Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 78295 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78295 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
Frost’s nose wrinkles. “I don’t like it.”
“I don’t give a fuck. She’s mine, and I won’t let you use her until there’s nothing left.”
“Fine.” He turns his back on me, his shoulders tense. “But I expect something good. See you next month.”
I watch him go. Ren steps up beside me. “Should I say it?”
“You told me so. And I told you.” I look at him. “I’m going to protect her.”
“Yeah, good luck. Frost has it in for the girl.”
“I thought that was Gallo.”
“Nah, that old fuck’s got a hard-on for murder, but he’s always like that. He says what he means and you don’t have to worry about surprises.”
I let out a slow breath. “But Frost is different.”
“Exactly.”
Frost will sneak up on us. He’ll play the game, make me complacent, and one day he’ll hit when I least expect it.
“Keep an eye on him,” I tell Ren as I head back to the car. “We need to make sure he’s playing fair.”
Chapter 21
Hellie
Waking up feels like dragging myself from a grave.
My throat hurts. My mouth tastes like garbage. I groan, roll out of bed, and stagger into the bathroom where I splash water on my face and drink straight from the faucet.
I drag clothes over my head and stumble downstairs in search of something to eat. My stomach’s completely empty.
“I almost forgot about you,” Marina says when I shuffle into the kitchen.
I slump down at the table. “Great to see you too.”
“You’ve been busy.” She brings over coffee and cream. “Hungry?”
“Starving. I’d like one of everything.”
“Everything?”
“In the kitchen.”
She laughs and pats my shoulder. “A big breakfast then. Coming right up.”
I drink coffee and watch her work. It’s nice, having nothing to do but sit and stare and let the caffeine bring me back to life. I’m feeling more myself when she piles the table with pancakes, waffles, eggs, toast, bacon, and sausages. I help myself, chowing down like a maniac, stuffing it all into my mouth as fast as I can chew.
“Easy there,” Marina says, refilling my coffee. “Erick would be very upset if you choked.”
“She’s right,” he says, coming into the room. I look up, bacon dangling from between my lips. He makes a face. “It would be a shame if you died because you couldn’t control yourself.”
I chew and swallow like a good lady should. “I can control myself just fine, thank you.” I sit up straight, using my utensils, shoving half a waffle down my throat.
He laughs, kisses Marina’s cheek, gets coffee, and joins me. Erick’s sweaty, straight from the gym, and focuses on the proteins.
“I met with Frost. He had an art evaluator with him.”
I freeze. Nerves jangle in my chest. I’m absolutely confident in my work, but feeling that way is different from someone actually looking at it. “What did he say?”
“He asked if it was really a forgery. He seemed blown away.”
I relax slightly. Warmth floods my body again. “Come on, seriously?”
“I’m not kidding. You should’ve seen the guy’s face, it was like he was witnessing a miracle.”
Marina comes over and puts more bacon on the plate. “You ask me, it was a miracle. A wonderful miracle.”
“Thanks,” I say, cheeks turning pink. I’ve never gotten so much praise for my own work before in my life.
“Frost wants another one.”
Those words make me drop my fork. I feel a headache bloom. The thought of painting another in five days— “I can’t,” I say, trying not to lose it.
“You have a month.”
I groan, leaning forward. “A month?”
“I argued for two, we settled on one. Is that enough time?”
I nearly weep from relief. “A month is fucking great.”
“You won’t have to kill yourself, at least.”
“Compared to five days, it’ll be leisurely.”
“Good.” He seems concerned as he tilts his head. “I don’t want a repeat of last time. I don’t want you to go back to that place.”
“I have to go there for a little bit.” I poke at my food, staring at the fork. “It’s how I work, you know?”
“That’s fine, but not for sixteen-hour stretches. You’ll work normal days. Nine to five, lots of breaks. Eight hours of sleep. An hour of exercise.”
“Are you making my schedule right now?”
“I was about to pencil in some fun time, but maybe not.”
I laugh, half with relief, and half with joy at the idea of this man taking care of me again. “You’re such a hard-ass.”
“Only because you’re a pain.”
“Please, you’d be nowhere without my skills.” I wiggle my fingers in the air. “I got all the talent.”
“You do,” he says more seriously than I expected. “Listen, today, why don’t you work on something else.”
“You got something in mind?”
“No, I don’t, but you should come up with something.”
“You mean, I should make my own art?” The idea hadn’t even occurred to me since coming here.
“I’d like that if you wanted to.”