Amberleigh knew she needed to pull herself together and not have a mental breakdown in front of the Head Goddess. But that was easier said than done as her emotions threatened to consume her entirely. She needed a level head right now as she was useless to the cause otherwise. Time to put on her big girl panties and woman the fuck up.“Thank you. I appreciate your kind words and your help Head Goddess. I would love to stay, but time is running out. The deadline to pay his ransom is midnight on Christmas Day. And it’s been quite the challenge to pull together that much cash in forty-eight hours.” She handed Amber a tissue, “I’ll get back to you as soon as I talk to Harrison. Is there anything else I can do to help in this matter? Perhaps the club can contribute some of the funds needed for his safe return.” “Whatever you could do would be a big help. And we’ll pay you back.” “I’ll put a call in to the cashier’s office. Stop by there before you leave Amber. And please keep me update
Amberleigh laid on the dingy, metal floor for quite a while as she lost her shit. The last several hours had been building to this moment. Ever since Leo had gotten that call in their Paris suite from that backstabbing, uber cunt. All her life, Amber had been told crying was a sign of weakness, useless, and pathetic. But fuck that shit, there was no holding this in. Her grief refused to be contained. But then something else happened. Her watch chimed, vibrating loudly against the metal beneath her. And Amber took a breath. Then another. She sat up. Breathed some more. Her viewpoint was blurred and hazy. Her breathing still tore its way from her lips. Her watched chimed a second time. Also helping to bring her back down to reality. Through tear-glazed eyes, she read the screen. Don’t be mad Love. But I got the money from the safe with no trouble. I knew the guard. He suspects nothing. Are you ready to be picked up? His second text was I love you. We’ll have him home in no time
In hindsight, it was a terrible fucking idea to scream and distract the driver of a moving vehicle as Amberleigh soon realized. Leo swerved and nearly sideswiped a Cadillac Escalade who laid on the horn. The driver, a balding, middle-aged man then gave them the finger and was screaming what appeared to be pull over. But no one had time for that road rage shit. Leo was able to gun the Ferrari and leave the pissed off man far behind in the dust as he blew through a yellow light. “I’m sorry Leo! I didn’t mean to nearly get us killed. But I know who took Grayson,” repeated Amber. Leo had a white knuckled grip on the wheel but spared her a quick glance. “Who? And how?” “Everyone initiated into the psycho gang gets a white rabbit tattooed on their wrist. My father has one. The kidnapper has one Leo, look.” Amber flashed her watch screen briefly in front of Leo’s line of vision, though careful to avoid another near car wreck. He swallowed hard. “Okay Love, that’ll come in han
Amberleigh followed Leo inside the building. They were greeted by a cheerful and light-yellow lobby with stained windows. It was quite lovely the way the light filtered in and cast the colors on the wall. The furniture looked cozy and clean, not stiff and hard. There was even a child sized table and building blocks. A self-service latte bar for the grownups. And a minifridge with apple juice and water for the kiddies.A few people waited in the lobby, a couple most likely looking to buy a home as they glanced through a catalog, and a man appearing to be here for a job interview. He clutched his briefcase and tapped his fingers nervously, a sheen of sweat across his brow. Leo put on an award winning smile as he swaggered up to the receptionist. She was maybe late twenties, appeared to be of Indian descent with caramel skin and long black hair braid on the side. Her brown eyes were large and luminous. She was a ten easily. “Good afternoon. Welcome to Clemonte Development. I’m Aadhi
Leo had gone quiet, the color drained from his face, and a death grip on the steering wheel in front of him. It seemed the chef needed something to hold onto, as the Ferrari was still parked in the Clemonte Development garage. Amberleigh preferred tears or curses to this shocked, scary silence.She’d had about an hour or so longer to process the grim news. In a way, Leo was handling it better than she had. But then again, he was still stunned trying to process it. No doubt the screaming, despair, and rage would soon follow. It had happened in that order for Amber.Her eyes left a shaken Leo long enough to read the message on her watch a second time. Mr. Godwin paid the Kellerman law firm a $50,000 retainer fee to begin divorce proceedings. Mr. Godwin also began making revisions to his will, making his parents the beneficiaries of his estate and all his assets, removing his wife from his current will. There it was. The undeniable proof at last.“You were right Leo. It wasn’t just a co
Amberleigh and Leo decided to make a quick pit stop back at The Cobra Club to collect the money Head Goddess was so graciously loaning to the cause. They wanted to keep up appearances and Leo wisely suggested they actually collect all the ransom money. They needed Courtney to believe they were still giving a hundred and ten percent in their efforts. Grayson’s life depended on it right now anyway. He would be an instant dead man if the kidnappers thought otherwise.Amberleigh’s goal was to slip in and out of the club as quickly and quietly as possible. It was closing in on sundown and she needed to hit the streets in the cover of darkness. She used the back passages in the club and avoided all the popular hotspots. She could still hear a remix of Christmas music blaring from The Rainbow Room even from the bypass of the inner workings of the club. But all be dammed if some nosy, ass snitch didn’t see Amber creeping through the employee passages. Because when Amber made it out of the c
Amber felt good on the way up to the penthouse. She could totally do this, piece of fucking cake. Leo tried to be all manlike and carry all the bags of dough on his own. Amber shut that sexist shit down rather quickly and snatched up several bags. She was regretting that decision a bit, as she began to lose feeling and circulation in her arms, but her fucking pride refused to hand over even a single bag to Leo in the elevator. She forced a smile and insisted she could handle it.Leo wasn’t expecting Courtney to actually do something like open the door this time. He didn’t even bother, just dug out his key. Amber dropped the bags in the foyer rather quickly and rubbed her sore shoulders when Leo wasn’t looking. The chef’s attention was focused on finding that traitorous snake.Amber followed Leo down the hall as he peered into the den. No sign of the bitch rather than dirty dishes she’d left behind. The heiress couldn’t possibly be bothered to clean up after herself. Amber hated her
It came as no surprise to Amberleigh that Courtney had made zero effort to clean up her fucking mess. That went beyond just the kitchen. The bitch had made minimal efforts at best to raise her husband’s ransom money. And it seemed unlikely the evil cunt would have a change of heart and call the whole murder her new husband plot off. It wasn’t like she was used to getting her hands dirty anyway. She was used to letting others do it for her. And that was unlikely to fucking change.They found the heiress seated on the barstool scrolling through her smart watch. She’d given up on working the latte machine. And apparently had ordered herself some overpriced coffee, set to be delivered to the lobby. What. The. Fuck.“Leonardo, I just wanted to inform you, the doorman will probably arrive soon to bring my Starbucks order up. I also called that maid and told her we needed her here tomorrow for a couple hours in the morning.”Leo leaned down against the counter. Amber could see the visibl