Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 129980 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129980 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
“Alan, of course I’ll do my best to see who is stealing from you, but I’m a numbers person. Just looking at the books probably won’t initially give me answers. I’ll be happy to work on it until I find the culprit, but it could take weeks. Or more. Depending on how clever they’ve been.”
“Then you’ll stay weeks or more,” he snapped.
He began pacing, his movements quick and angry, much like a trapped tiger. She forced air through her lungs, refusing to give in to panic. Billows was very angry. The atmosphere in the room felt sinister. Ominous. A giant storm ready to break right over her head.
“I understand your anger. You work hard for your money, and no one has the right to steal it from you. I’ll find them, Alan, but I need to go home when I’m tired. I don’t sleep well anywhere else. To do this for you, I have to be alert.”
Billows abruptly stopped moving, swinging around to stare at her. Her stomach dropped. There was far too much speculation in his eyes. Something else as well. Lust maybe. Certainly interest in her as a woman, not just his bookkeeper. His steady stare was unnerving, but she forced a pleasant smile as she pulled a notebook from her backpack.
The weird thing was, she’d seen that look a few times before. Not often. Mostly he was terse and dismissive. He didn’t spend a lot of time with her. Usually, he barked orders and left. She was uncertain why he would have sudden bouts of interest in her. She didn’t flirt. She dressed in baggy, shapeless clothes. No makeup.
“Why didn’t you allow me up to your apartment?”
It was the last thing she expected him to ask. Her heart accelerated at the dark shadows creeping over his face.
“Did you have someone up there?”
His tone indicated she had better not have had someone in her apartment. Worry for Andrii sent a shock wave of panic through her mind.
“I’m quite capable of making someone disappear,” he added.
He wasn’t joking with her. She kept her expression serene, with effort. She’d practiced the look a million times in her mirror after hearing those screams coming from somewhere in the complicated maze of secret rooms. Her eyes met his, and she made certain she had a look of inquiry.
“Alan.” She kept her voice gentle and sweet. Deliberately, she acted as if she didn’t understand. “That isn’t something you should say to me when I’m looking for the criminal stealing from you. I know he might deserve whatever he gets, but I can’t know about it. It wouldn’t be safe for you.”
He frowned and took a step closer to the desk. “What is it with you? I don’t like bitches as a rule. I have a hard time getting you out of my mind.”
Her heart continued to accelerate. Her mouth went dry. That wasn’t good. She’d begun to suspect he was looking for more than a working relationship, although he never dated anyone for more than a week or so. His women didn’t last.
“Perhaps you could refrain from referring to me as a bitch. I am not a dog, nor am I in heat. I’m your employee, and you’re skating very close to a pet peeve of mine.” She stuck her nose in the air and regarded him steadily with as much annoyance as she could muster.
What could have been a smile touched his mouth. “A pet peeve? Damn, woman, that’s it right there. That attitude you have. We can talk about that later. Right now, I want to know about the other night. Why you didn’t let me come upstairs.”
She sat back in her chair. He was expecting her to say she had company, and she feared if she admitted Andrii was there, Andrii would mysteriously disappear. She had to give him something or he would get angry. She decided on a partial truth. And she was going to give it to him without attitude because he seemed to like attitude. She didn’t want him thinking about her, let alone liking anything she did.
Her lashes fluttered, and she took a deep breath, letting him see it disturbed her to tell him. She wanted to give the impression of reluctance and a little bit of shame.
“I haven’t gotten over it.” That was the stark truth. She would never get over witnessing Quentin murder Janine and her niece and nephew. She would never get over the trauma of the three bullets tearing through her body. Still, she poured embarrassment into her tone.
His eyebrow lifted. “Gotten over what?”
Andrii would have known immediately without making her say it. Billows was that obtuse. Really? She wanted to get up and walk out. But then, she’d wanted out for years. She knew that wouldn’t happen with consent. Billows would threaten her and possibly kill her before he would allow her to quit.