Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 79749 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79749 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
"Is that what you want?" I repeat. "Do you want me to tell my husband how disappointed I am in your services?"
Most of the people connected to the organization come here. It's another business owned and operated by the Reese Foundation, unless Damien has retitled the company into his own name which wouldn't surprise me. But that is of little importance right now.
"No," she whispers. "I'm sorry for stepping out of bounds."
I know this woman hates me. The sympathy in her eyes when she saw the injuries on my face meant nothing. There have been times I've ignored the bruises on her own skin. She should fucking know better than to mention mine out loud.
"Very good," I say before walking around her and opening the back door.
The alley is empty. I step outside and look in both directions, thinking maybe we finished quicker than usual and Samuel went to get gas or had to run to a store to use the restroom or something. He wouldn't come into the salon because men aren't allowed in there. It's one of the few places run by the organization where the male employees aren't allowed to go, and that's to keep the women of the organization safe. Our men can knock us around all they want, but hellfire will rain down on anyone else who thinks of even making us uncomfortable while we're away from home.
I consider this my chance to run, but my ties to Damien rely on more than the chance to walk away without being caught. He controls every aspect of my life because he has my son. Leaving would be selfish, and it would guarantee that Eli would be hurt out of Damien's spite for me. I've already compromised so much in his young life. I wouldn't do anything to risk it further.
A car turns down the alleyway, but it's not the same dark sedan that dropped me off. I rush to get back inside the salon, knowing there's a chance my safety is on the line, but the car speeds even faster toward me.
"Aspen," a familiar voice yells before I can step inside. "Wait!"
My hands immediately begin to shake. It has to be a figment of my imagination. That voice belongs to a dead man.
Chapter 7
Jericho
I swear I have never met a more stubborn woman than Aspen.
I watch as she doesn't even bother looking over her shoulder at me before disappearing through the back door of the salon.
I took a chance today, knowing she always keeps a standing appointment at the same time, the same place, as when I knew her before. It seems she's a creature of habit, still coming to the same place on Wednesday, at three in the afternoon.
Knowing I couldn't get within a mile of the house she used to live in with her father, the one that she now resides in with Damien Gaines, I followed the sedan through town once he reached the outskirts of the city and traffic got thick enough that he wouldn't easily notice my tailing behind him from a few cars back.
I waited for an hour, knowing from our history that her appointments could take anywhere from an hour to three, depending on what services she was getting done. The thug in the car must not be a very good one because he was too engrossed in something on his phone to see me sneak up behind the car. I clocked him in the head with a bat before he could even look up.
I didn't kill him because that would bring more heat than I need, but he's going to have a splitting fucking headache when he wakes up.
The plan was to have her out of the city before his eyes opened again, but it seems that isn't going to work out.
I drive off, not certain that she didn't go inside and call Damien and tell him what was going on.
I'll be damned if I'll let the woman get the jump on me twice in my life.
I know I should've never come here in the first place, but instead of driving right back out of town and heading south, I drive around until I find a little hotel I can hunker down in while I make my next plan. I make sure the place is far enough away from Damien's territory that he'll spend a week trying to find it if she opens her mouth.
I'm not so worried about the driver. He wasn't someone I recognized from my time with the Reese organization. There's very little chance he'd recognize me, even if he got a chance to look at my face, which I know he didn't.
I don't know how he'll explain what happened today, but that's even lower on my list of things to concern myself with, despite the fact that I might've gotten him killed.