Total pages in book: 30
Estimated words: 27892 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 139(@200wpm)___ 112(@250wpm)___ 93(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27892 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 139(@200wpm)___ 112(@250wpm)___ 93(@300wpm)
“Get out of here. I’ll deal with you later.” Saunders comes to his feet half running to get out of the room.
“He didn’t do anything wrong. I asked him to train me.”
“You almost had a panic attack.” I swallow. He’s right, I had almost had an attack. I didn’t have that same fear when I trained with Sebastian. Here I was thinking I was making progress. I was so wrong. Nothing has changed for me. Except Sebastian. He’s changing toward me. At least it feels that way.
“He was trying to be helpful.” I roll my eyes, trying to play it off. “Besides. You were busy. You might not always be here.”
“I’ll always be here.” He takes a step toward me. “They all know not to touch you unless absolutely necessary.”
“Turner,” I hear my mom call.
Sebastian lets out a groan, running his hand down his face. Mom walks into the garage. He turns to face her.
“We aren’t done yet. We still have to handle the shoes,” Mom says to Sebastian. What the heck are they talking about?
“I figured black.”
“But what kind of black?”
“There are different colors of black?”
“Of course. We’ll need to adjust your shoes as well, Violet. We’ll need to get you high heels if you’re going to walk with Turner down the aisle.”
Wait. What? My mind flashes to me in a wedding dress walking down the aisle to Sebastian. My life is completely different from the one I’ve been living.
“Miles asked me to be his best man.” Of course he did. I feel a smidge better that it was my mom that held Sebastian up. Still, it didn’t change the space he’s been trying to keep between us.
“The man is a giant compared to you. You’re going to need four-inch heels. Maybe five.” Years ago, that wouldn’t have been a problem. Not so much anymore. I can’t remember the last time I wore heels. I used to love them. It was all I ever wore.
“I can’t wear four-inch heels, Mom.”
“Of course you can, honey. Turner will make sure you don’t trip,” Mom responds. “Just hang on to him.”
Sebastian swallows. It’s so subtle I almost miss it. I don’t think Sebastian wants me hanging on to him anymore.
Anger starts to bloom inside of me. It’s always there packed away in a tight little box. Now it’s pushing out, making me snap at innocent targets.
“I can walk myself down the damn aisle. I can still do some things for myself.” I turn, stomping off like a brat. I race back to the pool house to lock myself away from everyone. No one can hurt me there.
Then again, I think it’s me that’s hurting myself.
Chapter Seven
Sebastian
“The new delivery driver checks out. Used to work at the National Packaging Service and United Express before getting hired at Triple Fast Delivery. He was not fired from the previous jobs but moved because of salary. His credit rating is excellent with no outstanding debts other than a few thousand on his credit. The last purchases recorded include a gaming console which, fuck, I had no idea were so expensive and a pair of sneakers that he bought from a secondhand site that cost over a grand.” Welsh recites from his notepad.
“The gaming console price surprises you but the used shoes do not?” I flip through the report that the background specialist has provided.
“My brother is a sneakerhead, and so I’m sadly aware that even a grand can be considered cheap.”
“Does it seem odd to you that he’s making two big splurge purchases in one cycle? That seems to indicate that he’s had a windfall of cash.” The lack of debt is also raising my eyebrows. The average citizen has around five grand of debt. This guy has almost nothing except his recent purchases. Even his car is paid off. “When did the auto loan get satisfied?”
“Mmm—” Welsh searches for it. “About eight months ago.”
“Dig a little deeper.”
“Will do. Anything else you want me to look into?”
I drum my fingers against the desk. “One thing that’s been bugging me is where’s Adam going to stay after he’s released? His lease expired so he can’t return there.”
“I guess we wait to see who picks him up, if anyone does.”
“I wish this damn wedding was over. There are too many variables. Too many people we don’t know invading Violet’s space.” She’s been cranky lately, and that attitude usually only comes out when she feels threatened. It’s a shitty situation because Miles and Eden want to get married with their family and friends, but Violet can’t handle anyone outside of the family. Her easy acceptance of Eden and Eden’s brother is a little surprising to me because Violet doesn’t warm up to people immediately, but those two checked out okay. Eden had a shit ton of debt, and her old man was connected to shady people, but we cleaned that mess up easily. And none of it came home. It was all handled on the outside.