must be going insane,” she bites out, quieting down.
Yeah, I don’t like that shit about her doubting herself at all.
Fuck. If she saw him then … I ask her to tell me more about the time at the masquerade ball and she says that she never saw the guy clearly. “There were always people in the way. It was always just a glimpse. But it wasn’t just the fact that the guy had the right hair color, the right height and build. I don’t know, it was also the way he moved. I kept telling myself that Pierce is dead and that I was going crazy. Even now, in this room, I have the constant feeling someone’s watching me.”
“Right now?” I ask and she nods.
“I know, it’s impossible. You guys checked everything and—”
I rise from the ottoman and look around the room. Not that I think that spotting a bug would be that easy. At the very least though, the guest rooms don’t have security cameras, unlike the casino floors, the private game rooms and the restaurants. I keep turning my head, looking at the expensive furniture and I think it’s more dumb luck than anything else but a small flicker catches my attention. I almost think I’ve imagined it but I walk toward the nightstand anyway. The top drawer has a lock and it doesn’t budge when I try to open it.
“Baby, did you put anything in here?”
Sloane shakes her head. “No. It never really opened and I couldn’t find the key anywhere. I was supposed to ask the concierge but with all that’s been going on I completely forgot.”
Right. I walk back to the vanity and grab a metal nail file.
“I’ll buy you another one.” I promise as I jam the nail file in the almost nonexistent space between the drawer and the rest of the nightstand. The drawer slides open with a little scraping sound and sure enough, there’s a tiny bug installed in the keyhole. What I saw must have been its ‘on’ light.
“Motherfucker!” I mutter under my breath and unceremoniously use the pointy part of the nail file to dislodge the device from its hiding place.
I walk to the en suite bathroom, drop the bug into the toilet and flush.
When I walk back into the bedroom, Sloane is still sitting on the ottoman but she’s as white as a sheet. “It could be VDB, right? Or Kronin? He’s dead, it can’t be him. And he can’t be here anyway, right?”
I surround her shoulders with my arm, drawing her closer to me, until her face is resting on my shoulder and I use my calmest, most reassuring tone. “It could be VDB or Kronin, yes. It could even be Interpol or the FBI itself, trying to make sure that we’re playing by the rules of our agreement with them. It’s probably very unlikely that it’s Pierce, but for as small as that chance could be, it isn’t completely impossible.”
She gets paler. “How? If he’s dead—”
I deliver the piece of information I got from Walker this morning. “Look, it doesn’t mean anything, ok? But they never found a body. And the forensic experts highlighted some stuff that didn’t quite add up. Look, that doesn’t mean that he’s alive, but—”
Sloane lifts her gaze to meet mine. “If he isn’t dead, Kaden, there’s only one place he could ever be. Here. Waiting to make his move.” And for as much as I really don’t want to think that Pierce Hunter might still be alive, I know that Sloane is right.
Fifteen
Stress Relief
Kaden
I hate seeing that fear in her eyes. I want to kill her ex if he isn’t already dead for putting that fear there. What I don’t tell Sloane is that I asked Walker to run a face recognition program on all the guests and employees of the resort. If Hunter’s in Monte Carlo I agree that he’s probably close, waiting to try and grab Sloane like in Seattle. But this time, I’m not going to be caught with my pants down. I’m not going to let him get close to her, if it’s the last thing I do. I have no more secrets keeping me from my woman and it’s true what I told her on that ledge: I fear nothing, not even death. My only fear is losing Sloane and whoever dares threaten her safety better know that I’ll protect her no matter what the cost.
“Baby,” I whisper running my fingers through her silky hair, “I’ve got