Too Pretty to Be Your Backup novel Chapter 6

No one could reach her now.

The day she left London, she tossed her phone straight into the river. She’d picked up a new one since then, grabbed a random SIM card at a corner shop, and didn’t bother registering it with her name. Even with all his power and connections, Travis wouldn’t be able to track her down. Not that she expected him to try.

*

Chad climbed into his car, wincing from his bruises, and dialed Travis.

“Sir, Ms. Tully refuses to come back.”

There was a long stretch of silence on the other end.

Chad cleared his throat, choosing his words carefully. “Sir, maybe if Ms. Tully doesn’t want to return, we should just let her go—”

“Chad.” Travis' voice was ice cold.

Chad snapped his mouth shut.

Travis' tone left no room for argument. “Figure it out. Bring her back. I don’t care if you have to beg.”

With that, Travis hung up.

Chad sat there, pale and tense, gripping his phone so tightly his knuckles turned white. He always followed Travis' orders, no matter what it took. Part of it was the money. Travis paid him well. But another part was his own agenda; he needed to stay close to Travis to keep tabs on Leila.

He took a long breath and told himself to suck it up.

Amanda heard knocking at her door again. She was sure it was just the delivery guy with her potting soil, but when she opened the door, Chad’s bruised face greeted her instead.

Her good mood disappeared instantly.

“Why are you still here?” she snapped.

She shut the door in Chad’s face and ignored his knocking. But Chad was stubborn—he stuck around outside her building like a piece of gum you couldn’t scrape off your shoe.

Just seeing him was enough to ruin her day. Out of sight, out of mind.

There was no way Chad, Travis' right-hand man, would waste much more time on her. Travis wouldn’t keep it up either. A few days of silence and they’d both move on.

So she packed a backpack, snuck out the back, and went traveling.

Chad waited outside, but when Amanda didn’t show all day, he realized something was off. He pulled some strings with Hill International’s resources and found out she’d already hopped a flight to Hayfield. By the time he checked, she’d already landed.

She really was gone.

Chad’s head throbbed. He could feel everything slipping out of his control, moving in a direction he never saw coming.