I should’ve perished when that bomb detonated.
That was the plan, and I’d committed to it. Everything was going just as I had in mind. This was going to be my magnum opus. A final shot at proving my worth to my dad.
And then it all went to shit … because of him.
Brandon Locklear. The only man I wish I’d never met.
I still regret the day I first set my eyes on him.
Way back when during a school break outside on the playground where he was burning grass. Always obsessed with fire … he was already dangerous back then and still is to this day.
I should’ve known meeting him would come back to bite me in the ass one day.
Suddenly, a phone goes off, and Brandon stops in his tracks to answer it.
I’m leery of him. I wonder if, on the off chance that he looks away, I can snatch that gun from his hands and use it to my advantage. It doesn’t hurt to try.
Right now, he’s still fixated on me, so I’ll have to wait. But good things come to those who are patient, and when it comes to killing Brandon, I’ll wait an eternity.
It’ll be worth every second.
* * *
Brandon
“Tell me you fucking found her,” my uncle screams through the phone. No hello, no nothing. “I swear to God, I’ll kill the fucking bitch.”
Sweat drops dance on my back. What the fuck do I say to him?
“Brandon! Answer me!”
The blaring sound of the fire alarm coupled with his screaming is getting on my nerves.
“I haven’t,” I lie.
I don’t know why I’m lying.
And that stupid grin on Dixie’s face makes my nostrils flare. She sees right through me. Always has.
“Are you telling me the whole goddamn truth?” my uncle shouts.
“Yes!” I reply. “She … escaped.”
Now, she playfully raises her brow at me. I place a finger on my lips.
Uncle Josiah loses his shit. “Fuck!”
I can hear him chuck his phone to the ground.
“Josiah? Uncle Josiah?” I say, keeping my gaze on Dixie because she’s eyeing my gun.
I know she wants to snatch it away from me with those pretty little prying fingers of hers, but it’s not gonna work. I’m not that stupid.
So I twirl my gun around until she gets the picture and spins on her heels to face the wall. Then I push the gun against her back, making sure she remembers who’s in charge.
My eyes can’t help but wander down to her ass. Fuck me, it’s perky as hell.
“Brandon! Get your ass to my office, right now!”
My uncle’s voice pulls me from my thoughts immediately. Apparently, he’s picked up his phone. He’s lucky he didn’t break it.
“Don’t you want me to go look for her?” I ask him, trying to mask my lies by offering to help.
“How the fuck are you gonna find her? You let her escape in the first place, goddammit!” he screams through the phone.
“I know, all right? I’ll fix it!”
“How? How are you gonna fix this shit, Brandon? The entire hotel has exploded!” I don’t think I’ve ever heard him raise his voice this much before.
“I don’t know, but I am going to follow her. I won’t let her get off that easily.”
He immediately spits, “You’d better get your ass here, or you’re fucking fired.”
“I’ll find her. I promise. I’ll call you later.”
Before he can say another word, I hang up.
He’d probably just scold me more for not listening to his commands.
I can’t afford to go to him alone, knowing I’d have to let her run. And bringing her with me isn’t an option either because she’d definitely tell him the truth out of spite. She’s just that kind of girl.
“So you lied to your uncle? Bold move,” Dixie jests, glancing at me over her shoulder.
“I didn’t say you could turn around yet,” I growl back, shoving her against the wall again.
“Oh … so violent,” she says with a seductive voice. “I like it.”
Sure, she does. She’s only trying to get me to release her, but it ain’t working.
I’m not that easily distracted by a snake.
“So, what now, Brandon?” she says. “What are you going to do with me now that you have me?”
I sigh out loud and grunt along too. She asked the mother of all questions. And I never wanted to find her in the first place. She’s the last person in the entire fucking world I wanted to see again.
And now that it’s happened—and in a literal explosive way—there’s no turning back.
No way out of this except to push forward. But where the fuck do we go from here? We can’t go to my uncle, but if I take her somewhere else, I’ll be a traitor. He’ll not only fire me but hang me too.
Suddenly, the door behind us opens, and a security guard steps out. When he notices us, he pulls his gun.