Billion Dollar Bad Boy (Big City Billionaires #1)(68)

Florian glanced at me, his fingers pausing on the keys. My horrified face must have given me away. “Shit,” he said.

Backing up a step, I lifted my hands in front of me. “It was you!” Ripping my phone out, I went to dial for help.

Florian jumped up in a panic, knocking my phone away from me. “Shit,” he said again, his hands up in the air like mine. We must have looked ridiculous.

I moved first, scrambling to get the phone where it had fallen. Florian was all arms, wrapping me up, his palm pushing my cheek to the rug. “Let me go!” I shouted, struggling madly. The phone was inches away from me. I have to call the cops!

“No one was supposed to find out!” Breathing heavily, he sat on my back. His knee stabbed between my shoulder blades painfully. “Fuck, fuck! Just stay down, I need to stop this!”

Stop what, stop me? I didn't know what he was talking about, but I wasn't going to stay down. I reached back and dug my nails into his ankle. His scream was satisfying.

Florian rocked off of me, enough that I could give myself rug burn as I crawled forward. I grabbed for my phone; Florian shoved me with everything he had, my chest bouncing off of the floor.

The wind was kicked out of me, I gaped soundlessly as I rolled on my side. Panting, he stood over me and kicked my phone into the far corner by the door. Coiling his fingers in my hair, he wrenched me back. My scream was a mere whine, I could barely breathe.

Twisting me into a choke-hold with one arm, Florian yanked me towards the desk. This new angle let me see the screen again. One of the timers was blinking, a red warning that said 'two minutes.'

“Dammit!” he shouted, dropping me on the floor. I hunched there, working to fill my lungs, my gasps ragged. Over my head, I heard him tapping on the keyboard. “Gotta stop it, gotta, fuuuck.”

The timer, I realized through my daze. He's worried about the timer. I didn't know why, but if he was scared of it going off, then I wanted it to happen.

His scrawny legs hung over me. Bunching my muscles, I pulled my knees to my stomach and then kicked them out. Florian toppled, slipping against the rolling chair as he collapsed to the rug. “Augh!” he shouted.

Dizzy, I grabbed the desk's ledge, using it to stand. My phone looked miles away, but I took it step by step. Behind me, he snarled a nonsense sentence of swears and hatred.

Move, get the phone!

One leg gave out, but I landed in arm's length. Snatching my cell, I frantically dialed, rolling to watch Florian looming over me. He was an avalanche, and I had a few mere seconds to speak.

Vermont picked up instantly, his voice clipped. “What now, Alexis? I'm on my way—”

“It wasn't him!”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

Leaning into the phone, I started to shriek. “It's not Silver—not Keswick! It was Florian!”

“Who the hell is Florian?”

The hacker cracked his fist into my ear. Every color in existence spun in my vision, and I noticed I was looking up at the ceiling.

“You little bitch!” Dropping the phone, he crushed it under his heel. “You really wanted to ruin everything, didn't you?”

The computer made a tiny clicking sound. Florian froze where he was, his face turning ghostly white. I knew that noise was a good noise.

Whirling, he ran for the desk. Slamming his palms on either side of the keyboard, he boggled at the screen. The blue light made his face alien. “No! No no no!” Pounding the keys, he scraped his nails over his temples. I'd never seen a person so unhinged.

I did it, the timer went off.

His stare flicked to me, and my joy melted.

“I hope it was worth it.” He stalked towards me around the desk. “Ruining my alibi is the last thing you'll do on this damn Earth.”

Once, five years ago, I'd known the fear of death. It had clung to me the moment Silver had put a gun to my head. Watching Florian approach should have locked me down like that first time.

But I wasn't that girl anymore.

Instead of crumbling into a shaking pile, I forced myself to run for the door. He was breathing down my neck. Wind grazed my elbow; he'd moved to catch me.

I was already bolting down the stairs.

“Get back here!” he screamed behind me.

Taking a hard turn, I plowed around a corner. The throbbing in my head was making me ill. When I burst into a room full of brightly colored sex toys on display, dread became my new companion. This was where I'd been with Silver last night. It wasn't the exit.

In my panic, I'd taken a wrong turn.

His shoes stampeded behind me on the hard floor. Low grunts made him sound like a dragon that planned to eat me alive. I didn't know the full weight of what I'd done to Florian, but he was furious. Deadly.

With a final growl, he shoved into me before I could run again. Toppling against the table, I sent vibrators and other items crumbling to the floor around me.