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Enough. Think this through.
Who could have sent her? Was this about money? I didn’t have any… none that she could access anyway. But the truth was Ididhave enough money to make myself an attractive target for thieves. ORUS had paid me well back in the day. I’d had enough sense to squirrel most of what I’d earned from them into an untouchable offshore account on the off chance that I’d have to run and take Nonna and Lucia with me. I’d made sure they’d never have to want for anything.
But Diana couldn’t know about that account, and the only way into it was the account number, both thumbprints, and an eye scan. So this wasn’t about that.
And then it hit me. There was something else far more valuable. Fuck, had she stolen the Decker?
I lurched down the hallway, holding on to the walls for balance. Once I reached the kitchen, I paused and forced myself to drink some water from the tap and then splashed some on my face. I needed to wake the fuck up. This was more than sex stupor. I’d definitely been drugged. Just what had she given me?
Thanks to the water, my brain was functioning a little more clearly, and my legs were slowly catching up. Now as I lurched, I did so with more purpose. I stumbled into the dining room and then careened around the corner to make sure the Decker was still there.
My heart thumped against my ribs, and my breath came out in sharp, choppy gasps. Oh thank fuck. It was still here.
If this wasn’t about stealing the painting, then what was wrong? What could have caused her to do this? Maybe she was scared? My conversation with Noah came back to me in bits and pieces. One of the few reasons a woman lies is because she’s afraid.
I frowned. It was possible that Diana was hiding from something serious. I didn’t think it was the boyfriend. I was good at reading people, and I believed the guy when he said he didn’t know her. So what was it? I’d told her that I would protect her. I would do anything to keep her safe. She knew that right?
I beat the shit out of that guy?Had that scared her? Had that made her run?
I had done my best to keep that part of me hidden. Sure, I hadn’t killed her asshole of an ex, but I’d worked him over good. And I’d enjoyed every second of it. What the hell was wrong with me?
Had she seen the bruises on my knuckles and thought about what those hands could do to her?
But then I thought back to the camera footage. She hadn't been upset. She'd been calm.
I barely made it to the bathroom before I was sick.
To force my body to wake up, I stripped and stepped into the shower. I turned the lever until the water streamed out ice-cold, pelting my skin for as long as I could stand it. After a few minutes of punishment, I turned off the water and toweled off briskly.
I snatched my clothes and headed back to my office. In the midst of my initial shock I hadn't done a thorough search of the safe. I needed to see exactly what she had taken. I was assuming all the cash was gone but I'd had other things in there that were far more valuable.
The thing about intuition was that it wasn’t so much there to warn you about awesome things in your life. That little lizard brain in the back of most people’s minds usually warned of impending danger or that something was wrong. It was that feeling everyone felt in the pit of their stomach when someone said they needed to talk.
As my hand closed around the doorknob, I had that same exact twinge of intuition, that thing that said, “Hey, dude, shit’s about to hit the fan.”
And I wasn't ready.
There wasn’t much in the safe. Just some files that were better locked away. Files on ORUS agents. Files on undercover work that I’d done. Files I needed to hold on to to keep people safe. There had been cash. Nearly $50,000. All gone. Fine, whatever. I could do without the money.
My eyes immediately did a quick scan for the thumb drive. It was gone. She’d fucking taken it. My stomach dropped.
That friend of mine, the intuition, was back.
I looked again, hoping I was just foggy from the drugs. No one went through this much trouble just for money. If so, she’d have taken the Decker weeks ago. No, she’d hung around this long for something more valuable than money. Because the information on that flash drive was worth way more on the open market.
My head fell forward.
How many people were now in danger because I’d been thinking with my dick?
I didn’t have time for this shit. I needed to track Diana down and in a hurry. Still naked, I went straight to my room and grabbed my phone. When I’d bought her phone, I’d connected it to my account. She’d probably thought it had been an oversight on my part but I’d done it hoping she’d forget that I could see her, also.
I immediately pulled up the Find My Phone app. And what do you know? Bingo.
“Gotcha.” She was on the move. I squinted, looking at the map. She was near the shopping center where I’d taken her to get her clothes. If I left now, I’d have just enough time to catch her. Maybe. I didn’t know what the fuck she was doing, but I was going to get her.
Because after everything, I sure as shit wasn’t letting her go.
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