Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 69063 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 345(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69063 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 345(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
She lowered her voice so that only I could hear before saying, “Yes, Daddy.”
I felt delicious tingles all the way home.
I packed both mine and Desi’s things—what little there was since most of it was now at Ben’s place—and headed out.
I stopped to check to make sure Nastya wasn’t at her place, then headed out after the door didn’t open.
I was halfway down the hallway when something told me to go back.
I paused, clearly wondering what it was that was causing me to hesitate.
I took a look around the breezeway that would lead me down the stairs, then turned back to survey both of our doors.
Pulling up the app on my phone, I checked to make sure that Nastya’s apartment was, indeed, empty, then headed down the stairs to my cruiser.
The drive to Ben’s place took ten minutes, and when I got there, Ben’s wife, Kendall, and their twins, Castle and Carrie, were on the porch decorating the front glass with hearts for Valentine’s Day.
I left my crap in the car and got out, heading up to Castle and hoisting him up in the air.
He squealed and laughed, then said, “Hey, right there. I can reach the corner like this!”
I held him in place long enough to draw the most misshapen heart I’d ever seen, then put him down onto his feet.
“Me next!” Carrie declared.
I lifted her up even higher.
“You know, we’re never going to be able to get that heart off,” my sister-in-law drawled.
I loved Kendall.
I loved even more that she loved my brother so much.
They were a great couple, and I loved how sweet and welcoming she was to my brother and his twins when she came into their life.
Ben’s first wife died during childbirth, and for the first five years of their lives, Ben did it alone.
Then came Kendall.
Surprisingly, she was one of Julia’s friends.
Also surprisingly, the moment that Kendall found out about Julia’s affair, she’d dropped Julia and chose us over her longtime friend.
“I’ll hoist them up like that to clean it off when you want me to,” I teased.
“You better.” She winked. “Ben and Desi are inside finishing up dinner. They both got home late. Desi has a new boy at school that has a crush on her. Go easy on her when she tells you.”
I snorted.
I loved my kid, but I didn’t like her love interests.
They always left a lot to be desired.
When I got inside, it was to see Desi at the sink washing her dishes, and Ben standing up beside the stove shoveling chili into his mouth.
His eyes came to me, and they were sparkling with mirth.
“What?” I grumbled. “This better not be about the boy that Kendall just told me about.”
“Dad!” Desi groaned. “Come on!”
Ben was silently laughing as he tried to finish his bite of chili.
I flipped him off and said, “Just wait. You only have a few more years and you’ll be going through this with Carrie.”
That wiped the smile off of his face.
“Dad, why are we not staying here for the night if we can’t stay at your apartment?”
That got my grin sliding off my face.
And, since my kid was nearly an adult now, I let her stay in the room as I explained.
Everything.
An hour later, we were at Nastya’s new place, but nobody else was.
I pulled out my phone and called her.
With no answer, I decided to check the camera app, and nothing.
My next call was to Shasha.
He answered on the first ring and said, “Problem?”
I told him I’d only call if there was a problem, so he was understandably worried.
“You got an ETA on your guy?” I asked. “I thought Nastya would be here by the time we got here, but no one’s answering the door.”
“Code to get in is 883388,” he said. “Let me call him and check in.”
I let us in and was stunned by the house.
Now, I knew that she was crazy.
Who would give up a place like this for our apartment complex?
Look at me, ignoring all the red flags.
“Dad, this place is the bomb,” Desi declared. “And Finn will love the yard!”
“Yeah, baby. It is. And he will. Maybe we can get a fence installed, and we can bring him with us when that happens,” I said as I took everything in. “I think it’d be really hard not to love the hell out of this place. We’re never going to want to leave.”
The problem with ‘treating yourself’ is that I don’t know how to stop. I had a bad day in October, and I have been treating myself ever since.
—Nastya’s secret thoughts
NASTYA
I woke up and felt…stiff.
I couldn’t figure out why until I opened my eyes and saw the state of my body.
Blood.
There was blood everywhere.
I had it on my face.
I had it on my hands.
I had it in my mouth.
I could taste the coppery scent on my tongue.