Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 72561 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 290(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72561 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 290(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
She smiled at me gratefully before giving me a half hug and walking out of the door.
I stared after her with a growing sadness growing inside of me.
God, what I wouldn’t give to have someone need me like that.
To have someone to call if I ever needed anything.
Sure, I had Brittany...but she wasn’t family. She wasn’t my lover. She wasn’t my blood. She was my best friend with a life of her own.
“Can I get you anything to eat, ma’am?” The waiter asked.
I looked at the menu and made a quick decision. “Yes, I’ll have the honey grilled chicken. I want mashed potatoes and asparagus, please.”
He nodded as I placed my order and left.
I stared out the window at the passing traffic and wondered what the hell I’d do the rest of the day.
I’d taken off from my second job, which was now in an actual salon instead of at the shady funeral home that funneled drugs in their coffins. I’d stopped going to school, and to top it off, I was behind on nearly every one of my bills since my brother up and left, taking his half of the rent (when he paid, that was) with him.
It didn’t surprise me in the least that my bosses, Gustavo Amadeus and Ray Platt, were criminals, either.
I’d read about the secret drug transporting business that Gustavo ran. About how he’d transported drugs in return for money by using coffins and hearses.
I still couldn’t believe all the stuff I’d been so oblivious to; everything that I’d had a sixth sense about ever since I’d started working there.
They’d always given me the creeps, and it just goes to show that I should always trust my instincts.
Not that those instincts had worked in time to warn me that Loki was a cop.
The one man I let myself start to have feelings for was also the one to destroy me.
God, I was such an idiot.
“Hi there, Detective Rector, how are you today?” The chirpy hostess asked from her position at the stand.
I was sitting at the very corner booth closest to the door, and all that I had to do was raise my eyes up a fraction of an inch to find myself staring into the pale baby blues of the object of my affection.
The waitress’ smile was warm and friendly, but I knew for a fact the answering one wasn’t really a smile, but more of a grimace trying to be a smile.
He looked good.
His hair was just as short as the last time I’d seen him, and he’d put on a lot more weight.
No longer was he skinny. Now he was what I’d like to call buff.
His attire was much the same as the last time I’d seen him, too.
Crisp blue jeans, black polo with the letters BPD embroidered above the breast, and a pair of black motorcycle boots.
Oh, and a woman on his arm.
***
Loki
“Thank you for taking me to lunch. I didn’t want to keep you any more than I already have,” Dortea, the new district attorney, said apologetically.
I smiled at her, but otherwise didn’t say anything else.
This would be our last meeting before I took the stand on Monday, and I couldn’t be any more excited about it. It’d been three fucked up months waiting for the trial to take place.
I was so ready to get this over with that I couldn’t see straight. My life had been on hold for, what felt like, a year. I had a constant headache for the past three months, and in the last two, it’d progressively gotten worse.
Varian Strong had implemented every single scare tactic he could to get me not to testify short of actually offing me, which I was sure would only be a matter of time before he chose to try that.
I’d been warned. I’d been sent threatening letters. I’d had my car and home vandalized. Threats had been delivered to the club.
We’d arrested four of his workers who’d been acting on orders from him, and still he didn’t stop, despite every single one of his workers now sharing a cell next to his.
That was inevitably what sent me to Florida for an extended stay. The death threats had progressed to actual assaults, and I didn’t want to put my club, my fellow officers, or Channing in danger. Which actually was a breath of fresh air not to be sleeping ten feet away from her every night.
Plus, I got to visit with my mom and stepfather.
If anything else, not seeing Channing was the one thing that hurt the most. I could handle car bombs and death threats all day long, but one look at the sorrow in Channing’s eyes every time I saw her but didn’t approach, absolutely gutted me.
The look in her eyes, the accusation. As if I was being just like she’d expected me to be.
“Table for two?” The host asked.
“Yes, ma’am,” Dortea confirmed. “I need somewhere with a lot of light,” she said glancing around the dimmed bar area. “Preferably by those windows right there. Perhaps beside that young woman?”
My head turned to examine the windows, first disregarding the beautiful woman sitting at the booth directly behind me, but as soon as my mind registered what it’d seen, my eyes flashed back to hers.
They were swimming with tears, and she was staring at the TV above the bar with a grim determination that broke my heart.
God, this all was so unbelievably fucked up.
I’d been using every tactic I’d learned in all my years of training to stay away from her. I knew what could happen to her if I started being seen with her in public. Varian’s cronies would see, and then they’d carry that information back to him. He’d then send out orders to do whatever necessary to affirm compliance on my part. And I would have. In a fuckin’ heartbeat.
“Sure, that’s Melody’s section, and she’s on break, but I can definitely have Sean over there take your orders. Is that okay?” The young woman asked.
At Dortea’s nod, she walked quickly around the half wall that separated the entrance from the seating area, and placed our menus on the table before leaving.