Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 73208 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73208 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
Wear the silver Dior gown with the satin Jimmy Choos I sent you last week. Style your hair up, and I’ll have your jewelry when I pick you up.
Gritting my teeth, I glared at the phone. I had planned on wearing exactly that. But having him tell me was annoying.
As long as it’s fabulous.
I added a kissy face emoji, then hit Send, and rolled my eyes before walking back up the stairs. Being a gold digger was exhausting. In truth, the whole thing disgusted me, but I would do whatever I had to in order to make sure Dovie was taken care of. I couldn’t look any deeper into what I was doing. When I did, I got into a dark place that was hard to get out of mentally.
I headed across the hall into Dovie’s room to find her lying on her bed with a book in her hands. She lifted her gaze to mine and smiled. I had bought a book on sign language and downloaded an app that helped teach you sign language shortly after I brought her home with me. We had learned it together so she had a way of communicating instead of writing things down all the time. She could hear just fine but she couldn’t speak, at least not anymore.
“How does pizza sound for dinner?” I asked her, sitting down on the edge of the bed.
She took her dominant hand and made two circular motions over her stomach.
“Yummy, huh?” I replied with a grin. “Okay then, I’ll order pizza and make sure it gets here before I leave. Hopefully, I won’t be out too late, but you know how he is. Make sure the alarm is set and the door is bolted.”
She pointed at her chest, then the side of her forehead.
“I’m aware you know, but I am just reminding you,” I said, leaning over and looking at the book open in her lap. “Fantasy? That’s new. I thought you were into romance.”
She shrugged, then signed, “Curious about the hype.”
I laughed and stood back up. “Let me know if it’s good. I’ll try it next.”
She raised her eyebrows, then signed, “Since when do you read?”
“All right, smart-ass. I read sometimes.”
She rolled her eyes and shook her head.
I reached for the throw pillow in her round powder-blue lounge chair and threw it at her. “Don’t judge me, missy.”
Grinning, she grabbed the pillow and hurled it back at me. I liked seeing her this way. It had taken her almost a year before she actually smiled. Now, I got to see her smile all the time. Sure, there were shadows in her eyes sometimes. They would always be there, lurking, just like the horrors she’d endured, but she would overcome it. I would do everything I could to make sure of it.
“Okay, go back to your reading. I’ve got to go make myself pretty.”
“That’s not hard to do. You wake up pretty,” she signed.
“Aww. Are you trying to bribe me for more book money? Because it’s working,” I replied, then winked at her before leaving the room.
The apartment complex was safe. I’d made sure to get one in the nice part of town with security and an alarm system. Having to leave Dovie alone in a big city wasn’t my favorite, but she was smart, and I paid a lot in rent to make sure no one could get to her.
I missed our movie nights. We’d gotten into a pattern of doing them every Friday night until I had to pack up and move us to Atlanta. The rent was outrageous, but the city was big and easy to blend into. We stood out less here. Small towns made me nervous. People were too nosy. The drawback to this life was the cost of living. Which was why there were no movie nights for us right now. I had to be at the beck and call of a man. One I really couldn’t stand.
• three •
“Just keep talking, kitty.”
Storm
“Why the fuck are we here again?” Thatcher asked in a bored tone.
“Because Jameson Chester owes us money,” I replied, although he knew the answer already.
He grunted as he slid his sunglasses on and walked over toward the bar. I didn’t want to be here either, but we had to send our warning to the dipshit who owed us over half a million dollars. He’d made the mistake of ignoring Stellan’s call. So, we were here to collect. Surrounded by rich, uppity assholes that we were expected to mingle with for the sake of appearances. King was getting out of all kinds of shit with a new baby at home. Since he was the first one to have a kid, I wasn’t sure how long that would last and when he was going to have to get fully invested in family stuff again.