Acquisition Read Online Free Page A

avoid owning up to his feelings completely, but she didn’t think he’d ever lied to her. Abby hoped he wouldn’t start doing so now.
    The idea of waiting for him to come home was too much torture, so she decided to go to his club instead. She had spent several hours locked in her private pity party, trying to sort out the truth, and it was now dusk as she left the apartment to walk to the cab she had called. After her brush with the FBI agent earlier, she didn’t want to risk hanging around outside the boundaries of the security fence while awaiting the bus. Nor did she want to travel conspicuously in one of the town cars driven by the company Luka kept on retainer. A cab was nondescript and felt safe.
    A few moments later, the cab drew up outside of the club that Luka owned with his brothers, appropriately enough called Triple Threat, which usually made her smile, but she didn’t have that in her this evening. Her hand was on the door handle when she saw Luka step out of the club. She could have finished exiting and caught his attention, or waved him over, but something about the way he moved stilled the impulse. Instead, she told the driver, “Change of plans. Follow the man in the black jacket, but don’t get so close that he knows he’s being followed.”
    The cabbie gave her a look in the mirror like she was nuts, but he didn’t argue as he put the car into gear. He’d likely assumed, based solely on where he had picked her up, that she had the money to fund an all-night drive around the city if she chose.
    He would be wrong in that assumption, since she had never used, and refused to use, the credit card Luka had given her several weeks ago, and she didn’t think it was going to be an all-night trip anyway. She held herself stiffly in the seat as he got into his sports coupe and roared out of the club’s parking lot, driving confidently and at least five miles over the speed limit. The cab driver managed not to break the law, but he was clearly skilled and kept up with Luka.
    That didn’t mean Luka didn’t see the driver following him, but she had to hope he didn’t. She felt sneaky following him without his knowledge or permission, but she was desperate to know what Luka was doing. She couldn’t even explain why she was positive he was up to something, but she was listening to her gut, which told her to follow behind quietly.
    They drove for twenty minutes before pulling up outside a crumbling building in the industrial district. It wasn’t quite large enough to be a warehouse, but might have once been an office for one of the warehouse storage places around the area. Now, it appeared to be nothing more than a mess.
    She waited until Luka had parked his car and entered through a side entrance before reaching for the door handle again. She bit her lip as she considered whether she really wanted to go inside and discover what was happening. She didn’t really have the luxury of burying her head in the sand and pretending like everything was just fine. For the baby’s sake, if not her own, she had to know if Luka did the terrible things the FBI agent and her sister claimed.
    “You’re not really going in there, are you, lady?” asked the cab driver, his incredulity clear in his tone.
    She wanted to shake her head, but nodded instead and grasped the handle firmly. “Wait for me.”
    He looked indecisive for a moment. “This is a bad neighborhood, and I bet you there’re bad things going on in there. I’ll give you five minutes, and then I’m gone.”
    She glared at him. “I haven’t even paid the fare yet, and I’m not going to until I get back.”
    He shrugged. “My life is worth more than a hundred bucks, lady, and yours should be too. We should get the fuck outta here.”
    She shook her head. “Just wait for me. If you’re in danger, then drive away; otherwise, please just wait for me.”
    He let out a harsh sigh. “Ten minutes, and not a minute more. If I hear gunshots or something