Total pages in book: 206
Estimated words: 192184 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 961(@200wpm)___ 769(@250wpm)___ 641(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 192184 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 961(@200wpm)___ 769(@250wpm)___ 641(@300wpm)
He paused, then continued by biting off. “No, I will not ask her that…. fine...” He leaned back and asked me, “What kind of ice cream?”
I let out a half laugh, half cry. He shrugged kind of apologetically. I shook my head.
“She says surprise her,” he snapped, ending the call.
He pulled out and left Sarah at the supermarket and drove me back to Tommy’s house. That phone started ringing from my pocket. I took it out.
“T” calling. Great. I stared at it. After the third ring, Earl cleared his throat. After the fourth ring, he said, “I’d answer that, Miss.”
I didn’t. I couldn’t do anything but stare at the screen. It stopped at five rings. Then Earl’s phone started ringing and he said a mix of Yes Sirs and No Sirs all the way back. When we pulled inside the gate, which Earl appeared to have engaged somehow from within the vehicle, he stopped in front of the gate and sat there for what seemed like the longest time. He dialed the phone and said, “What’s your ETA? Shit. Can’t do it. Won’t work. No, that’s not the plan. Can’t. We’ll have to reschedule.”
He growled a sound of frustration into the phone and then hung it up and finally drove in through the area between the gates.
“You can go ahead, Miss. O’Connor. I’m instructed to come with you, keep you company until Mr. Ferrano returns.”
I nodded and opened the car door and followed him into the house.
I sat at a stool at the kitchen island and folded my hands in front of me. I was dizzy.
Please don’t hurt them, please don’t hurt them. It was a chant inside my head, and I said it over and over and over.
“Do you want something to drink? Some tea?” Earl asked me. He seemed really uncomfortable.
I nodded. He put his suit jacket on the back of the chair, loosened his tie, and then rolled up the sleeves of his shirt and filled the kettle.
“I didn’t have anything to do with that,” I whispered. “They’re good people. Please tell me they won’t be hurt.”
“Tommy will find a way to get them to back off. Don’t fret,” he said softly, then put the kettle on its base and turned it on.
He stepped into the dining room when his phone vibrated. I couldn’t hear his conversation. A moment later, he returned and then filled a tea pot and put it on the island with two cups, the sugar, and the milk.
A few minutes later we were drinking tea and saying nothing. Finally, he fetched a newspaper from another room and handed me the entertainment section and opened the sports section.
After just a few minutes I heard noise and it wasn’t what I’d hoped for, which would’ve been Sarah coming in with the groceries. Instead, it was Tommy who was leaned in the doorway of the kitchen, eyes narrow and on me.
“That’s all for now,” he said.
Earl left the room.
“Upstairs,” Tommy said to me very calmly and then turned on his heel.
I was frozen in place. He looked back over his shoulder at me. “Now.”
I slowly rose and then followed, taking slow and shaky breaths, wishing I could disappear.
Inside the master bedroom, he sat on the bed and untied his black leather shoes. When he took them off, he then took his tie and his blazer off, followed by taking cufflinks out.
He looked even more dressed up than usual. Great, this incident got him pulled from an important meeting; that should put him in a fine mood.
He took his silver crucifix necklace off and put it on the nightstand and removed his shirt before he tossed it on the bed. Then he stood and undid his belt. He was looking at me with intensity; biting down on his bottom lip as he did this. My heart rate picked up and my throat felt dry. He had the halved belt in his hands and he jerked his hands to make it snap loudly. This made me jolt and shudder.
“So,” he said to me. “Care to explain what happened in the store today?”
I blanched. He had to already know what had happened from Earl.
“I saw Rose in the bathroom. She followed us. She was just worried. I told her to back off. She will.” My voice was small, weak, I was quaking.
“Yeah, Rosalie Crenshaw and Susan DeLong are making inquiries. It needs to stop.”
“I-I told her I was fine, to back off.” I was not at all comfortable with the name dropping, that he obviously had information on them. I kept my eyes on the belt while bile rose in my throat.
“Yeah, you said.”
“What are you gonna do?” My chin trembled.
“You want to know what I’m gonna do?” His eyes were challenging me.
“I want to know you’re not going to do anything to… to them. I’ve talked to her, it’ll be fine. She…” I didn’t know how to finish that, to find the words to make him leave them alone.