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Being left out of the investigation suited him just fine in this instance. After all, killing his brother would be much easier without the police in his pocket.
ChapterTwenty-Two
She had to hand it to the Banks family. They kept their shit locked up tight. If she hadn’t known what she was looking for, she would have missed a dozen little clues as she was researching them.
And even armed with the knowledge she had courtesy of their eldest son, it wasn’t enough to put so much as a smudge on their sparkling reputation.
But there were threads. And if there was one thing a good reporter knew, it was that if you tugged on a loose thread hard enough, eventually it would all unravel. She just needed the find the perfect thread, and yank on it as hard as she fucking could.
Because it was no longer enough for her to help put Adrian away. As far as she was concerned, the whole fucking family were accomplices to Gabby’s murder, and she was going to do everything in her power to make sure they answered for their crimes.
The only fly in her ointment was Cyrus. Taking down his family would mean exposing him in the worst possible way. It was entirely possible she’d lose him, and already her heart ached at the thought of saying goodbye, but she owed it to Gabby. And if that meant sacrificing her relationship with the man she was starting to think she might be in love with, well, so be it.
When her vision blurred from staring at the computer screen for so long, she decided to call it a night. At least until she got some food in her stomach. Along with a glass of wine. Or three. Gathering up her laptop and her notes, she headed down to the lobby.
Movement from the waiting area near the door caught her eye. A man trying far too hard to blend in was making a beeline for her. Heart racing, she picked up her pace to a brisk walk.
But he’d already adjusted to the increase in speed, cutting diagonally to intercept her.
Who the fuck was he? Surely Adrian wouldn’t be stupid enough to send someone to kidnap her in broad daylight.
Then again, perhaps it was hubris more than stupidity. And that, she was certain, Adrian Banks had plenty of.
Turning on her heel, she detoured down a side hall, past a row of singular offices that were rented out to various small businesses. There was an emergency exit at the end of the hall, which would bring attention her way and hopefully scare off her potential abductor.
With her heart hammering against her ribcage, she raced for the door, not even bothering to check behind her. Relief welled up inside of her when her hand slammed down on the bar, the emergency siren immediately blaring as she shoved the door open and burst out into the cool evening air.
But her relief was short-lived. No sooner had she stepped outside than a hand clamped down around her arm, dragging her off into the shadows of the alley behind her office building. Before she could scream, another hand covered her mouth. Visions of her own body, limp and lifeless in the dark alley, flooded her mind and panic tightened like a vice around her chest.
“I’ve got the asset,” a deep male voice rumbled in her ear. “Yeah, yeah, you can tell him his girlfriend is safe. I’ll hold her in the van until he gets here.”
Girlfriend? Annoyance replaced fear as the meaning of his words finally penetrated her panicked mind.
The goon squad. Great.
“All right, Ms. Ouranos. If I let you go, are you going to come with me and wait for your man to get here? Or am I going to have to restrain you?”
From anyone else, it might have sounded crass, suggestive even. But the man holding her hostage sounded almost…bored.
Well. Wasn’tthathumbling.
She nodded, hoping he’d take it as the acquiescence she meant it to be. A moment later, his hand lifted from her mouth, but he left it hovering just a few inches from her face as if anticipating her scream.
When she remained silent, he dropped his hand completely, though the hand still gripping her arm didn’t loosen until they were tucked away in the nondescript white van that had been waiting for them at the entrance to the alleyway. Okay, so maybe they were more discreet than she’d given them credit for since she’d never noticed the damn van.
If theyhadbeen bad guys, she had no doubt she’d be well on her way to her final resting place, as organized as they were.
“We almost lost you there, Ms. Ouranos.” The man in the front passenger seat twisted around to offer her a bright smile. It took her a moment to place him as the man in the lobby, the one she’d been fleeing when she’d ran into the alley.
To her surprise, he seemed completely unperturbed by the whole thing. If anything, he was practically bouncing with excitement, as if this was the most exciting thing to happen to him all day. All things considered, maybe it was. “Perhaps if you gentleman had bothered to introduce yourselves, I wouldn’t have felt the need to escape.”
Front seat man’s smile turned apologetic. “Sorry about that. You caught us by surprise in the lobby. We figured you’d be upstairs until Mr. Banks came to get you.”
That was, she realized belatedly, where she was supposed to be. She’d completely forgotten to let him know she was ready to leave.
Whoops.
As if he’d heard her thinking of him, her phone rang, and she barely contained a wince at his name on her screen. Shifting to face the wall of the van for at least some semblance of privacy, she answered the call. “Hello?”
