Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 95431 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95431 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
I’m not used to this type of silence. Walking to the sunroom, I decide I want to play to fill in the quiet. It isn’t until I get there that I remember my piano is now in New York.
Buttface had it sent there. What does he expect me to play while I’m here? Does he give that woman gifts?
Why did he have to send Adriano to guard her? If something happens to my friend while he’s with that woman, I’ll never forgive Michael. Adriano should be here—with me.
“Ugh, why can’t I stop thinking about this?” I huff as I make my way to the kitchen.
I go to the refrigerator to find something to snack on. Maybe I can eat my feelings away. I think of calling Adriano to ask him about that woman and what’s been going on, but I realize I left my phone in the bedroom.
Glancing toward the garage door, I think about going for a drive. I snicker to myself and shake the thought off. I can barely drive in America.
My laughter is cut short as my ponytail is grabbed from behind. The person drags me back a few steps and I’m taken by surprise. I drop the plastic container of fruit to the floor and spin.
When I face my attacker, I grab his wrist with both hands and drop back onto my butt. He still has his hand wrapped around my hair, but not for long. I drive my feet into his hips and push.
When that doesn’t free my hair, I take my right foot and kick him in the face with all my might. I keep kicking until he releases my hair and stumbles back. Once I’m free, I leap to my feet and pounce, knocking him to the floor.
Blow after blow, I hit him in the face with my forearm until my body is jolted with blinding pain. I stiffen and begin to convulse. Then everything goes black.
Julissa
I wait for five minutes after Adriano leaves to get us something to eat. As much as I wanted to take a nap, sleep wouldn’t come. When Adriano said he was going for food, I realized this was my chance.
If I’m going to make a run for it, it’s now or never. This way, I won’t be a burden to anyone. I can figure out what’s next for me.
The one thing I do know is that I’m done with men until I heal myself. I deserve to find a man who loves me the way Michael loves his wife. Every time he talked about her, there was this look in his eyes.
I should have known I never stood a chance, but I had hoped. Michael is so attractive and has this presence about him. I had wanted to wrap myself in that.
Maybe that’s just it. I’m picking the wrong men. Perhaps if I stop looking for powerful men, I’ll have more success in a lasting relationship that’s healthy and good for me. I sigh and shake my thoughts off.
With my backpack on my back, I open the door to the apartment, ready to restart my life. However, as I open the door, the blonde woman from the elevator is standing on the other side with her bundle of joy in her arms. A nagging feeling settles in the back of my head.
This woman looks familiar in some way. Something about her eyes and coloring. I go to ask her if she needs help with something, but she lifts what I thought was a baby and I’m suddenly staring down the barrel of a gun.
“Oh my—”
CHAPTER 51
Repercussions
Michael
I wake, inhaling sharply as my phone rings on the nightstand. I bare my teeth and roll over to reach for the device. Why is it so hard to let me sleep?
“Hello.”
“Michael, I’m so sorry. All I did was go to get us something to eat. I don’t know why she opened the door.
“She knew better than to open the door. Julissa is gone. They killed her.”
“They who? Were you followed? Was it the same men? Do they think they have murdered my wife?”
“I don’t know. They were gone when I got back. I found her with a close-range wound to the head. I’m so sorry.”
Adriano begins to ramble on in Italian, but I’m no longer hearing a thing he’s saying. Julissa didn’t deserve this. She probably would have been better off without my help.
They were after my Symphony. That bullet was meant for her. Rage fills me as I think of how Adriano could have failed my wife. This could be a very different call.
Suddenly, it dawns on me that Sim is no longer in the bed with me. Something feels off. I know something is wrong.
“I will call you back,” I say into the phone as I jump out of bed.