Billion Dollar Bad Boy (Big City Billionaires)(46)

With a final smile, he shoved me towards the doors, his gun aiming into the air. “Get out of here!” he roared at me—at everyone. “You have two seconds before I start firing on you!”

We all obeyed, stampeding out the front in a torrent of acidic fear and panic.

They'd never found him after that.

But he'd found me.





- Chapter Nineteen -


Alexis

It's funny, in hindsight, how many times I'd run from one man.

This time was especially funny, because now I was in the middle of LA with no money and no where to go. At least I was wearing shoes this time.

Ignoring how my chest was ripping open from my pushed-past-the-point-of-useful-lungs, I didn't stop moving until I was several blocks away from the condo.

Silver... how could he be the one that had held me hostage? How was it possible?

A mask had hid his face years ago, but my ears knew his voice. And his eyes... I'd spent enough time looking at them longingly. I'd mapped out who he was. I'd finally stopped thinking about him as some stranger I was infatuated with.

But I'd been wrong about him from the start.

He was never a stranger.

Something warm tickled my wrist. Shaking it off, I wiped at the coffee I'd spilled when I'd started sprinting. The paper cups and their little tray were both gone. I must have dropped them.

The only thing I still held onto was my phone. Dropping into a chair outside of a cafe, I took a huge breath—filled my lungs—then pressed play. And I kept pressing it. I sat there, ignoring every side-glance from the waiters and groggy customers, just rewatching the video until my eyes itched from not blinking.

All I'd had before was the sanitized version of the robbery from the News channels. As hard as I'd tried to avoid it all, it was impossible. I'd learned the robber had hacked the system from the inside. And my mother, who couldn't shut up about the event, had informed me that he'd not only stolen millions of dollars...

He'd given it all away.

Crodan Insurance Company had been the real victim in the attack. But their attempt to recover the money from their clients ended up revealing how they'd been screwing them all over for years.

Silver had given back what was owed to everyone from their corrupt policies. And I guess that had made it even harder to try and track down who had done the robbery, since the spoils had gone to every corner of the country.

People called it a Robin Hood act for a reason.

But what did I care about that? Silver had made me his f*cking pawn. The glint of a gun and his smoldering voice had haunted the recesses of my nightmares for five years.

Silver had ruined my future.

But he didn't kill me.

Freezing, I paused the video. My own innocent smile looked back at me.

I'd never kissed a bullet. The only thing I'd ever kissed... was him.

Wiping my forehead, I shivered. Everything from my past and my present was getting contorted into a Gordian knot. Silver had threatened me, thrown me into a dark depression, ruined my confidence. He'd also come back into my life and exposed me to a new sense of self worth.

Which side of him was the real one?

And what the hell had made him come back to Portland to find me?

“Are you alright, Miss? Can I get you something?” One of the waiters had finally gotten brave enough to approach me. His tiny beard was slick and black, matching the one side of his hair that still remained.

Sitting up, I dropped my phone into my purse. The feeling of my wallet bumping my knuckles reminded me of my plight. I have to get home. I couldn't afford tickets out of here with my current funds.

It was awful, and also funny, when I considered it. Silver had been letting me lead this grand lifestyle with him. With him. On my own I was poor little Alexis Willow.

I smiled half-way at the waiter and said, “I'm fine. Really.”

He didn't believe me, his stare tracking over my face. “Okay. Well, I can get you some water if you like.”

“That'd be great.” My run had dried me out.

Smiling politely, he looked me over once more, pausing. “Nice earrings, by the way.”

Automatically, I reached for them. I must have looked silly with my mouth falling open. The earrings. “Hey!” I blurted. “You can help me, actually.”

Cocking his head, he came a foot closer. “Tell me what I can do.”

“Is there a pawn shop nearby?”





- Chapter Twenty -


Silver

Where the f*ck was she.

Where the f*ck was she.

WHERE THE FUCK WAS SHE!?

Stalking through my condo, I yanked on a pair of jeans with one hand. The other was busy hitting speed dial on her number for the tenth time. She wasn't picking up, but worse than that?

I had no clue where she could be.

Everything still smelled like her. Waking up to that scent while I twisted in her leftover warmth in the blankets had been exquisite.

Finding her side of the bed empty was torture.

“Pick up!” I growled at my cellphone, instantly tapping the call button again after it hit her voicemail. Had something happened to her? Why else was she not here?

There was a beep, then a mechanical voice telling me that, “The number you have reached...”

I slammed the phone onto my bed. I was lucky it didn't shatter, but f*ck it, I could have bought a new one. I could buy anything.