Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 108988 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 545(@200wpm)___ 436(@250wpm)___ 363(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108988 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 545(@200wpm)___ 436(@250wpm)___ 363(@300wpm)
It happened then. The click inside of me.
Something that had been missing was unleashed inside me.
I’d been leaving to kill someone that day when the car turned into our driveway. People knew not to park in our driveway. That was for Miss Marcie, no one else, except a little angel stepped outside of the new vehicle.
I knew it instantly, right then and there. She was good. All good.
My errand was forgotten, and I returned to the house when she came out a second time. She was the reason I was on those stairs, and she was the reason I hadn’t killed the man I was supposed to that day. It hadn’t mattered. He still died, except not by my hands. As it also turned out, he ended up rescuing someone that day. Another little girl was almost run over by a car, but he’d been there, and he pulled her to safety. If I had kept going when I left the house, he would’ve been dead. That little girl would’ve been run over.
It was another reason I looked at Blake with different lenses.
She was meant to be in my life.
I enjoyed this moment when I was with her again.
Just like this.
No walls.
No hostility.
No guardedness.
Beautiful.
She was perfect.
I took my time going through her room. A certain satisfaction went through me when I saw the books she had lined up on her shelf. Each one I bought her; some of them she chose from a trip to the store with me. A few pictures were set up.
She was still using the laptop she used in high school. She would need a new one soon.
I grinned when I spotted the stuffed quokka on her desk.
A list on her desk caught my eye. It was a list of tasks she needed to accomplish. Laundry. Groceries. I frowned, reading Check out foster center. Not sure yet. And at the bottom was Need $ now!!!!!! Job needed. Can’t rely on ykw.
I didn’t like that.
YKW. You know who. A.k.a. me.
She made a little mewling sound, and I turned to her.
There was a chair in the corner of her room, so I sat. I leaned back, relaxing, and pulled my phone out to check. There were two texts waiting for me.
Levi: Ready. Waiting on your order.
I clicked on the other one first.
Lassiter: We need to talk.
He’d sent it three minutes ago.
I glanced up once more, taking in the sight of how peaceful Blake was resting.
I was remiss to leave, so I changed my notifications so it wouldn’t buzz and turned down the light as well. The volume was all the way down already, so only a low light would flash when texts would come through.
Me: About what?
Lassiter: I’m in NY. Tech guys didn’t want to bother you so they sent me something they found a few days ago. I came to explore it. Now you gotta get looped in. Has to do with the rival team.
I barely grinned, enjoying his horrible code.
Me: Give me an hour.
Lassiter: Meet at the nightclub?
Me: Yes.
Lassiter: You need to give that a better name than The Nightclub. You have three nightclubs in this city. What are you going to name them? Nightclub 1, Nightclub 2, Nightclub 3?
I knew Lassiter was genuinely annoyed by this. He wasn’t teasing in his text.
Me: Stop being grouchy.
Lassiter: Stop being boring.
My grin widened. He, Levi, and Blake were the only ones who could talk to me like that. I enjoyed when they talked to me like this.
Me: Where are you currently?
Lassiter: Ignoring my other text, I see. Fine. I’ll retitle your clubs myself.
Lassiter: I’m with Levi. They’re waiting on your orders to do the things you wanted.
The things I wanted. Yes. I’d been waiting for this.
Tonight was the first time I launched my direct attack, except after my meeting with West and Walden, I altered my plans. They threatened Blake too many times in my presence. That would not go unpunished.
I wanted to be in Blake’s presence, whether she was conscious or not, when my orders would be carried out.
Levi wasn’t the only team on standby for me tonight. I checked in with the other two, and when my phone buzzed back that they were all ready, I sent out a text to each of them individually. It said one word only: Go.
Chapter Seven
Creighton
We were supposed to meet at the nightclub, but I changed our locations. When I arrived, Lassiter was waiting outside of one of my warehouses for me. He grew up with us, on our street, so we considered him one of us. We being myself, Levi, and Blake. Lassiter never did. He worked for me, but he was the one who reminded us (if we said anything) that he was not one of us. He was only a neighbor.
It was bullshit.
He was one of us.
His hands were in his pockets, and he was leaning against the warehouse wall. He’d always been skinny, almost a petite physique, but in ripped skinny jeans, a white Henley with a black zipped sweatshirt pulled tight over his frame, he looked like he’d lost weight. He didn’t have much to lose, but I knew not to comment. He’d bristle and get pissed about it. Instead, I’d mention something to Levi, who would become a nagging mosquito in Lassiter’s ears, and he’d continuously bring food for him.