Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 89592 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 448(@200wpm)___ 358(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89592 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 448(@200wpm)___ 358(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
“Are you kidding me?”
“No, I’m bringing her here to keep her close,” he replies.
“What happened? How have they targeted her?”
“She’s been losing clients for no good reason and a few major contracts were reassigned in the last few weeks. She was more than willing to take our job.” He stands, plucking me up and placing me into the warm water.
“But that’s not enough to bring her here. What are you leaving out?”
He sighs. “I had Tristan, a friend of a friend, watching her place. Some guys started to come around and he called it in. I thought it best to extract her now.”
I cover my face with my hands and groan. Why is all of this happening? Who the hell did I piss off?
Clayton peels my hands away and kisses my nose before nodding for me to lower into the water. I place my hands on my hips, glaring at him. He places his hands over mine, tugging me forward to the edge of the tub now between us.
“She doesn’t know where all this is coming from. The wedding and the job were my way of keeping it that way. A little more time, Sid. I’ll make this go away soon,” he says, promise written thickly in his words.
Chapter 29
Old Friends
Sidney
“Seriously, this place is gorgeous already, I don’t see what you need me for,” Marnita gushes as we get her settled and give her a quick tour.
We all take a seat in the living room. Clay takes a seat next to me on the sofa and Marnita takes the accent chair across from us. I hate the stress I see on her face, it’s not like her.
I’ll admit Clayton was right to bring her here. Something has definitely been going on with her. I knew it the moment she hugged me. She held on to me like I was a lifeline.
“I want Sid to start to feel at home. As a wedding gift, I want her to be able to put her stamp on the place,” Clay replies.
I look at him and narrow my eyes. I get that he wants to protect my friend, but here we are, telling more lies and spending more money on things that aren’t going to remain.
“I like everything the way it is, there’s no need to change a thing. I guess we have similar tastes.”
He waves me off. “I’ll show you the room I was thinking of for Sid’s new office. We can talk about other rooms later. I appreciate you doing this for us.”
“It’s not a problem. I’d do anything for Sid. Um…does David live here?” she asks shyly.
“On the lowest level. Those are his rooms.”
“Does that mean he’s single?” I want to burst into laughter as her cheeks turn red.
Marnita is very pretty. I’m sure David didn’t miss that fact. However, now I’m curious as well as to whether or not he’s single.
“He is.”
I look to Clay, and he has an amused smile on his face. Turning back to Marnita, I catch the little smile on hers. Oh, David better watch out. I think my friend plans to pounce.
In all honesty, David is a nice guy. Marnita deserves someone nice like him. If Chloe were here, I’m sure she would try to play matchmaker between them.
“He’ll be joining us for dinner tonight. Well, he’ll be working, but I’m sure one of the guys can step in so he can join us,” Clay offers.
“I mean, if he wants.” Marnita shrugs her shoulders. She then gets a confused look on her face. “So wait, I think I got things all wrong. He’s not your assistant, is he?”
“No, he’s the head of my security. However, Levi, my assistant, was the one who contacted you initially.” Marnita nods. Clay takes his phone out while placing an arm across the sofa behind me. “I’ll text David. He stepped out with Ally for a bit. I’m sure they’ll be back soon.”
“Cane isn’t around?”
“No,” he says firmly. I lift a brow as I look at him.
He softens his tone and explains. “He’s not around and Royce is with him. David will look after Ally until they get in. He should still be free for dinner.”
Royce is Cane’s head of security. Also, a nice guy. It’s Royce who makes me relax when it comes to Ally’s safety. I’m still not a fan of Cane’s.
If Clay is the responsible brother, Cane is the bad boy. I don’t know how I feel about Ally hanging around him.
Seeming to feel the shift in my demeanor, Clay leans in and kisses my lips. He reaches for my shoulder and starts to massage it, all while texting on his phone.
“I’m so excited to be in New York again. We absolutely have to do some shopping, Sid.”
Now this gets my attention. I turn to her with a big smile. My pocketbook must groan in the distance.