Page 50 of Brutal Bond

I could take her right now.

The garage is devoid of people, and the security is shit. I could do what I need to do and be done with it. Ensuring to stay light on my feet so she doesn’t hear me coming, I begin to close the distance between us. A few feet from the exit, I reach out to her. My hand lingers a hair from her shoulder, and a boisterous couple pushes through the door. She stops to talk to them, and I obscure my face as I briskly walk around her.

Your apartment it is.

Tucking myself into the alleyway between the garage and her apartment, I continue to wait. She walks past moments later. I almost follow straight behind her, but I opt to wait a few minutes.

Staring at my watch, I count the seconds until ten minutes have passed before stepping from the alley. I quickly walk into her building and disregard the requirement to stop at the security desk.

“Sir,” the man behind the desk calls after me. “I can’t let you up without signing in and verifying the residents are?—”

“This is a police matter.” I flash my badge at him. “Do you really want to impede a police investigation?”

“I’m sorry, sir.” He quickly recoils and takes his seat as I step onto the elevator.

As I push the button for her floor, my heart begins to race as the doors close. Unable to stop myself, I send her a text.

Time’s up, Harper.

I know you’ve been fucking lying to me this whole time.

We’re going to fucking talk.

NOW.

CHAPTER

THIRTY-EIGHT

EDMUND

“This has been a great pleasure, gentleman,” I shake hands with the three white-haired men sitting across the boardroom table from me as I continue, “I appreciate you taking the time and your gracious—and unanimous—agreement that expanding The Plantation will be a great addition to Adelaide Cove.”

Gracious, my ass.

One hundred thousand dollars to each of those small-minded townies to agree to rezone the thirty acres of marshland abutting my current development. A bribe well-fueled by the sudden and untimely removal of Mr. Marshall from the zoning board. But thirty acres of prime real estate that I will more than make back my small investment on.

Walking from the boardroom, I pull my phone from my jacket pocket. It’s been buzzing against my chest for the last ten minutes. Swiping the screen, I have six missed calls from Harper and nearly twice as many text messages.

“So needy,” I chuckle to myself as I open the texts.

HARPER

He knows.

Eddie, he’s so angry.

He’s on his way.

Please call me.

What do I do?

Eddie?

I don’t know what to do!

Nikki isn’t here.

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