Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 75748 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75748 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
“Fuck,” I grumbled, whipping off the covers and reaching down, rubbing my hand up my cock through my pants.
A low groan escaped me, and I was almost embarrassed by how hard I could get for a woman I’d never touched.
I was just about to slide my hand under my waistband when I heard it.
A loud crash from above.
Given the soundproofing in these apartments, the sound was shocking enough to have me shooting up in bed, heart hammering.
I listened for a second. But heard nothing more.
I should have let it go.
People dropped things all the time.
But I was already climbing off the bed, grabbing a shirt, and pulling it on before making my way through my apartment.
I grabbed my phone and keys and was in the elevator before I could talk myself out of it.
There was a mixture of concern and hope swelling in me. Part of me was worried she maybe fell and hurt herself. Or had gotten trapped under a large piece of furniture. The other part was thinking she’d been struggling to do something and would appreciate a man to help her accomplish the task.
And then what? She’d thank me on her knees?
I had to get a fucking grip.
I was just going to give a little knock, make sure she wasn’t hurt, then go back to my damn apartment to sleep. Without jerking off to thoughts of her yet again.
All those thoughts fell away, though, when I made my way out of the elevator car and spotted her apartment door wide open.
“Fuck,” I hissed to myself, wishing I’d thought to grab a gun before heading up.
Oh, well.
There was no time to go back now. Someone could be in there with Blair. She could be hurt.
I rushed forward, slipping into the doorway of her darkened apartment.
The only light came from a small nightlight in the kitchen.
The silence inside had my heart rate ratcheting up.
My eyes adjusted to the low light as I moved into the hallway, inching down toward the primary bedroom, knowing it was where Blair would be at this time of night.
I moved inside, flicking on the light.
But there was no one there.
The bed was still made, not a single wrinkle in the covers, the pillows karate-chopped down the center.
Nothing seemed out of place as I moved toward the bathroom, finding it empty.
I was just stepping into her walk-in closet when I heard it.
Footsteps in the hall.
I rushed out.
Then did the one thing I shouldn’t have.
Called out to Blair.
I knew my thinking in that moment had been to try not to scare the shit out of her by realizing a man was in her apartment uninvited.
But I hadn’t been thinking of it being someone else in the apartment.
At the sound of my voice, the footsteps picked up speed, leaving me running out just in time to see a man in a hoodie rushing out of the apartment.
“Shit,” I hissed, casting a quick glance into the room he’d run out of to make sure Blair wasn’t bleeding out on the floor, then rushed out to follow him.
Clearly not a complete idiot, the man had taken off down the stairs, not the elevator.
The door slammed with a metallic thunk as I raced down the hall, dead-set on finding who the hell was in her place when she wasn’t home.
Did she have a stalker?
The same guy from the park, even?
Or, worse yet, could it have been the same person who’d gunned down Matthew?
Or just some random crime? An empty apartment? An easy target?
I flew down the stairs, my bare feet slapping on the steps as the man charged faster still downward.
I pushed myself faster, wanting to grab the fuck, slam him against the wall, and get some answers out of him.
But when I heard the bar on the lower door depress, indicating he was already out, I knew the chances of catching up to him on the streets were slim to none. Especially if he managed to dip into a store or duck into a cab.
I followed still, but when I scanned the street, I didn’t see the guy anywhere.
“Damnit,” I grumbled, heading around the building to talk to the doorman.
But he hadn’t seen anyone matching the description either. And he certainly didn’t remember letting him into the building.
It looked like I had yet another job for Zeno, I decided as I made my way back up to Blair’s apartment, closing and locking the door behind me. Then I made a beeline for the hall bathroom, washing my street-dirty feet, knowing Blair would have a stroke about me spreading that kind of filth through her apartment.
Finished with that, I walked through her apartment, flicking on all the lights, looking for any signs of why the man had been there.
As far as I could tell, all of her valuables seemed accounted for. She hadn’t even been trying to hide her jewelry in the primary closet. Everything was set carefully in a cream-colored case. There were no obvious gaps.