Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 88153 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88153 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
I sure as fuck don’t want a replay of that.
How is it that I’ve become the man who counts down the minutes until I can talk to a woman?
I have about an hour before she calls. I’m hoping that’s enough time to unwind so I can just enjoy her. Today’s meetings were long and boring. I’m getting sick of them. I know DeLuca is too. He’s given them until Friday to decide. If they don’t want to form an alliance, he’ll go elsewhere. At this point, it’s a foregone conclusion they’re going to agree. They know it. Yet, for some reason, they insist on trying to bust our balls. It’s ridiculous.
A knock on the door stops me in my tracks. I’m not expecting anyone, and I don’t have time for a surprise visit. I walk to the door expecting to find Maxwell, but instead, Victorio is there with Katherine standing beside him. Immediately, this sick feeling hits my stomach. She’s the last person I want to see here. I would be happy never to see her again. I look at Victorio, noting the look of disgust on his face. I grimace. He may not admit it, but I know he has feelings for Emilia. He best be forgetting them.
“Katherine? What are you doing here?” I ask, dryly.
“I need to talk to you,” she says, nervously. “I hate just showing up, but I had nowhere to turn, Niko.”
“I can meet you downstairs—”
“No! Please that won’t work. It isn’t safe,” she says, glancing both ways, checking the hallway for something.
Her words make me frown. Safe?
“What have you gotten yourself into?” I ask. The truth is, I don’t really care. I’m pissed that she’s interrupted my night. Now, I just want rid of her.
“I ran into trouble with my new boyfriend—make that ex-boyfriend. Can I please come inside?” she asks, looking at me and then Victorio. “I don’t want to be out here any longer than I have to be.”
I want to say no. I want to make her wait, but the tremor in her voice stops me from turning her away. I’m not a complete asshole. I can at least hear her out before sending her on her way. She walks inside, looking me up and down. “Were you getting ready for a shower?”
I realize then that I’m standing there in nothing but a towel.
“Yeah.” I rub the back of my neck. This will hurt Emilia if she finds out. I need to talk to Victorio to make sure she doesn’t.
“Go ahead. I’ll wait,” she says, nodding to the bathroom door as her lips pick up into a small smile as she takes in my bare chest. I don’t like the look in her eyes. Katherine can be very conniving if you give her a reason.
“We can talk now.”
“I don’t know Emilia personally, but I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t like you talking to me half naked, no matter how much I’d enjoy the view.”
I’m surprised she gives a shit enough to respect what Emilia would or wouldn’t want, but I don’t have time for the games. I need to know what the issue is so I can send her on her way.
“Katherine, tell me what’s going on,” I growl out.
Her hand trembles as she pulls down the neckline of her shirt, showing a purpling bruise forming on her chest. I can tell it goes lower on her breast, but I don’t care to look any deeper at it. If I hadn’t seen it myself, I would think she’s here, playing me.
“I can’t get involved, but I can call downstairs to get you a room,” I start.
“No. I don’t need all that,” she says, waving my offer away. “I just need a place to wait for a bit. Somewhere safe. My friend Carolyn is coming to get me and I’m going to move in with her. I just don’t want another run in with Noah tonight.”
“Is that what a run-in results in?” I ask, motioning to her chest.
She looks at the floor as shame colors her cheeks. That’s when I notice her eyes are red rimmed from crying. I sigh heavily. She’s put me in a shit situation. I can’t very well allow her to be in harm’s way. Emilia wouldn’t want me to do that either.
The entire time, there’s a heaving feeling of guilt weighing in my gut. I can’t figure out if it’s some sense of foreboding or intuition that I shouldn’t trust Katherine, or if it’s just guilt because this isn’t fair to Emilia.
Maxwell didn’t like me setting up the lunch date with her. It didn’t help that I couldn’t explain why I agreed to the luncheon in the first place. I did ask Maxwell to be there. I want him to see that she is nothing to me. Maxwell reluctantly agreed and that made me feel a little better.