Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 64851 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64851 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
And another five upon our return.
I couldn’t get out of that town fast enough.
Finally, we needed to drive another hour to get to a guy named Big Jer who turned out to be a grandfatherly looking accountant in a respectable looking storefront, but for some reason, he was even scarier than T-bone. It was clear from the guys hanging around his office that this man was connected. I said a silent prayer that we’d get out of this alive.
Big Jer seemed like a friendly enough man, but I knew on instinct that he was dangerous. Once one of his men counted the money, his demeanor changed to the smiling grandpop he actually looked like. But we didn’t leave without a word of warning.
“If I were you, I get myself clean and stay out of my town. You have a lovely sister who seems to care of you. Shame if something were to happen to her.”
I don’t think I’d forget that threat for the rest of my life. The destination of the day was to the methadone clinic where I had to fill out tons of paperwork. There was usually a waitlist to be taken in for the 72 to 7-day period, but I was fortuitous enough to know one of the nurses who worked there who managed to pull some strings for me. I was reluctant to leave Adam there by himself, but we both knew it was for the best. It was the first step to his getting and staying clean although this would be a difficult journey.
It was well after dark before I made it home, alone, hungry but drained physically and emotionally. As soon as I pulled into my driveway desperately wanting nothing more than to sleep for the next 24 hours, I saw another car in the driveway and immediately froze.
I didn’t have the strength to deal with him. Not after the day I’d had. I would have just as soon pulled away and driven off but there was no running because I had no doubt that he’d give chase.
With an aggravated sigh, I slowly got out of the car. I saw out of the side of my eye that Nick’s car was empty, which could only mean….
I’d forgotten Nick still had a key to the house from when Kenny was still alive because Kenny had thought that Nick should have it in case of emergencies.
Once again I was tempted to turn and run, but I’d made a deal, and I intended to see it through.
I barely stepped into the house when Nick gripped my neck in one hand and practically slammed me against the wall.
“Where the fuck have you been and whom were you with?”
Chapter Seven
Nick
I loathed to admit it, but I was jealous.
It was an emotion I thought I’d buried, pushed to the deepest recesses of my brain never to be thought of again. But I was kidding myself because it didn’t go away. I’d simply been ignoring it, and while I did, it had grown into an unrecognizable monster.
I had been scheduled for several meetings today, but after the first two I’d had my assistant rearrange the rest. Besides, I doubted I would have been able to concentrate anyway because I kept staring at the email giving me confirmation that the first transfer had gone through.
Even my business partner had asked me if something was the matter. I couldn’t explain it without sounding like a complete lunatic, but there I was leaving work early and heading to the house. I figured she’d be there since she wasn’t currently working. But when I arrived, her car was gone. It wasn’t quite noon, so I figured she might be running errands.
“If you’re looking for the lady who lives in that house, she’s been gone for a while now,” an old lady watering her flowers called from the next house over.
As annoyed as I was having what I already knew confirmed, I turned to the neighbor. "Oh, did she by any chance tell you where she was going?”
“She didn’t tell me anything. She keeps to herself that one, but she and her young man left out together. They seemed pretty chummy considering he’s been staying there for the past few days.”
Clearly this woman was the neighborhood busy body, but I brushed that aside upon hearing that Frankie had a man staying with her. Had she already taken a lover? Is he who the money was for? The more I thought about it, the hotter my blood boiled.
“Well, I’ll tell her someone was looking for her when she comes back.”
I left to go back to the office. After several attempts to actually be productive, I gave up.
“Are you alright man,” my best friend and business partner, Chris, asked as I was heading out the door for the second time that day.”