Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 62811 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 314(@200wpm)___ 251(@250wpm)___ 209(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 62811 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 314(@200wpm)___ 251(@250wpm)___ 209(@300wpm)
“You sure?” he asks.
I nod. “Positive. I even walked her to the door, and she unlocked it and went inside. It’s her place.”
Tristan taps around on his phone for a few moments, a call coming through on his speakerphone.
“What is it?” a rough voice answers after a few rings.
“Is this Cambridge Apartments?” Tristan asks.
“Yeah, you looking for a place to stay, kid?”
I quickly cross the living room and take Tristan’s phone and hold up a finger to him before he can bitch at me.
“We’re actually calling about a tenant that lives there,” I say.
The man scoffs. “Look, this is a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ kind of place. I don’t have any information for ya,” he states.
“We just need a name for the tenant in apartment 307.”
“Unless you have a warrant, I can’t give you anything.”
“Unless you want me to call an inspector and have him come check out how many codes you’re violating, I’d advise you give me what I’m looking for,” I state firmly. “I was just there a few moments ago, and I know for a fact that your electric set up is a fire disaster waiting to happen. Do you want those problems?” Tristan smirks at me as the line goes quiet. “Hello?”
“Fine,” the man huffs. Papers shuffle in the background for a brief moment. “Her name is Mara Steele. Happy now?”
The smirk falls off of Tristan’s face, and my eyes widen. Mara Steele? As in…our deceased mother Mara Steele?
What the fuck is going on?
I hang up without another word to the man, unable to form words. “This is some kind of set up,” Tristan growls as he stands to his feet. “We still don’t know who this bitch is, and she’s living in an apartment in our mother’s name. Who the fuck does she think she is?”
“I don’t know, but we need to go find out,” I mumble. Whatever guilt I felt earlier is now long gone. I don’t know what kind of fraud this woman thinks she can commit in our mother’s name, but now I’m fully invested along with my brother to get to the bottom of who she is.
Tristan and I get back into the car and speed back to her apartment, finding our way to the leasing office. A heavy set, bald man with a stained tank top and dingy sweatpants sits behind a desk watching a tiny television with a grainy movie on. He looks up at us as he lazily dumps ashes from his cigarette into a red solo cup, half-filled with liquid.
“Can I help you?” he asks.
“Yeah, we just talked to you on the phone,” I start.
The man’s bored expression immediately turns into a scowl. “What the hell do you want now?” he fusses. “You come all the way here to threaten me with more inspections and shit, you little shits?”
Tristan pulls out a wad of cash and slaps it down on the counter. The man’s eyes grow as big as saucers as they bounce between the money and our faces.
“The name was a start, but we could use a copy of a key to her apartment,” Tristan says.
The man nervously licks his lips. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” he says with an unsure chuckle. “Tenant safety and all.”
I grin. “We can tell you two thousand reasons why you should consider it.” I cock my head to the side. “So…how about that key?”
And it doesn’t take much more convincing before we finally get the key that’ll get us closer to the truth.
CLEO
Ican’t stop the tears that roll down my cheeks as I peel my dress off. As if the original time wasn’t enough, the violence and brutality of my second session with them will haunt me for days to come.
My mind still struggles to come to terms with what happened down there. I try to rationalize whatever fucked up reason they could’ve had to do what they did, but I keep coming up blank. Why do they want to know my name so badly anyway? The whole point of being at the club was so that we could all have anonymity and privacy, as well as the safety of the bouncers. But the way that Tristan and Talon transformed in Hell felt as if they were doing it because they have something to lose.
What do they think I plan to do?
I turn on the shower and wait until the water is as hot as it can get before I step in. I’m not delusional to think that losing my virginity wouldn’t be messy, but this was overkill. And that’s a freaking understatement.
If Talon hadn’t stopped Tristan, he probably would’ve tried to kill me. They’re so set on knowing my name, which means that they still don’t know who I am. Or maybe they have an idea of who I am and want confirmation. I can’t be sure, but at least I don’t have to see them again.