Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 75450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
“What’s going on?”
“I fell down the stairs,” I told her. “And I’m a little busted-up.”
“What? Oh, my God. Are you okay? Let me see.”
I moved my finger away and watched Sofia’s eyes go wide and her mouth slack before she tried to school her face into a mask of neutrality. “It’s… not that bad.”
Even in the little rectangle in the corner, it was pretty bad. “It is. But thanks for lying to me.”
“Did you get checked out?”
Not by a real professional. “Yeah. This is the worst of it,” I said, flashing my brace.
“Did you break your hand?”
“Yeah. And bruised my ribs a little. Twisted my ankle. I’m a walking bruise right now. But I’m okay. So don’t go panicking.”
“Those stairs have always been a hazard. I can’t tell you how many times I nearly went down on them. They’re so narrow. God, was Rune with you?”
“Not when it happened, no. But I’m with him now.”
“Good. You need someone waiting on your hand and foot.”
“He is. Don’t worry. I haven’t left the bed yet today.”
“I knew I liked that man.”
Yeah, I was really starting to as well. As weird, messy, and complicated as that was.
“So, you’re in Columbus?”
“Yep. All snuggled in at the hotel. Right, Hammy?” she asked, panning the camera to show me the dog passed out on the bed. “You’d think she walked for six hours, not dozed in the backseat. But we made a lot of stops today to stretch our legs.”
“How’s it going? You sick of driving yet?”
“No. I’m having a lot of fun, actually. It’s been nice to see more of the country. We never really traveled much.”
That was true. Our parents never had the money when we were kids, and we damn sure never had it as adults. She’d made one spring break trip to the Bahamas with a boyfriend and I’d gone to Puerto Rico last year. But that was really the extent of our travels.
“Good. I’m glad to hear you’re enjoying it.”
“Yeah, I… hey, Rune!” she called, making me turn to find him walking in from the bathroom in nothing but a damn towel.
My mouth went dry.
My sex, completely unconcerned with how bruised and achy I was, twisted.
“Hey, Sof.”
“I hear you’re taking good care of my sister after her fall.”
“I like to think so. She’s been a surprisingly good patient. Didn’t expect to keep her stubborn ass down.”
“I know, right? She once had the flu, and I had to go behind her back to cancel her cleaning clients so she would rest.”
“I’m sitting right here,” I mumbled.
“And you know how you are,” Sof agreed. “Okay. I’m going to let you get back to resting. I will call in the morning to check on you before I hit the road.”
“Sounds good. Love you.”
“Love you too.”
“See?” Rune asked when the call ended. “There was no reason to put that off all day.”
“I just didn’t want her distracted or worried while she still had driving to do. This was better. Even if I don’t feel great about not giving her the full truth.”
“Like the full truth you gave her about me?” he asked, shooting me a cocky little smirk.
“Ugh, don’t remind me. I’ve been doing so much lying the past year. I feel bad enough about it.”
“Hey, you were protecting her from your little murderous plot. I think that makes you a good sister.”
“You make me sound unhinged.”
“Passionate, sure. Maybe a little naive. Grieving. Not unhinged. Trust me, I’m feeling pretty blood-lusty right now myself.” His gaze slid over my face, and I swear it felt like a soft caress over my bruised and swollen skin.
“Did you get in touch with your hacker friend?”
“I did. We can go see him tomorrow.”
“We?”
“You’re not a prisoner here. We can go out. Plus, it would be easier if you come, in case Junior has any questions for you.”
“Can we take my car? I like the bike, but I don’t think that’s going to feel great with my ribs.”
“Yeah, you can’t be on a bike for a while. Depending on how you’re feeling, we could take a trip to the beach if you want. Just to get out of this windowless room for a bit.”
“And you promised me She’s Bean Around coffee.”
“I did.”
“And mafia pizza.”
Apparently, there was a lot about Navesink Bank my little preliminary internet search hadn’t told me when I’d been looking for Rune. Namely, that it was just a hotbed for criminal organizations. You named it, they had it: bikers, the mafia, loan sharks, hackers, mercenaries, and even some crazy paramilitary survivalist camp—which, apparently, was created by Rune’s aunt and currently run by one of his cousins.
It almost felt unreal when he first told me. I’d actually laughed. Because a smallish town full of that much crime… and it wasn’t constantly on the news? And the crime rate wasn’t in the toilet? It seemed unlikely. But he was quick to remind me that there was a difference between petty and street crime and organized crime.