Page 29 of Buying Angel

“Now?”

This was what I was worried about. That he would try to put me off until tomorrow morning and we would miss our flight slot. I had to convince him that it was worth his while.

“I know it’s late. I have to head back home tonight, but this deal needs to be made tonight if you want to go ahead so I can get everything in place. Believe me, you will kick yourself if you don’t get involved. You’ll be making more money than those Russians you’re dealing with.”

I hoped mentioning the Russians might give him an idea of what my proposition was. I must have piqued his interest when he answered me.

“If you must.”

“I’m just around the corner, so I will be there in a few minutes.”

I ended the call, sent a text to Nico to tell him we were on, and got out of the car. I took a little time to walk around to the front of the building; I didn’t want Vincent to think I had been right outside when I called him. I went up to the door and pressed the intercom for his apartment.

“Yes?”

“Hi, Vincent. It’s Hudson.”

“Come up.”

It didn’t escape my notice how blunt he was with me. I walked into the building and to the elevator to head up to his floor. When I approached the apartment door and found it open, I carefully went inside and announced that I was here.

“Vincent?”

“In here.”

I followed his voice and found myself walking into the living room. As I walked in, I saw Gaby standing there. I could tell she had been crying, and it looked as though her neck was red. I kept my face neutral, even though inside I was seething with rage knowing that Vincent had probably caused it.

I could see the shock on Gaby’s face as she realized it was me, but luckily, Vincent didn’t. He got up from his seat, walked toward me, and placed his arm around Gaby before speaking.

“I believe you know my fiancée, Ella. You know, the woman I took from you all those years ago.”

I could see Gaby cringe at being called Ella. I wasn’t going to call her that.

“It’s lovely to see you again.”

For once, I wasn’t lying. It was lovely to see her and the fact that she was relatively unharmed.

She gave a small smile. “It’s lovely to see you too.” She turned to Vincent, who was still holding her possessively. “I am going to head to bed. I’ll see you in the morning.”

She said her goodbyes and headed out of the room, leaving me alone with Vincent.

“Care to take a seat, Hudson?”

“Thanks.”

I followed Vincent toward the sofa and took a seat while he walked over to the cabinet in the corner of the room. As he reached it, he turned and spoke.

“Drink?”

“Bourbon, if you have any, please.”

He poured the drinks and walked back over to me, passing me the glass before taking a seat in the chair opposite me.

“So, what was so important that you had to come here in the early hours of the morning?”

I could tell he was annoyed that I was here, but I wasn’t going to let him get to me, especially as I knew that Gaby was safe and relatively unharmed. It did look as though I had gotten here just in time, though. I just decided to ignore his tone.

“Yes. Sorry it’s late, but this deal just dropped onto my lap, and I didn’t want you to miss out. I have a contact that can supply me with a new drug that is supposed to give you the same high as cocaine, but at an eighth of the price. In addition, it is in tablet form, so far easier to deal. Personally, I don’t do drugs, so I can’t say if it is worth it, but I thought it may be of interest to you. Plus, the markup on them is astronomical, so it’s well worth the small investment.”

---