Billionaire’s Quarry: A Billionaire, Bad Boy, Romance (An Alpha Billionaire Romance Boxed Set) (197 page)
Authors: Michelle Love
‘What’s this?’
Naveen pointed at the file on her laptop. Too late, Sabine realized she’d left the folder containing the video of Cosima’s attack open. She hesitated and Naveen smiled. ‘Secrets?’
She shrugged, and with a sinking heart, she watched him click on it. He watched the brief clip.
‘How did you get this?’
Sabine frowned – she had been expecting questions like ‘Who’s being attacked?’ or ‘Why the hell have you got something like this on your laptop?’.
‘A friend sent it to me.’
‘The girl being attacked?’
‘No.’
Naveen studied her. ‘Are you going to send it to the police?’
Sabine sighed. ‘No.’
‘Why?’
‘Because the man who attacked her is the one who sent me the video.’
Naveen sat back in his chair. They were in her suite; the suite she’d downgraded to reluctantly. It was still
luxurious,
but somehow, Naveen’s presence shone a spotlight on its inadequacies. Everything about the man radiated wealth; his exquisitely tailored suits, his discreet but expensive watch, manicured nails, his dark skin soft and clear. He was looking at her now, a slight smile on his face.
‘You know who the woman in that clip was?’
She nodded. ‘She’s my ex-boyfriend’s new whore.’
Naveen smirked. ‘Her name is Cosima
Malhotra,
but I think you already knew that.’
Sabine was stunned. ‘You know her?’
‘Oh yes. And I’d appreciate it if you didn’t send
any more
amateurs after
her
.’
Sabine straightened up. ‘What I do is none of your business.’
Naveen chuckled softly. ‘When it comes to Cosima Malhotra, it is very much my business.’
‘Why?’
His smile both scared and thrilled her. ‘Because I’m the man who’s going to kill her.’
Cosima sat down at her desk, feeling weird about being back in the architect’s office after all these months at the site. It was the last day of remodeling at the
hotel,
and Cosima felt a little sad at saying goodbye to the workers. Jennifer,
another architect
, greeted her with a smile.
‘Hey you, long time no see. I swung past the hotel this morning, it looks amazing. Almost made me wistful for the old days before I got stuck making factories.’
Cosima grinned. ‘Don’t give me that, you love it.’
‘I do,’ Jennifer admitted, flopping down in the chair opposite Cosima. ‘So, how’s the divine
Mr.
Forrester?’
Cosima suddenly got very interested on her computer screen. ‘Um…’
‘Cos…we all know, it’s okay,’ Jennifer was grinning at
her,
and Cosima couldn’t detect any malice in the older woman’s expression.
‘I just don’t want to be seen as unprofessional,’ she said in a low voice. ‘Arlo and I met before this job, and he…came to find me. The hotel is separate from that…kind of.’
‘Cos, really, it’s romantic. And it’s given our whole office something to gossip about,’ she laughed as Cosima looked appalled. ‘Relax, chick, I’m kidding. But good for you, he’s gorgeous. And rich. And sweet – god, I think I hate you.’
Cosima laughed, grateful for the other woman’s humor. ‘Thank you, he is very special to me.’ She pondered telling Jennifer that she was now living with him but decided against it – at least until she’d told Harpa and Jake. Jake! God, she’d forgotten about him,
shoot.
After a while, Jennifer left her
alone,
and Cosima took out her phone to call Jack. She got his voicemail and left a message, then went back to work.
A half hour later, Tal called her into his office, his face creased with concern. ‘Cosima… did something happen to you recently?’
She suddenly felt cold. ‘What do you mean?’
He nodded at her
still-bandaged
arm. ‘You told me you hurt your arm in a fall.’
‘So?’
He motioned for her to sit down then turned his laptop around. Cosima watched in horror as a video of the attack played out on the screen. Her hand at her mouth, she watched as her attacker slashed at her, then her own reaction, bent double clutching her arm as Steve and Roger took the man down. The video wasn’t a fuzzy, handheld camera – it was shot in such a way that the
camera person
obviously knew the attack was about to happen. Underneath the clip, the title read: ‘Attack on Cosima Malhotra, New Orleans’ and the date of the attack.
Oh,
damn it, damn it.
‘Yes…that happened but we were trying to keep it quiet because…
god,
how long has it been on the internet?’
Tal, his old eyes filled with worry, checked the timestamp. ‘About twelve hours. Look, Cosima, with your situation, maybe you should call your FBI guy.’
Her eyes filled with tears. ‘
He
’ll make me leave, Tal. He’ll make me leave all of you, Arlo, the
Hotel
, New Orleans.’
‘It’s your life at risk, Cosima. Obviously this,’ he nodded at the laptop, ‘means they’re still after you.’
She shook her head. ‘That’s the thing, Tal; it was a weird
attack
like he only wanted to wound me, not kill. It was a warning – ‘
‘
Exactly.
Look, no-one wants you to leave, least of all me. But I’d rather you be alive and well.’
Cosima nodded, wiped a tear away. ‘I know. Look, I’m going to call Arlo.’
‘Do that, and then call your guy. Take the rest of the day, Cos, this is more important than work.’
Cosima thanked him then went to call Arlo. He picked up on the first ring.
‘Hey beautiful, you okay?’
Cosima could have cried at the love in his voice. ‘Not really, baby.’ And she told him everything. The tone of his voice changed immediately.
‘Stay there, I’m coming to get you.’
Cosima put her phone in her bag and went to the
restroom
.
Jeez,
could this really be happening? As much as she took the threat to her life seriously, she was far more terrified
of
having to leave Arlo and her friends here in New Orleans. For crying out loud, she’d just moved in with her gorgeous lover, why now?
She sighed and bent to splash water on her face. In her haste, she cranked the faucet too
hard,
and the water splashed all over her. She cursed and reached for the hand towels…only to encounter an arm. Water streaming in her eyes, she jerked away and gasped. Someone grabbed her from behind and a cloth soaked in chemicals was pressed to her nose and mouth, and as she sank into unconsciousness, she only had one thought…
I’ll never see Arlo again…
End of Part Two
To be Continued
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Copyright 2016 by
Michelle Love- All rights
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