Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 91389 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91389 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Because her sister never saw what was really happening.
“Fuck,” I say and storm out, tears streaming down my face. “Fuck,” I say and find my stuff in the backroom. “Fuck,” I say, over and over to myself as I go home, heading for my apartment, and when I’m safely inside with the door shut behind me, I start to sink down to the floor.
Then freeze.
“Claudia,” he says, and the big dark shape pulls itself off my couch and stands. “What’s wrong?”
Angelo. Here. Right now. In my apartment. I shiver and should scream.
Instead, I walk to him, and I let him wrap his arms around me.
Chapter 17
Claudia
He doesn’t have to hold me while I cry. There’s no rule we made, no deal we struck. He doesn’t have to wipe my tears away when I start to calm down, and he doesn’t have to kiss my hair and whisper gentle soothing words while he rubs my back, and he doesn’t have to pour us both a drink when I’m finally back to myself.
“You don’t have to talk about it, but tell me this. Are you okay? Did anyone hurt you?”
I shake my head and take a sip of wine. It’s the cheap stuff, which is the best I can afford. He doesn’t seem to mind as he takes a long drink.
“Just Serena.” I think about telling him more, telling him about Rodney, but I don’t. I can’t bring myself to say it, and what she confessed isn’t for him anyway. That was for me, and I’ll have to find a way to live with it. Or maybe I’ll find a way to kill that scumbag. A girl can dream.
I curl up next to him on the couch and brush against his left arm. He grimaces and adjusts it, keeping it away from me, and I finally notice that he’s been favoring his right side this whole time.
“I’m fine,” he says when he notices me looking. “Just a scratch.”
“Must be a bad scratch the way you keep grimacing every time you move it.”
“I took care of it already.” He’s close to me. I like the way he smells and the way he talks and the way he stares at me like he can’t look anywhere else. I like it too much.
“You weren’t at the club tonight. I was looking for you.”
“Needed to stay away for a little while.” His smile is tense and he tilts his head.
“You came to my apartment instead? You can’t just let yourself in, by the way.”
“I like it in here. Smells like you.”
I roll my eyes. “Obviously.” And now I’m smiling. “But you still can’t break in here.”
“I’ll keep your opinion in mind.”
“It’s not an opinion, it’s—” But I stop myself. He doesn’t care. “At least text first, okay? Can you do that?”
“I’ll text,” he agrees. And hey, that’s progress.
“How long were you waiting for me?”
“Not too long. I wanted to talk to you about the job, but—” He hesitates, which surprises me. He doesn’t want to discuss business after I just had a big emotional meltdown.
“Let’s talk,” I say and this is exactly what I need. A mission to keep my mind off what Serena said. This job I’m doing with him, it has an end game, it has a purpose, and if I can get her away and help her sober up, maybe we can work on her issues, or at least I can get her into therapy and rehab and all that stuff, and kick her life back onto a better track.
He takes a deep breath and blows it out, clearly reluctant, but he talks anyway. “I need you to find out if Tommy’s been in touch with a guy named Vito, a guy named Roc, or anyone with a Serbian name.”
My eyebrows raise. “How am I supposed to do that?”
“You’re smart. Be creative.”
“He doesn’t exactly leave his date book out.”
“Date book?” He laughs and touches my hair with his injured hand. “How old are you again?”
“You know what I mean.” I blush, smiling back. “But fine, I’ll see what I can do. No promises.”
“Do it soon if you can. Sooner the better.”
“Does this have anything to do with that messed-up arm of yours?”
“Yes.” His smile fades and he doesn’t elaborate.
I put my hand on his thigh. He shifts closer, and my heart does one of those spasms before falling into a rhythm again. “Can you do something for me in return?”
“If you’re inviting me into your bed, I’ll do that for free.”
I swat lightly at his leg. “No, you arrogant dick. There’s this girl at Cage, her name’s Kayla. Can you get her fired?”
He considers for a beat, and I feel so stinking guilty and petty, right up until he nods. “Tommy’s technically still running the place, but I’m also technically still his boss. It’s complicated, but I’m pretty sure I can make that happen. What did she do to you?”