Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 49259 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 246(@200wpm)___ 197(@250wpm)___ 164(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49259 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 246(@200wpm)___ 197(@250wpm)___ 164(@300wpm)
“Oh, he’s good.”
“Yeah, that’s why Lyon has left him alone to do Catalina’s bidding.”
“So, he’s grooming her for her takeover already. I guess that makes sense; he would’ve been much younger than she is if he’d been brought in when he was supposed to be.”
“Everything is working out the way it’s supposed to. Lyon is more suited to being out in the field; at the rate she’s going, she’d be able to take over operations by the time she’s eighteen or thereabouts.”
“I wonder what he just gave her.”
CHAPTER 17
“Do not touch this with your bare hands no matter what you do. The instructions are inside.”
“Wait!”
“I know nothing.” He just left like that. I had barely made it back to the house when I received the message of an incoming package.
I went back to my home office and opened the little package. There was a pair of gloves that looked like something from a sci-fi movie with a note that said, ‘Wear these.’ I slipped them on. They felt like silk but were light as a feather.
Inside was another note with a vial of clear liquid that I guess was the reason for the gloves. I read the note and reread it to be sure. “Oh my!” Well, this is just cruel. I smiled and slipped the notes and everything else back into the package before locking it away in one of the drawers of my desk.
It was time to go oversee dinner preparations. I’d been running the streets all day and hadn’t given any thought to my husband’s evening. I think tonight we will sit out in the gazebo with a glass of wine under the moonlight and watch the swans and ducks on our lake.
I might even talk my husband into taking us out on his pontoon to make love under the stars.
The next day, I left the house feeling as though I was carrying a ticking timebomb. There was no surprise when I showed up at the apartment building. I just waved at the concierge and a member of the housekeeping staff who stood at the front desk chatting.
I didn’t go directly to Jessica’s apartment. I’d watched her jump around her apartment after sleeping in the bathtub the night before to get ready for work. She almost gave herself a heart attack when she saw the snake asleep on the top of the bedroom door.
Now she was gone, looking a little more haggard than usual, and I can only imagine the night she’d had while I was wrapped up in my husband’s arms all night. I should send her a thank-you gift for unleashing this new phase in our lives, but I think her bad deeds outweigh the good, so I’ll hold off on that.
Once I’d puttered around in the empty apartment long enough, I headed down to Jessica’s place. Unlike her, I knew where the snake was at all times, and since he was nocturnal and I had no plans of awakening him, I was able to do what I came for and was out the door in less than five minutes.
I was amazed at how calm I was and how effortlessly and flawlessly I carried out the instructions given the material I was working with. Now, all that was left was to wait for Jessica’s return that evening to see the rest of this unfold.
I felt no guilt at what was about to come. Not that I knew all of it, but I had a pretty good idea and was on pins and needles all day, waiting for the business day to come to an end.
I was a little worried after the fact the day before that Mark might have seen what I’d done due to his mention of always knowing where I am, but Cierra had warned me not to go down that road to just live as if I always have eyes on me, which is going to take some getting used to.
But he didn’t mention anything about it; he just asked me how my day was and if I’d had fun with the girls at lunch. It was hard picking over my words to find the right ones, so I didn’t lie to him, like telling him that I went to the apartment building but not why I was there and telling him that it was Trudy who had asked Melissa to recommend Jack. Wow, that was a mouthful.
Now, I was sitting upstairs in my office, where I seem to spend most of my time these days, watching the screen as I waited for Jessica to return to her stolen apartment.
JESSICA
I hate this fucking place. I’ve been here too long, and everything is falling apart. It’s as if the universe is against me. Anything that can go wrong since I came to this town has come to pass. The man I was supposed to seduce was either a robot or he was into men, which made no sense because he had a wife and four kids.