my home.” I held firm. “Queens don’t run or hide.”
“We have safehouses for a reason,” Bastien said, stroking my cheek. “People can be ruthless. There’s no shame in being protected.”
“What’s this plan you’ve had for Becca, Vale?” Anthony asked, sounding skeptical.
He glared at Anthony instead of responding.
“Vale, my guys love me. I trust them. You have to trust them too.”
Vale lowered his eyes. “The subway.”
“The subway?” Anthony sneered. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“He means the tunnels,” Gil corrected, coming back into the room. “Wi-Fi is history. There are too many cameras around now recording everything. Right, Giancarlo?” Before Gian came into my life, Gil took care of all my surveillance needs.
Gian grinned. “Smart. This whole city is wired. There are literally cameras on every street corner. If these animals put the contract on a message board, they’re technologically savvy. Those cameras installed at all the Joe-Schmo Bodegas are not secure at all. A fourteen-year-old gamer can hack into them.”
From a folder in my safe, Vale took out a subway map he said he’d downloaded months ago and Gil then wiped the history away so no one would track what he searched on the internet.
“Which subway tunnel am I wandering around in?”
“The 4 line and you’re not wandering,” Vale said. “I’m going with you. I have a house north of Westchester, it’s still in my mother’s name. She remarried, so no one would recognize the deed.”
“Vale...” I hadn’t the need for this kind of bodyguard protection before and it left me overwhelmed.
“I don’t like this,” Gian said, growing aggravated. He liked to be in charge of me.
“I can’t live with myself if something happens to you, Becca.” Lifting his gun and pointing it, Vale said, “I go with her, or I start shooting. I kept her safe for years before you three showed up.” He’d been protecting me since I went to high school, but never like this.
“Why are you pointing that damn weapon at me, man!” Anthony stomped toward him.
“Messina!” Bastien grabbed his arm as tempers flared all over the office.
“Guys, stop it!” Raising my voice silenced everyone.
“Vale,” Gian said firmly. “You get her out of midtown, go north of here where it’s not as congested, but then I’m bringing her to my safehouse. No offense, but that part is non-negotiable.” Gian looked the subway map over and then at me. “Put on a pair of jeans, a long- sleeve shirt, a raincoat, and a pair of boots.”
“Boots? It’s seventy degrees.”
“Hiking boots. Just do it.” His Dom voice shook me.
I rushed upstairs to change amidst the deafening roar of my men arguing.
