Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 58090 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 290(@200wpm)___ 232(@250wpm)___ 194(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58090 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 290(@200wpm)___ 232(@250wpm)___ 194(@300wpm)
I nodded, and Paige tapped her pen on the top of the desk, thinking for a long moment. “I’m not a hundred percent sure what he’s into, but Reed and he speak regularly. I trust Reed; therefore, to some degree, I trust Richie. If nothing else, he brings a lot of business to the club and pays his bills on time. Which, at the end of the day, is what really matters.”
I nodded slowly. “Right. Reed would know if he was shady.”
“Agreed.” Paige smiled. “He’s a good judge of character, Avery.”
Avery.
I wondered if the name would ever sound right to me. It had been mine for over a year, but still, I paused every time someone used it to remind myself not to look over my shoulder.
Avery Wilder.
Why had I even chosen that name? It was like when you complimented someone on a tattoo, imagining some sort of beautiful back story to the choice, only to find out that it was simply the first one they liked from the artist’s sample book.
Avery was just a name. Chosen from a list of five possibilities for a witness protection service contract. At the time, it sounded good. Now, it grated on me. I didn’t want to be Avery Wilder from Kentucky. I wanted to be Tori Barnes from Las Vegas. I wanted to be me.
That was never going to happen again.
I was stuck as Avery, probably for the rest of my life.
“You okay, girl?” Paige asked, a wrinkle of concern on her usually smooth brow.
I plastered a smile on my face and nodded. “Yeah, just a little tired, I guess. My neighbors have been throwing house parties every night this week.”
That was the thing I hated most about being Avery. Avery had to lie constantly. She couldn’t tell the truth about who she was, what she was feeling, or where she really came from. Avery didn’t come from a broken home or have a brother. No, she had a binder of facts that she had to memorize to the point that it felt real. She was an only child, and her parents lived in Kentucky.
Reed and Paige felt like friends to me, or at least the closest thing I’d had in recent memory, but how close could we really be when they didn’t know anything about me? I was like some kind of living, breathing imaginary friend. I wasn’t real. I was the figment of some profiler’s imagination.
“You need to move to a new apartment, girl. I’m telling you, Reed’s real estate guy is a genius. He could find you something like that,” she said, adding a snap for dramatic emphasis.
“I have some leads,” I lied.
Paige nodded. “Good for you. Just let us know if you need any help, okay? You can even borrow some of the security guys when it comes time to move.”
I laughed. “Okay, thanks.”
“Shirtless, if you want,” Paige teased. At least, I thought she was teasing.
“Noted!”
Paige cocked her head. “How come I never hear about a boyfriend? A pretty girl like you should be beating them off with a stick! I see how the guys here look at you. Now, you know we don’t really encourage dating clients, but I can’t imagine it’s not the same no matter where you go. When was the last time you were with someone?”
I dragged in a deep breath. Bennett Marshon’s face appeared behind my eyes as I blinked, and I wanted to keep my eyes closed and get lost in the image of him. He was my first real love. And, subsequently, my first heartbreak.
“Oh, honey,” Paige said quickly, sensing it was a sore topic at the tight expression on my face. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pried. You know how I get. Too nosy for my own good. It makes me a hell of a lawyer, but sometimes a real pain in the ass.”
I laughed softly. “No, you’re not. I just don’t really like talking about my last boyfriend. Well…I don’t even know if that’s what he was.”
Paige gave a knowing nod, and I wondered what her dating life had been like before she met Reed. It was hard to imagine her with anyone else. They were so perfect together. It was like no one but Reed could have ever been by her side. But surely that wasn’t the case. I was about to ask, to get the spotlight off of myself, when Paige shifted the topic.
“Well, if you’re interested…” she giggled, her eyes flashing with mischief. “We have some pretty good eye candy prowling around the club tonight. There’s this new guy Richie’s been hanging around with. His name is Eric. Reed and I met him a few nights ago.”
“Eric?” I turned the name over in my mind. Had I met him? It sounded familiar. Working the bar meant that I met most of the people that came into the club at one point. Sure, it was a sex club, but it was also a place the exclusive members and even celebrities liked to come to when they wanted a nice place for a drink.