Chapter Six

I didn't look back as I walked out.I didn't wait for a taxi. I just started running.

My high heels clicked loudly on the concrete. People moved out of my way muttering under their breath as I rushed down the sidewalk in my wrinkled suit. I was breathing heavily. My throat hurt.

Five years

This number kept repeating in my head with every step. Five years of working hours going hungry being scared all the time and crying over my dad, who I thought the state had taken from me. It wasn't luck. It was a plan. Julian had paid the detective. He had made the crime happen.

My knee gave way and I stumbled into a casino off the Strip. The slot machines were loud. The noise covered up the pounding in my ears. I pushed past some tourists. Got into a dark booth at the back of the diner.

My hands were shaking much that I almost ripped the zipper off my bag. I took out an envelope from Vivienne. Dumped the contents onto the table.

I looked at a paper from Onyx Holdings. It was from five years ago. There was a wire transfer of $150,000 to Marcus Vane,the detective who handled my dads arrest.

I felt a lump in my throat. I covered my face with my hand squeezing my eyes shut as tears soaked my palms. He didn’t save my dad. He bought him. He took away my life until he was the only person I had left.

"Here you go, hon."

A glass of ice water and a cup of espresso landed on the table. I jumped up looking around. A waitress stood over me already turning to leave.

"I didn't order this " I said, my voice shaking.

She stopped, wiping her hands on her apron. "A guy in a suit gave me a hundred dollars to bring it to you. He said you take a sugar cube when you’re upset."

My chest felt tight. Next to the saucer was a white sugar cube.

I turned around in the booth staring out the window. Across the street a black SUV was parked. The windows were tinted,I knew he was inside.

He wasn't trying to catch me. He was letting me run to show me there was nowhere to go.

The panic in my chest stopped. It didn't fade but it became something sharp.

I looked at the bribe on the table at the gold Vane ring on my finger. If I ran I had no money, no power and Julian controlled the machines that kept my dad alive. One phone call from him and the ventilators would stop. I couldn't fight him from outside.

I put the papers back into my bag. I grabbed a napkin wiped the ruined makeup from under my eyes and pulled my hair back into a knot. I stood up zipped my jacket and set my jaw.

I walked out of the diner my stride steady. I marched across the hot asphalt toward the SUV.

Before I could touch the handle the back door opened.

I got into the leather interior. Julian sat in the corner watching me as I sat beside him.

"You're late for your afternoon meeting, Elena " he said.

I turned my head. Looked him straight in the eye. I didn't shake. I didn't blink. I forced a perfect smile onto my face.

"My apologies, Julian " I said, leaning back into the seat. "I just needed to clear my head. I’m ready to get to work."

He watched my hands looking for a tremor, a flinch, anything. I kept them still in my lap.

I wouldn’t be his prisoner anymore. I was a spy, in his camp. I was going to find the one secret that would hurt him badly.