Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 23679 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 118(@200wpm)___ 95(@250wpm)___ 79(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23679 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 118(@200wpm)___ 95(@250wpm)___ 79(@300wpm)
“Bob Wilson,” I say because it’s not a question.
“Bingo, kid.” He pops another butterscotch in his mouth. “I think you kicked the hornet's nest with this one.”
My hands ache, and I look down to see I’m clenching my fists so tightly my knuckles are white. I have to force myself to open them so that I can get blood flow back to my fingers.
“Want me to take him out?” Uncle Dino sucks on his butterscotch while casually plotting murder. After all these years, I shouldn’t be surprised, but I guess it’s a good sign I still am.
“Not yet,” I hedge. Yes, it would be easiest to kill him and not have to worry about the threat to Piper. But I don’t want anything that could possibly trace back to her. It’s so soon after the confrontation in our lobby yesterday where security got called, they could try and pin it on her.
“Well, just let me know,” he says like we’re discussing where to eat for dinner. He gets up from his chair, and I get up with him, following him to the door. “You should put someone on your girl.”
“That’s not a bad idea. I mean, she’s fine right now, but I should make sure someone is with her when she leaves my place.”
“What are you talking about?” His heavy brows pull together in confusion. “Last my guy saw, she was going inside her apartment.”
“When?”
“Before I came here, a couple of hours ago at least.”
“Shit.” I hurry back to my desk and grab my phone but don’t see any missed calls from her. Then I remember that I’ve got her number, but she doesn’t have mine. I call her cell, and it goes straight to voicemail, which doesn’t help my panic. “I need to go.”
“Come on, my driver's out front.”
Uncle Dino puts his hand on my shoulder as we take the elevator down to the lobby. Having him with me helps, but my mind is racing with the worst-case scenario. There are so many ways this could go wrong, all because of my stupid mistakes.
I don’t know what I’m going to do if something has happened to my Piper.
Chapter Eleven
PIPER
“What are you doing?” Ciara asks from the doorway to my room.
“Packing a few things.” After I laid on the bed and had my little pity party, I made myself get up. I have a kitten to get back to, and I need to figure out how to get back into Landon’s place.
“Why?” She watches me curiously, but I’m not sure why. Ciara has never given a crap about what I was up to before now.
“I’m going to stay with a friend for a few days.” I’m purposely vague because I don’t want to tell her about Landon. I don't know why, but for some reason, it feels like he’s mine. Thinking this way is dangerous, so I shake that strange thought from my head. It’s ridiculous. I barely know the man, even if it doesn’t feel that way.
“You still owe for rent. You can’t just dip out.”
“I’ll pay my share.” I always pay on time. In fact, I have had to cover her a few times until she could get the money together.
“Why are you staying with a friend? Are you going on a trip and don’t want me to know? Because if you are, then you can afford more than the rent you’re already paying. And we need to talk about the cable being split three ways.”
“What?” I stop packing to turn and face her. “Cable?” I don’t have a clue what she is talking about.
“Yes, cable.” Ciara throws her hands up like we’ve talked about this before. I’d recall if we had because we never talk. If anything, we mostly text, but only when needed.
“I don’t want cable. I don’t even have a TV.” Do people still use cable?
"Whatever," she huffs but lingers in the doorway. "Who is this friend?"
Okay, this conversation is strange. She never asks me about my life or what I’m doing.
"It's work-related. They need a house sitter." Her questions are so odd that it makes me not want to give her specifics. I’m not sure why, but I have the feeling that I should keep the details to myself.
"When will you be back?"
"Does it matter?"
"Why are you being difficult? You know I—" A loud knock echoes through the small apartment before I hear the creak of the door opening. Ciara must not have put the chain back on, and if it was our other roommate, she wouldn't have knocked.
“Piper?” When I hear Landon call my name, my stomach dips. There’s a flutter of excitement filling me before it immediately crashes. I don’t want him to see this place.
“Who’s that?” Ciara steps back to stare down the hallway. Her brows lift before a rare smile overtakes her face.