BooksBarbecue
Back Driven Save as PDF
Chapters (49)
  1. “YOU’VE BEEN STUDYING ME, NARI?”
  2. Also by
  3. Title Page
  4. Copyright Page
  5. Dedication
  6. Acknowledgments
  7. Prologue
  8. Chapter One
  9. Chapter Two
  10. Chapter Three
  11. Chapter Four
  12. Chapter Five
  13. Chapter Six
  14. Chapter Seven
  15. Chapter Eight
  16. Chapter Nine
  17. Chapter Ten
  18. Chapter Eleven
  19. Chapter Twelve
  20. Chapter Thirteen
  21. Chapter Fourteen
  22. Chapter Fifteen
  23. Chapter Sixteen
  24. Chapter Seventeen
  25. Chapter Eighteen
  26. Chapter Nineteen
  27. Chapter Twenty
  28. Chapter Twenty-One
  29. Chapter Twenty-Two
  30. Chapter Twenty-Three
  31. Chapter Twenty-Four
  32. Chapter Twenty-Five
  33. Chapter Twenty-Six
  34. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  35. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  36. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  37. Chapter Thirty
  38. Chapter Thirty-One
  39. Chapter Thirty-Two
  40. Chapter Thirty-Three
  41. Chapter Thirty-Four
  42. Chapter Thirty-Five
  43. Chapter Thirty-Six
  44. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  45. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  46. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  47. Chapter Forty
  48. Epilogue
  49. Teaser chapter

Angus walked inside as if he owned the place. All heads turned to him, and he ignored the stares, striding toward the receptionist, who was watching them all with wide blue eyes. She had to be around twenty years old and she kept fiddling with her pen. “Can I help you?” she whispered.

“Yes. I’d like to see Nari Zhang and Opal Clemonte,” he said, smiling at her.

Her gaze lifted to his left. “Um, I—”

“No way are you getting past me, Force,” Vaughn Ealy said, extricating himself from the pack of agents and leading with his chest. “This is your fault and we all know it. I suggest, strongly, that you get the hell out of here while you can still walk.”

Angus turned. “Listen, you piece of shit. You’ve caused more problems for Nari and the administrator than any shooter ever could. Tell me, do any of your buddies here know about your plan to get your ex on your team just to mess with her head?”

Vaughn barreled toward him.

Angus braced himself, more than ready for a fight. Itching for one, actually. Vaughn hit him first, and Angus turned, throwing him into a wall. Then Vaughn turned and charged again.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Chapter Thirty-Four

Nari sat on the hard orange chair next to the hospital bed while Opal slept quietly after surgery, the beeps of the machines oddly comforting. The administrator lay in the bed, one arm out and connected to a saline solution. Bandages covered the upper part of her other arm. Even in a hospital bed, she had presence.

“Hello? Opal?” Nari’s father hurried into the room, his suit jacket over one arm. Panic sizzled in his dark eyes. “Opal?”

Nari relaxed back into the chair. She’d called Quan; he’d been on assignment in Texas. He’d asked her to stay with Opal until he could arrive from the airport. “She came through surgery fine, and they gave her a healthy dose of painkillers. She was shot in the arm and the surgeons had to extract the bullet.”

Quan moved closer to the bed, looking down. He reached out and patted Opal’s hand. “She’s going to be all right?”

“Yes,” Nari said. “The bullet nicked an artery, but we got the bleeding under control and the surgery was smooth.” She was so tired it was difficult to keep her eyes open, but she tried, so she could give Quan all the details. “Opal should be released tomorrow, and if she’s feeling all right, she can return to work whenever she wants. The bullet didn’t do much damage.”

Quan whirled on her, his black eyes sparking. “Didn’t do much damage? Are you kidding? The administrator of a secretive governmental branch was shot in a private club. The damage might be irreparable.”