Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 105065 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 525(@200wpm)___ 420(@250wpm)___ 350(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105065 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 525(@200wpm)___ 420(@250wpm)___ 350(@300wpm)
“Look, I just know that Donny has been bothering some of the other girls, and I thought maybe he was bothering you too.”
“And what are you gonna’ do about it if he is?” she snarls. “Beat him up for me?”
I don’t answer because the hatred in her voice catches me off guard. I knew she didn’t like me, but this is something else altogether. The way she’s looking at me right now, it’s like she actually wishes I was dead. I just can’t wrap my head around it. I’ve done nothing to this girl. I know she wanted Lachlan, but this isn’t jealousy. It’s something personal.
Whatever the case, it’s obvious this is a lost cause, so I stand up and walk towards the exit.
“Just forget it,” I call over my shoulder. “We’ll go back to not talking. You’re right it’s probably better that way.”
“Doesn’t bother me,” she retorts. “In fact…”
I hate that I pause to hear her out, but I do. And when she leaves the words hanging, I spin around to find a hostile grin tugging at her lips.
“I doubt you’ll be around here much longer anyway.” She snaps her gum. “Because you know what I think?”
I roll my eyes, but answer her anyway. “What’s that Mandy?”
“I think you’re going around trying to make Donny look bad to take the attention off of you. Because from what I hear, Donny’s the one who has dirt on you.”
I cross my arms and try to look disinterested, but inside I’m mentally dissecting anything he could have come across. Mandy takes my silence as her cue to continue.
“He told me something about you too… yeah, that’s right.” She snaps her fingers as though she’s just remembered. “He said you looked familiar. Very familiar.”
I smile back in an attempt to show her she’s not getting to me. There’s no way I could look familiar to him. I’ve never met him before, that I am certain of. So what she’s saying doesn’t make any sense.
“You know, he didn’t always run for this crew,” she adds in a bitter tone.
“Your point, Mandy?”
She stares at me for a long time, like she’s expecting me to have some sort of realization. I don’t. And I’m starting to think she’s just a mental case who’s trying to make me paranoid. If Donny had something on me, he would have spilled it by now. I shrug and turn back towards the door.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Have a good night, Mandy.”
“Have a good rest of your life,” she laughs. “However long that may be.”
***
In keeping with my routine, I check in with Sasha who has nothing new to report. She still hasn’t seen the Russian I’ve been waiting around for, so I go to work. My attempt at doing inventory is a bust. It’s impossible for me to keep count, let alone think straight. Mandy’s threat keeps bouncing around in my head.
Does Donny know what I’m up to? And how could he unless he’d spent time with Tal and she specifically told him about me? It doesn’t seem likely.
It’s all I can think about. This isn’t just about Tal or myself anymore. I have to protect Lachlan too. If his men find out that I’ve been lying and snooping around and he was the one who brought me here, I don’t know what they will do to him. I can’t let him pay for my actions. I can’t let my grief over Talia destroy him. Because deep down, I know he didn’t have anything to do with it. His crew? Maybe. Possibly. But Lachlan? No frigging way.
He’s a good man. He didn’t deserve this. The lies and the sneaking around. I can’t imagine what it would do to him if he found out I was using him. Maybe that isn’t fair, considering he was pretty much doing the same, but it still hurts to even think about it. I don’t know how I’d ever explain my betrayal. I don’t know how I’d make him believe it isn’t that way now.
But none of that matters. I sealed my fate the moment I crossed enemy lines. I came here with a purpose, and there’s no way I could hide that forever. There was always a chance that things would implode like this. I just didn’t think it would be so hard to leave him when they did. I don’t want to. I’m not ready for that. But with every minute that ticks by on the clock tonight, I feel it in my chest.
It’s time. I have to leave now. Something isn’t right, and I can’t wait around to find out what Donny’s got up his sleeve. Maybe I can just have one more night with Lachlan. I could… I don’t know… tell him how I feel. Which is crazy and pointless, especially when I can hardly make sense of it myself. I don’t know what to do.
After the fifth failed attempt at counting, I head back to the bar… only to find Donny watching me from his seat. And for the briefest of seconds, I see it.
Recognition.
It’s there in his eyes, and this time it’s clear as day. He isn’t hiding it. In fact, there’s a smug smile on his lips. He does know. In my gut, I know it’s true. He somehow knows, and he’s going to take me down.
Fuck.
I walk on shaky legs to the bar and order a drink. If I leave now, he’ll know what I’m doing. So I pretend like everything is fine when inside I’m screaming. I don’t even know where Lachlan is. Shit. I’m not going to have a chance to say goodbye. Goodbye.
Why does that hurt so much?
Tears blur my eyes, and the five minutes I wait for him to leave feel like a hundred. When he finally does, I tell Ronan I’m going back to finish inventory.
Instead, I veer off down the hall and use the back door that Lach usually enters through. His car isn’t in the lot. He’s still gone.