Page 56 of The Breeding Cave
Once Alvin took another good look at Gideon, he stepped back again. “Ten thousand. I’ll have one of my men swing by the apartment tonight. Leave it outside in a green envelope. No exceptions.”
Green envelope?! This man is reaching with these requests.
“Where am I going to find a green envelope?” I asked. “Plus, I don’t have the money.”
“You work for Luciano Bates. You can get us money.”
He knows Luciano? How?
Not something that I was going to ask him. I needed to get out of here now, and if I had a chance to escape, thanks to Gideon, then I was going to leave and sprint to the office since it was closer.
God, this is all my fault! The Dragon Clan was now after not only the beast, but Luciano and his company too. All because they wanted me for reasons that they wouldn’t tell me. Bottom line: I needed to warn Luciano about the Dragon Clan. Now.
“Get the fuck out of here,” Gideon said to Alvin.
Alvin narrowed his eyes at Gideon, but then—to my surprise—he walked back to his car, slipped into the passenger seat, and drove away with one of his men. My gaze didn’t leave that SUV until it was out of my sight.
“Who was that?” Gideon asked.
“My ex.”
“Ex, huh?”
I glanced up at him. “Yeah, sorry about that.”
“It’s no big deal. I’ll walk you to work.”
“You don’t have to,” I said, another wind chilling me. “Really.”
“I’m not letting you out of my sight until you’re safe, especially after that.”
After a quick nod because I didn’t want to fight with him—I didn’t feel safe after that either—I headed down the road and toward the office. The beast was literally going to murder me once he found out that I had left the penthouse.
Hell, if he hadn’t found out yet.
“You work for Luciano?” Gideon asked on our walk over.
“Yes. How do you know him?”
“Who doesn’t know him?” He sipped on his pumpkin-flavored coffee. “The grumpy billionaire who’d rather hang out in a coffee shop than his own office just to watch you work.” A low chuckle escaped his mouth. “I don’t blame him though. When you have that kind of money, power, and influence, life can be lonely.”
My mind was reeling with so many different thoughts—Is he insinuating that Luciano … stalked me when I worked at Pink Ivory? And what did he mean by “I don’t blame him”?—but we had reached my office building.
“Well, I should get going,” I said, twisting around to face him. “Thanks for?—”
But Gideon was already gone.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-EIGHT
LUCIANO
I had been waiting outside my office for Ella to arrive, barely keeping it together. What the fuck had happened last night? Why in Ella’s right mind would she come to my penthouse and hurt Yeosin? I planned to find out everything from her.
The elevator dinged, and her repulsive scent drifted through my nose. She walked in, hair bouncing in a high ponytail and lips covered in red, and headed my way. I flared my nostrils and glared at her.
“My office. Now,” I said when she was in earshot.
