Hustle (Book 1 in The Hunted Hearts) - SYTYCW Winner #action #comedy #romance

Hustle | Chapter 26

Copyright 2013 - All Rights Reserved

Hustle By Claire Chilton

26

Final Score

Ellie stared across the golden sands at Jimmy and Cheryl as they played volleyball together. Well, Cheryl played. Jimmy tried.

Cheryl, it turned out, really was in love with Jimmy. After he'd bought her diamond earrings, she'd borrowed his credit card to book him a nicer boat for his trip. She'd heard him talking about it on the phone and decided to surprise him. Okay, she'd booked it on his credit card—she wasn't perfect, but the intentions had been good. They were happy and in love. Who could complain about that?

Ellie sighed, sinking back in her seat under the shaded awning of the beachfront cafe. It had been a week since she ditched Jacob, but he hadn't left her thoughts for a moment. Like a ghost of what could have been, the memories of him haunted her. She could still see his face; the look in his eyes when he was pissed off at her, the look in his eyes when he worried about her.

And how did you repay him for caring about you?

She shook her head. She'd beaten herself up about abandoning him in the jungle too many times.

Not again.

At first, she'd worried if he had escaped the island. Then—when he turned up on the cover of several gossip magazines with a supermodel on his arm—she'd worried about what he thought of her now.

Get over it. He hates you. You deserve it. Move on.

She stood up and walked towards the parking lot. It was time to move on. He hadn't come looking for her, even for revenge.

She tried to shake off the hollow ache in her chest and the feeling of emptiness that threatened to swallow her whole.

It doesn't matter. I have the treasure and, by a lucky twist of fate, a shitload of money.

It turned out that her father had bank accounts all over the world. Jimmy had found them after tracking her father's activities in the United States. Ellie would inherit a couple of million, assuming her lawyer was as good as Jimmy claimed. She planned to give half of the money to Jimmy. He was her brother after all.

Jacob had only wanted a heart-shaped diamond from her. She was certain of it. Look how fast he walked away when he thought it was gone. For love, you'd fight a bit harder than that if it was real.

She sighed as she opened the door to her jeep. It was time to move on. There was a job in Miami that she'd heard about. Apparently, her father had a complete life over here. Word about his daughter had got around. She shivered for a moment. Word about who killed Meyer had not got around. She rubbed her arms to warm them up before shaking her head. She didn't want to think about the repercussions that could come from killing a man like Meyer. As long as no one found out, she'd be fine. She had a new life to start here now. If you wanted to find something, you now called Ellie Phillips. It wouldn't be a bad life—not bad at all.

She smiled and glanced back towards the beach. She wouldn't need Jimmy for this job. She was finally ready to try out the world on her own.

Cold metal clamped around her wrist, locking her hand to the steering wheel of her jeep. She stared down at the handcuff in shock.

What the hell?

She glanced into the back seat of the jeep to see Jacob open the door and climb out of her car.