Total pages in book: 181
Estimated words: 171979 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 860(@200wpm)___ 688(@250wpm)___ 573(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 171979 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 860(@200wpm)___ 688(@250wpm)___ 573(@300wpm)
“Oh yeah, you have an online boyfriend? Where does he live exactly? Wisconsin?”
Her smile faded. They both knew she was full of shit. Turning the knob, she was ready to slam the door in his face. “Go fuck yoursel—what the fuck!”
Valerie and Sal stood at the front door with their mouths agape at the scene. Any trash in his hands was dropped to the ground in shock. Her whole house had practically been torn apart.
It took her a moment to get past the shock, and once she did, she ran right to her computer room with her heart beating out of her chest. She knew in her heart it was gone before she reached it. Still, nothing could have prepared her for it actually being gone. The only thing remaining was her computer desk that had been flipped over and lay broken.
Deadly silent with rage fueling her imp, she walked to the corner of her room and picked up the Harlequin cosplay bat that still stood leaning against the wall and gripped it tightly.
The sound of a hard crash made Sal run inside her house and call out to her as he hurried toward the sound. “Are you ok—”
“Those motherfucking bastards!”
At the scene he stumbled in on, it was safe to say, she’s definitely not okay.
Screaming at the top of her lungs, she beat at a flipped-over desk with a wooden bat that held bold red lettering. Sal wasn’t one hundred percent sure, considering he could only catch flashes of the lettering, but he was pretty certain by the fifth swing it spelled out G-O-O-D-N-I-G-H-T.
“Those fucking cops took my computer, didn’t they?” She stopped to ask, looking right at him as her knuckles turned white from her deathly grip.
In all his years devoted to the mafia, he had never been so scared in his life. “Yep. Mmhmm. Yes, they sure did.”
“Those fuckers!” she screamed again, slamming her bat back down on the desk. “My whole life’s work was on it!”
Sal stepped back a bit when a piece of flying wood bounced off his glasses. “Your life’s work?”
“Yes, my video game.” She hit down with the bat. “Bubblegum Blitz.” She slammed her bat down again. “I’ve been trying to sell it to Game Hookup the last few months.”
“Oh …” He lifted his fallen glasses up his nose, thinking back to him scouring her computer last night. Sal had not only opened the game, but he had played the fucking thing all night after getting sucked in. Since he hadn’t played video games since before he joined the mafia, he no longer kept up with the newest games anymore because he never had the time. The game was so good that he had assumed it was one that not only had been released already but had been designed by a huge gaming company. “I see.”
Thinking it was best to let her get it out of her system and tire herself out, he let her get a few more hits in before he tried to step in. He held out his hands as he approached, and she stopped swinging enough for him to take the bat, and only when it was in his hands did he break it to her.
“Listen, they are not going to let you anywhere near your computer, as I’m sure it’s locked away into evidence,” he quickly added the last bit in a rush, too afraid to tell her that he was the one who actually had it.
“Yes, they told me I couldn’t use any electronic devices and confiscated my phone, too,” she admitted, clearly feeling dumb at her outburst. It was obvious she should have known her computer would have been gone.
“Okay, well, that would have been good to know,” he muttered under his breath. “So, you just gotta work on proving your innocence … without all that.”
She patted her forehead; it looked like Valerie was about to faint. “I feel dizzy.”
Sal quickly turned over her computer chair that had been left unscathed. The poor Ikea desk, however, was a total loss.
“Sit down. I’ll get you some wat—” By the time he had finished setting the chair upright, she was tilting toward the ground. “Oh shit!”
Sal barely caught her in time before she hit the floor. Cradling her limp body in his arms, he found himself preferring her quiet and unconscious. He was able to study her up close again, seeing those many freckles that kissed her skin. She was awfully tiny for a girl who ate so much. Her small frame was soft in his arms, and he found himself wondering dangerously how she’d look without those heavy, thick, and oversized clothes.
She didn’t dress to his taste, and as he tenderly brushed a rogue strand of hair out of her face, the fun color of it was another thing he didn’t prefer on women. But, for Valerie, it suited her. Her dark blue hair shined like the ocean lit by moonlight. You could tell her look was inspired by her video games. It was just her, and Valerie was nothing but herself at all times.