Total pages in book: 51
Estimated words: 50080 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 250(@200wpm)___ 200(@250wpm)___ 167(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 50080 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 250(@200wpm)___ 200(@250wpm)___ 167(@300wpm)
"I'm not."
Kayra's assertion was a welcomed surprise, but why did Thomas suddenly have a bad feeling about this?
"A blind date between two cold-blooded killers makes perfect sense—-"
Thomas bit back a sigh. Knew it!
"And it's also the kind of out-of-the-box thinking that can only occur to another cold-blooded killer."
The older man was back to questioning himself by the time Kayra finished speaking. Was he really doing God's work here? Or if he was, then perhaps he had misheard God's command, and what the Lord had tried to impress upon his heart was to simply help Kayra find a friend...and not a boyfriend.
The girl typically avoided talking to or even talking around strangers as much as she could help it, and so while it was great that this blind date had engaged enough of Kayra's interest to be somewhat sociable—-
It might have been better if Kayra had remained her usual tight-lipped self, since on this rare occasion that she had actually opened her mouth to talk, she had also ended up describing all three of them as killers, and cold-blooded ones as that.
Thomas tried not to ask for any favors from God as a rule, but...would it be alright to pray that Drake could somehow find it in himself to—-
"That almost sounds like a premise for a rom-com, doesn't it?"
—-act like Kayra's words were simply a tongue-in-cheek thing, like the younger man just did?
"It does, actually."
Thomas could hardly believe his ears. Was this truly Kayra enjoying a normal conversation with someone outside her family?
"Any favorites?" Drake asked.
"Mr. and Mrs. Smith," Kayra answered without hesitation.
"I think I've seen that. Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie?"
"Correct."
"Good movie."
"I enjoyed watching The Tourist, too."
"I think I'm seeing a pattern here..."
Whoa, now.
Was this what it felt like to witness God's power at work?
Thomas hadn't been the only one to notice Drake's increasingly reckless attitude in the past few months. The man only seemed to come alive when his life was in danger, but here he was sounding like his old charming self as he flirted with Kayra.
"I was hoping you would."
While Kayra sounded rather serious when saying the words, Thomas also knew the girl well enough to recognize her first-ever attempt at flirting back.
"Let's see then," Drake said lazily. "Rom-coms with a couple bloody twists, and the faster the pace, the better...because that's how you think chemistry between two lovers works. It's either there or not...right?"
A second passed.
Just one extra second before Kayra answered in her usual brisk way.
"Correct."
For a girl who always had a ready reply to everything, that one extra second spoke volumes, and Thomas was barely able to pay attention as the two started talking about the logistics of meeting up.
Wow. Just wow.
Because he had been lost in his grief for a long, long time, Thomas had forgotten how good it felt to do something that God approved of. Liberating, actually, and it reminded him of his first day in prison, and a priest had come to visit him.
A colleague of mine told me about your story. What you did was very brave—-
Or stupid, Thomas had all but sighed then. Just when his lawyers had found a technicality that could secure his victory in the courtroom and hand him back his freedom, Thomas had heeded his conscience to plead guilty and pay for his crimes.
The decision had made him feel like a hero for a few seconds, but now that the rest of his days loomed before him, and with zero chances of seeing the outside world again—-
It is stupid, Thomas.
The priest's words had him gaping at the other man. Weren't priests supposed to comfort their flock, not torment them?
But only in the eyes of men, the priest had then added with a kind smile. My words might not make sense right now, but this is where you can be truly free. Sin is what cages us, and doing what's right is what frees us. And of course, as one would expect from a man of God, the priest was absolutely right. Those words had not made sense for a long, long time...until now.
Thomas was still in a pensive mood as his three-way call with the would-be lovers came to an end, and another prisoner was quick to take his turn at the payphone as the former doctor walked back to his cell.
The road ahead for those two wasn't going to be easy. Kayra was the daughter of a powerful Greek mafia family while Drake belonged to an equally powerful group of vigilantes. Drake was a former Fed, and Kayra a former suspect, also of the Feds. Kayra was an introvert, Drake an extrovert. Kayra had recently converted to a plant-based lifestyle, while there was nothing Drake loved more than grilling steaks in his balcony.
The list could go on and on for the pair of star-crossed lovers...but even so.