Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 88153 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88153 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
“I’ve told you. I needed a place to hide out until my friend shows up. I can’t go back to Noah tonight. He was too angry. He’s not exactly the nicest guy around. We’ve been on the rocks and it’s still early days. He gets extremely jealous. That’s one thing I can say about you Niko. You were never like that.”
I used to think I didn’t have it in me to be jealous of anyone or anything. That was before Emilia. The fact I have Victorio here instead of with Emilia speaks volumes. I am jealous when it comes to her and that’s a condition I don’t see getting better—just worse.
“How is that my problem?”
“He saw me talking to you at the restaurant. I told him it was innocent, but he didn’t believe me. Noah went crazy. He threw me up against the wall and beat me. He wouldn’t listen to reason. I just can’t stay with him anymore. I was scared for my life.”
“Maybe he didn’t believe you because you stalked me to find out where I was,” I murmur, not buying her story for a minute. For one, she’s retelling the whole story in a monotone voice. She’s more upset that I’m questioning her than about some supposed boyfriend hitting her. At this point, I just need to get to her friend, or put her in a room and tell her to be gone by morning. That’s it.
“Don’t be an asshole, Niko. I’ve gone through enough. I came to an old friend looking for safety until my ride could get here. It’s not like I’m begging you to take me back.”
“You would if I asked.”
“I’m in a bad position but I’m not stupid. Our years together were some of my best. Of course, I would take you back. I wasn’t the one that ended things, Niko. I still love you.”
“Get real, Katherine. Our relationship was more or less a business arrangement. There was no love involved. Hell, I don’t even believe in the emotion, and I doubt you do either.”
“I think what we had is as close as I will get.”
“Who was on my phone?” I ask. “Did you answer it?” My gut is churning over that. I’ve done nothing wrong, but that won’t stop this from hurting Emilia.
“It wasn’t your phone,” she says, pulling out hers. It was Noah. I answered it and we fought until I hung up on him.”
“It was my ringtone.”
“It’s a factory ringtone. I have the same. Christ, Niko. Are you going to doubt every word I say? If you don’t believe me, check my phone. You’ll see the last call was just moments ago.” She holds out her phone, but I shake my head.
I head to the door and open it. My security guards are there as I knew they would be. “I’ll have Victorio take you downstairs and get you a room, or you can get him to drive you to your friend. The choice is yours, but this ends here. Hell, it should have ended when I gave you that check and said my goodbyes the first time around.”
“You’re making a mistake, Niko.”
“The only mistake I made was letting you in here tonight,” I exhale, fed up. “Victorio, see to it that Katherine is either escorted to her friend or in a room for the night.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And unless it’s Maxwell or DeLuca, I don’t wish to be bothered the rest of the night.”
“You got it.”
“Are we still having lunch Friday?” Katherine asks, and I frown. Having lunch with me should be the last thing she wants.
“Katherine, we don’t have anything else to discuss. I’ll be having lunch with my future father-in-law. If you show up, I doubt he’ll be any happier to see you than I will be. Out of respect for our past, I’m asking you to move on and find happiness elsewhere and leave me to do the same.”
“You’ll regret this, Niko. One day you will,” she huffs and for a moment her mask slips and I see her anger.”
“Let me know when you get back, Victorio.”
“Will do, sir,” he says, putting his hand on Katherine’s back to maneuver her away.
She jerks away from him and looks at me over her shoulder. “I don’t need your help. I can take care of myself.”
She stomps off, leaving me to shake my head. “Make sure she leaves and make note who she’s with,” I murmur.
Victorio nods and I go back inside. I go over and pick my phone up and scroll down to recent calls. I frown because there’s no incoming call tonight. I could have sworn that was my phone earlier. Hell, maybe Katherine was telling the truth. I click on Emilia’s name and wait for it to ring. It rings about six times before switching to her voicemail. I rub my temple. She’s probably fallen asleep.