Just My Hockey Roommate’s Filthy Desires by Esther Pen novel Chapter 287

Chapter 287

BRANDON’S POV

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The sleek black SUV pulled smoothly up the winding gravel driveway of Aria’s estate, its heavy tires crunching softly against the stones before coming to a complete stop just outside the ground-floor entrance.

Before the driver could even step around to open the passenger doors, the rear door swung wide open, and Dominic stepped out into the bright morning sun.

He was dressed in a sharp, tailored dark suit, carrying a heavy leather tactical briefcase in his right hand.

Right behind him was Antonio, adjusting his earpiece and scanning the high stone walls and surrounding tree line with sharp, trained eyes that missed nothing.

I stood near the open double doors of the ground-floor guest room command center, watching them walk up the stone steps.

“Boss,” Dominic said, stepping forward and offering a firm, heavy handshake. “Good to see you.”

“Dominic. Antonio,” I acknowledged, nodding firmly to both of them. “How was the flight?”

“Quiet,” Antonio replied, stepping past us into the cool room and setting his heavy duffel bag down near the wall. “We cleared the private airfield security in less than ten minutes. The jet is fully fueled and on standby at the local hangar if we need it.”

“Good,” I said, turning back into the room.

Marcus was already sitting behind the main bank of glowing monitors, his fingers typing rapidly on his mechanical keyboard. The soft blue light from the screens lit up his face in the dim room.

He didn’t look up, but his fingers never slowed down for a second. “Dominic, Antonio. Welcome to the local war room.”

“You look like crap, Marcus,” Dominic said and Antonio let out a snort. Dominic walked over to the central desk, setting his heavy briefcase down and popping the metal latches open with two sharp clicks.

He pulled out a secure, encrypted satellite drive and handed it directly to Marcus. “What’s the status of the rental vehicle?” I asked, leaning over Marcus’s shoulder as he plugged the drive into the main console.

“We picked up the signal again forty minutes ago,” Dominic reported, his voice dropping into a clean, professional tone.

“The rental SUV registered to that Delaware shell company passed through the southern highway toll plaza. They are officially inside the city limits.”

The main screen flashed, displaying a high-resolution, live map of the metro area. A small red tracking marker blinked steadily near an industrial zone six miles south of Aria’s estate.

“They aren’t staying at a hotel,” Antonio noted, stepping up to inspect the secondary screen. “That district is mostly abandoned warehouses and old commercial shipping yards. It’s completely off the main commercial

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My Hockey Roommate’s Filthy Desires

grid.”

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“Which means Leonie picked the spot,” I said coldly, my eyes locked on the blinking red light. “Julian wouldn’t know how to find a blind spot in this city if his life depended on it. Leonie knows how to hide.”

“Do we move on them right now, boss?” Dominic asked, his hand resting casually near his jacket where his holstered sidearm sat. “We can take a team and flush them out before the birthday guests arrive.

I stared at the blinking red dot on the screen, carefully calculating the risks in my head. “No,” I decided, shaking my head firmly.

“If we send a tactical team into an unfamiliar industrial zone right now, Leonie will realize her secondary phone is burned. She’ll abandon Julian, drop the vehicle, and go completely underground. I want her pinned where we can see her.”

“So we let them make the first move?” Antonio asked, his brow furrowing slightly.

“We let them think they have a window,” I corrected him. “Today is Amelia’s sixth birthday. They know the estate will have extra vendors, caterers, and party deliveries moving through the main entrance. Leonie thinks that creates a blind spot in our outer perimeter.”

I stepped closer to the table, pointing to the digital blueprint of the estate grounds displayed across the central monitor.

“Here is the tactical distribution for today,” I commanded, looking at my three top lieutenants. “Dominic, you take the primary front gate. Every vendor, every pony handler, every guest must pass through you personally. Biometric check, vehicle scan, and ID verification.”

“Done,” Dominic agreed with a sharp nod.

“Antonio,” I continued, turning to my third man. “You take the rear tree line and the old estate service road. I want thermal sensors active along the entire wooden fence. If anything bigger than a stray dog steps through those woods, I want to know about it instantly.”

“I’ll set up the perimeter line right now,” Antonio said, grabbing his tactical gear from his bag without missing

a beat.

“Marcus stays here on the monitors,” I added, looking at my second right-hand man. “Keep a permanent satellite eye on that rental SUV. The second that vehicle engine starts up or moves a hundred yards from that warehouse, you signal all of us.”

“Understood, boss,” Marcus said, keying up the automated perimeter alerts on his system.

“What about you, boss?” Dominic asked, watching me closely.

“I stay with Aria and Amelia,” I said softly, my voice hardening into pure steel. “If Julian or Leonie manage to break through all three of you, they’ll have to go through me to reach my family.”

Dominic gave a short, respectful nod. “They won’t get past the gate, boss. I promise you that.”

“Make sure they don’t,” I said. I turned around and walked out of the ground-floor security room, stepping

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