Page 110 of Asher Black (The Five Syndicates)
I sigh, because that’s as close as I’ll ever get to an admittance. “I’ll be safe with Xavier wherever we go. It doesn’t have to be Vince’s place. René’s too busy on the run to come after me again.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Then, I’ll hide out until you find him, but it won’t be at Vince’s. It won’t be at the expense of your future at Black Enterprises.”
“Where else would you go?”
“Vaserley.”
He scoffs. “That’s too obvious. You’ve lived there before.”
“There aren’t any records of that, thanks to you. And the only people there that know I lived there live in my hall. I’ll sneak in, and they won’t even know I’m there.”
“And you’ll stay in the dorm despite the chance that René might have interviewed your hall mates in the past and found out you’ve lived there?”
I consider it. “If he was going around asking about me, Aimee would have told me. Half of the girls in the hall are Team Aimee. She has informants everywhere.”
“It’s still a risk.”
“It’s my risk to take.”
“No, it’s not. Not when I love you.”
I sigh happily at his words but still manage to say what needs to be said, “Fine, but that means going after René isn’t your risk to take, because,” I mumble quickly, “Iloveyou,too.”
“What?”
I groan and say louder, “I love you.”
This isn’t how I pictured my first time saying those words would be like, and judging by the shocked look on Asher’s face, he didn’t either.
“You love me?”
When I nod, he closes the gap between us and kisses me roughly.
He pulls back and demands, “Say it again.”
“I love you.” My voice is stronger this time, confident.
He rests his forehead against mine, stares into my eyes, and says, “Fine. You can stay at Vaserley, but I’ll have three guards on you at all times. I’ll have a security team access security footage from Vince’s, and there will always be one breach team and one extraction team less than sixty seconds away. Your three guards will be Xavier, your night guard and Bastian.”
“Bu—”
“Nonnegotiable. I compromised, so you’ll have to, too.”
I sigh but say, “You know, you’re really hot when you speak to me in your boardroom voice.”
Asher throws his head back in a carefree laugh, and despite the gravity of the situation, my heart races and my soul warms.
We take about a dozen cars, and when each of the cars exit the garage, they split up into different directions. If René is tracking us, he’ll have to guess where we’re going. One of the cars is headed to Jersey, another upstate, and the rest to random motels and Romano businesses.
I lift a questioning brow when our car stops at a red light and Asher opens the door for me. He gestures for me to get out, and I notice that we’re surrounded mostly by giant trucks, so no one can see us. One of the trucks is actually a massive moving truck, and I’m ushered into the back of it, with Xavier, my night guard, and Asher following closely behind me.
There’s no light in the back of the truck, but I can make out the outline of several boxes. I tap on one of them, testing it for sturdiness, before I take a seat on top of it. Someone turns on a light, and the back of the truck becomes dimly lit.
There’s an amused look on Asher’s face when he says, “You did well on your first bait and switch.”
“Second,” I correct. “Technically, the whole Caroline and Damien thing was a bait and
