Page 113 of Asher Black (The Five Syndicates)
“Huh.”
No kidding.
Before I can reply, there’s a knock on the door. Asher opens it slightly, his gun ready in one hand, before relaxing his trigger finger and opening the door all the way. I see Bastian first and relax, but when Minka enters my line of sight, I’m instantly tense again.
“What do you want?” I ask, bluntly.
Bastian answers instead, “She’s offering to give you her room. Sounds legit.”
Minka rolls her eyes at the suspicion in mine. “I owe you for saving me from the spiked drink. We’re even after this.”
“I vetted her electronics history and did a full sweep of her room. Everything checks out,” Bastian continues, ignoring us. “It’s a better option than Lucy’s old room.”
Asher turns to me and lifts a questioning brow. I sigh and nod, because Bastian is right. It makes more sense to hide out in Minka’s room than one that I’m known to have stayed in.
“We’ll take it,” Asher says.
Minka crosses her arms and adds, “Just to be clear, I still don’t like you, but I respect you for what you did for me.”
I don’t reply, because honestly, I don’t give a fuck. I just want this whole thing to be done, so I can have Asher back safely already.
Chapter Thirty-Five
She was warned.
She was given an explanation.
Nevertheless, she persisted.
Mitch McConnell on
Elizabeth Warren
Three days. That’s how long it’s been since Asher left. In those three days, I have paced and tossed and turned and paced again, hardly sleeping at all. I’m certain that, if another day passes without any word from Asher, Bastian will leave me here—I’m getting on his last nerve.
Hell, I got on Minka’s last nerve an hour into my stay, when she and Nella, who shares her dorm room, got up to sleep in one of her lackeys’ room instead. My night guard followed after her until another of Asher’s guards could take his place. None of us trust Minka and Nella to keep their mouths shut, so they have to be watched.
When there’s a knock on the door, I shoot upward from the desk chair and head straight to the door. To my irritation, Xavier cuts me off, and Bastian opens the door in my stead. There’s a moment of tense silence before I see Asher walking through the threshold. A small cut lines his forehead, and his lip is busted, but other than that, he looks okay.
Not caring who sees, I run up to him and jump into his arms, making him stumble slightly into the crowded hallway until he carries us back into the room. He winces, and I immediately untangle myself from him, but he pulls me back into his arms. I slither my fingers under his shirt, pressing gently around his abdomen, pausing when he hisses in pain.
“What happened?” I ask.
“Probably a broken rib.”
“You need to see a doctor.”
He gives me an awe-shucks-aren’t-you-so-cute? smile that pisses me off. “No need. It’ll heal.”
I don’t press the issue. I won’t win, and I need to pick my battles. “What happened?” I ask again, though this time, I’m referring to what happened while he was gone.
“Nick and I were ambushed by René’s men.”
“How many?”
“Nineteen at a warehouse in Jersey.”
Nineteen. After the showdown at the penthouse, I have no doubt Asher can handle nineteen men—with or without Nick’s help. Clearly, Asher is fine. He’s here, after all.
