Read Mine to Crave for Free Online

plans because of it.
    He had no doubt that she’d come to the Arrow in order to steal secrets from him. Intel.  But she’d left with nothing.
    The phone on his desk began to vibrate. Noah grabbed it and put it to his ear. “Where is she?” Drake said because he’d recognized Chad’s number on the screen.
    He heard the head of security inhale sharply. Oh, the hell, no.
    “Sir, I, um, the team on her—”
    “Tell me that she’s in their sights right now.”
    “They thought she was just heading to the bar, but in the crowd, she slipped away from them and—”
    “
Find her.
”
    “Do we need to call in the authorities? Did she—”
    “No authorities. She’s mine.” His hand was too tight around the phone.  “Now get out there…
find her.
”
    He rewound the image on his screen. Froze it at the moment when Jasmine first stared down at the photograph.
    The longing on her face was so strong. Longing. Sadness.
    That woman was a mystery. He headed for the door.  She only had a few moments lead on him.
    And he
never
let his prey escape.
    ***
    The Arrow’s goons had no idea how to deal with a woman like Jasmine Bennett. 
    But Wayne did. So he wasn’t waiting for her near the hotel’s main entrance. He was in the back. In the alley.  And when Jasmine slipped out, joining with the shadows, he was right on her trail.
    The woman was good, he’d give her that.
    But he was better.
    He reached into his pocket.  While he’d been waiting, he’d taken the liberty of getting a few things from his car. The handcuffs would definitely come in handy. And if she fought, he’d have to use the knife, too.
    He smiled as he followed Jasmine into the darkness. 

Chapter Three
    Jasmine knew she was being followed. Unfortunately, her list of enemies just kept growing and growing, so she wasn’t exactly sure who might be shadowing her through Vegas.
    The city had too many lights. Way too many. She stuck to the shadows as best as she could, and she hunched her shoulders each time she heard a voice floating on the wind.
    She’d made it at least a mile from the Arrow. In her heels. Damn impressive—especially considering the path she’d taken.
    Jasmine wanted to jump toward the main strip, hail a taxi, and get out of there but—
    Someone is following me.
    At this point in her life, she knew better than to ignore her instincts. And the tenseness at the base of her neck, that too-aware intensity, it told her that she was being followed through those Vegas alleyways.
    Was it that bozo who claimed to be a bounty hunter? Like she believed that BS. 
    Was it Drake’s security guards?
Drake?
    No, she discarded that idea almost immediately. Drake wouldn’t bother coming after her himself. If he’d had cameras in that room, like the guy claimed, then he would’ve watched them by now and seen that she hadn’t taken anything.
    So that left her with option three…the man who’d put her on Drake’s trail…he could be the one in the shadows. She did not want to come face to face with him. Especially since she had to let the guy know that she hadn’t managed to get the information he wanted. 
    Her back brushed against a brick wall.  She strained, trying to listen desperately for a sign of her pursuer.  But the fellow was good. She’d give him that. No rustles. No heaving breaths. No—
    “Got you, sweetheart.”
    The rough words came from her left. Jasmine rushed forward as the dark form of a man pulled away from the shadows.
    The bounty hunter.
Something was glinting in his right hand. She didn’t know if that glint was from handcuffs or from a knife, and Jasmine wasn’t in the mood to find out.
    She kicked off her shoes and sprinted for the safety of that main Vegas strip.
    The pavement bit into the bottom of her feet, and she heard the bounty hunter huffing behind her. Ah, now there was the huffing breath. If only he’d given away that sound earlier!
    Jasmine jumped from the shadows and ran for the brightly lit street.