Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 62197 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 311(@200wpm)___ 249(@250wpm)___ 207(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 62197 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 311(@200wpm)___ 249(@250wpm)___ 207(@300wpm)
“I, uh—”
The sound of an alarm went off, startling me and jerking Thurston’s steady gaze off me to look toward the kitchen, where it seemed to be coming from. Talk about saved by the bell.
“Fire!” a man yelled as he came barreling out from the kitchen entrance. “Everyone, out!”
Dropping my fork, I grabbed my purse and quickly jumped up, not waiting to see if Thurston was coming. Other customers were hurrying for the exit, and more alarms joined the first one, making it impossible to hear anything else. I made my way behind the first rush of those leaving before glancing back to see Thurston carrying his breakfast sandwich in one hand and his cup of coffee in the other. Apparently, he didn’t want to leave his food behind. There were more shouts to move quickly and away from the building as we were pushed into the others on our way out.
“Come this way,” Thurston shouted behind me when we were finally outside, then turned right.
I followed him down the street a short way before the fire department sirens began to blare.
I should have stayed in today.
“My apartment building is four blocks this way and then a right turn and two more blocks,” he told me when we were far enough away that he didn’t need to shout. “You could come up for a cup of tea if you want. I just got a tree yesterday, and I was going to decorate it today. I’d love the help.”
Nope. That was absolutely not happening. I wanted nothing to do with decorating his tree or seeing his apartment. The universe had handed me an out, and I was taking it.
“Thanks, but I’ve got a bit of a headache after that, and I need to get to work. I’m very behind on my manuscript.”
His flash of disappointment was brief before he was smiling again. “Well, we can just plan on finishing our date another time,” he replied.
No, we can’t.
“Go get your phone checked out and give me a call or text when you have some free time.”
“Okay,” I said, knowing that day would never come. “Should we go back and pay?” I asked, realizing we’d not received our check before we were evacuated.
He shook his head. “I’ll call and handle it later. They’re busy at the moment.”
Thankfully, I would need to turn left at the next intersection, and we could part ways. My bookstore trip wasn’t going to happen today. I didn’t want to chance him deciding to come along. Staying inside alone might have been better for my mental health after all.
Ten
Ransom
Her apartment was dark and silent. I checked each camera while drinking straight from a bottle of our special label whiskey. If I didn’t drink myself to sleep, I wasn’t going to get any. Today had been shit, and it had nothing to do with the shipment that had gotten destroyed in a trucker accident or the wrong labels that had been ordered. Nope. All that I could handle. I’d done it before.
For the first time in my life, I was drinking over a woman. An ironic chuckle passed my lips, and I felt the buzz from the alcohol seeping through me. Oh, how the mighty had fallen.
I couldn’t even get annoyed with my brother being up his girl’s ass. Fuck, I wished Noa were in my bed. That I had the ability to see her all I wanted. Another first for me. I was jealous of Than. He was so damn high on life right now that I could hardly stand to be around him. I’d been ready to pick him up and throw him through the window in my office today to shut him up. He’d been going on and on about my coming over to see their Christmas decorations.
He was loving every moment of the holidays while I hated opening my eyes every morning, knowing it would be another day that I had to go without contacting Noa. One more day that she’d think I had tossed her aside. Today, I’d almost snapped. Walked out of this house, got on a plane, and said fuck it to all of them. Let Blaise hunt me down and put a bullet in my head. But I would thankfully live to see another day. I’d thought it through and handled things when I realized she’d gone to motherfucking brunch with that douchebag.
Having another man disappear would only make my situation worse. So, I was smart. Even if, for a brief second, slicing the Ken Doll up into small pieces had crossed my mind when the girl who had answered the phone at the restaurant, where the tracker said Noa was at, described the jackass at the table with her.
I might not be the best at mind games like Bane was, but I could manipulate people. Use their weaknesses and needs against them. It hadn’t been hard to get what I wanted from the restaurant owner when I called him. Like most people, money was the bargaining chip I needed, and it worked beautifully. He did exactly as I’d instructed him to. I’d not been sure he would at first. Asking someone to set fire to their own business wasn’t normal, but it was the best solution. The other being me disobeying orders and hauling my ass to Manhattan to kill a man.