Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 107115 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 428(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107115 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 428(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
They raced out of the unit, and Madison tried not to look at the stairwell door, where she’d almost met her demise that fateful evening at Todd’s knife. Had that really been a mere month ago?
On the way back to her gilded cage, she begged for a bathroom stop. Ethan instructed the driver, Ilya, to go in with her for protection. Madison needed a few minutes away from Ethan, and she was grateful he’d fallen for her ruse.
She didn’t expect the driver to pull over at a gas station miles out of the way. With its peeling stucco building, faded canopy, and outdated pumps, this place had seen better decades. “Why are we stopping here?”
“Low-tech security.” Ilya winked, then strode inside and picked up the key to the exterior restroom’s door.
While Ethan grumbled about women always needing to go together, Madison motioned Ilya inside the one-holer and locked the door.
The model-like beauty crossed her arms over her chest. “You didn’t bring me in here to watch you pee.”
“No. How loyal are you to Ethan?”
She shook her head. “First time I’ve ever met him.”
“Can I trust you to help a girl out?” Madison was taking a risk, but damn it, she shouldn’t need this much subterfuge to get a damn bottle of prenatal vitamins.
Maybe the worry after yesterday’s scare made her rash. Maybe the guilt that she hadn’t been eating well or taking care of her baby so far drove her to trust this stranger. And maybe it was fear and hormones and erratic sleep…and just plain old desperation, but Madison felt out of options.
Ilya’s expression gave away nothing. “What do you need?”
“You didn’t answer me,” Madison pointed out.
The other woman smiled. “I’m a doer, not a judger. What are you looking for? Want to get high? Get laid? Get even?”
Hoping like hell she wasn’t making the wrong decision, Madison dropped her hand to her stomach. “I just need some prenatal vitamins. Absolutely no one can know.”
Ilya’s face softened. “I’ll take care of it. When and where?”
“Tonight. Can you leave them beside the water feature just outside the door at this address?” She rattled off her location. “Come disguised. Pretend to be lost or—shit. You need a key fob to access the elevator. I guess I could give you mine—”
“No offense, but you’re not a professional. Leave the details and the subterfuge to me.”
Madison felt a little foolish but relieved. “Thank you.”
“Is that all?”
“Am I missing something? I don’t know anything about being pregnant. I only found out yesterday. And no one knows.”
“And if my former boss’s nephew is calling someone like me to help you, then you’re in some deep shit.”
“Yeah.”
Ilya sighed. “Don’t make me question my sanity. Memorize this number. Don’t write it down. If you ever need me, day or night, I’ll come.”
At the woman’s kindness, tears sprang to Madison’s eyes. “Thank you. By November, I hope to be back in Louisiana. If you’re ever there and need some hospitality, want a mean gumbo, or could just use a friend, call me.”
“You got it.”
Minutes later, the gorgeous woman dropped them back at the auto body shop. Then the beard in the compact dropped them at the curb in front of their building.
Ethan gave her arm a reassuring squeeze before they entered the unit. Thankfully, they’d made it back before noon, so Todd hadn’t awakened. He’d probably know she’d taken an unauthorized field trip as soon as he crawled out of his lair, of course, but she’d fend him off…somehow.
What she hadn’t expected was Matt to be awake and prowling like he was about to lose his mind. He glared at Ethan like he intended to take his fellow operative’s head off, then scanned Madison with a wild-eyed concern. “Are you okay?”
“Of course. We just…” Oh, god. She had to lie to him. If she was going to keep the baby under wraps until the danger passed, she had to feed him BS and excuses. “I had to get out of here for a little while. I couldn’t stand it anymore.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You were sleeping. And you haven’t had enough, so you should go back to bed.”
“I got this, man,” Ethan assured.
Matt shook his head, his jaw working angrily. “I’ll deal with you later.”
He was being overbearing…and maybe it was for the best. “Leave him alone. I’m a grown woman who wanted some fresh air. So drop your male, chest-beating crap.”
She snatched a bottle of water from the fridge and a protein bar from the pantry, then stomped to her room, slamming the door behind her. When she sank to the bed, she was shaking and trying not to think about the ramifications of everything she’d done today. The risks would all be for nothing if she didn’t succeed with Winston and Agatha.
She choked down her breakfast, then drifted into a fitful sleep, clutching her purse—with Todd’s computer inside—to her chest. When she woke, she managed to contort into a position, PC lid facing the ceiling, so the cameras couldn’t see the screen. Then she backed up the files onto multiple flash drives, picked up her own computer, and drafted emails to five key recipients, attached the video of Todd and the underage girls, setting them in draft to autosend at midnight.