Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 90899 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 454(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90899 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 454(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
I remain confident as I offer Harold and Bailey Anne a last grateful wave, speak with Raven, one of the hostesses, about Maya, and hurry toward the small library. There, beneath the spines of books in faded green and blue, the loan paperwork I had messengered over earlier is already spread out on the leather-topped desk in the corner. I would prefer to give Maya the money outright, no strings attached, but I know her well enough to realize that wouldn’t fly with her.
She doesn’t want charity. She wants to build a business of her own on her own.
Hopefully she won’t consider a zero interest, forty-year loan charity…
I just want her to have options, to either do the repairs needed on the Red Hook property or look for another investment that will require less work. Half the real estate developers in the city come from old money. They had help getting where they are today and wouldn’t be nearly as far along if they hadn’t had a leg up on everyone else.
I want to give Maya that leg up.
I want to give her…everything.
I pace the small space, mentally rehearsing my speech, turning the words over and over in my head, trying to find the perfect way to tell my fake girlfriend that I want her to be my real girlfriend.
Ten minutes pass. Then twenty, but I’m so lost in thought that I’m only just starting to wonder what’s taking so long when Raven bursts in without knocking, startling me.
My throat tightens at the stricken expression on her face.
“I’m sorry, sir, but she's gone,” Raven says, her brow furrowing. “I started to get worried and went in to check on Ms. Swallows, just to make sure everything was okay. But the window was open in the restroom and she was already down the fire escape. I tried to call for her, but either she didn’t hear me—”
“Or didn’t want to stop,” I finish, bracing a hand on the desk as my stomach pitches.
What happened? Everything was going so well.
Or so I thought…
But clearly it wasn’t going “so well”, or she wouldn’t be gone.
Gone…
She’s fucking gone, and I have to get out there and fix this before it’s too late.
“Which way was she headed?’ I ask as I cross the room.
Raven shifts to one side, making space for me to move past her. “Away from the back of the building, but not by the rear entrance. She was in the alley one street over. If you’re facing the door, it’s just to the right of the club.”
“Thank you,” I say before turning to jog through the bar, not stopping to see if Harold and Bailey Anne are still at their table or have noticed me making a break for the door. My chest constricts as I circle the bar and start up the narrow stairs, taking them two at a time.
Blood pounds in my ears, nearly drowning out Raven’s call that I’ve left my coat.
Fuck my coat.
Maya’s out there in nothing but a light wrap, so desperate to get away from me that she’s fled on foot. I have to find out why, and I have to make this better.
But even as I hit the bottom of the stairs outside and sprint down the street, hoping to cut her off when she emerges from the alley, I know there’s a chance I’ve lost her for good.
chapter 20
MAYA
I’m an idiot.
A naïve, starry-eyed, backwoods idiot who was probably well on my way to getting scammed by a sociopath.
A voice deep in my chest insists—Anthony is not a sociopath! He’s the best man you’ve ever met!—but I ignore it. That voice belongs to the Inner Idiot and the idiot is no longer calling the shots around here.
I have no idea why Anthony lied to me about everything, but I don’t doubt Sydney’s intel for a second. Sydney is very smart and savvy and obviously thinking a hell of a lot more clearly than I am.
I should have googled him on day one! I should have reverse image-searched his face as soon as I had a photo. What on earth was I thinking? Just blindly following and fornicating with this man with zero reservations or suspicions?
Sydney’s voicemail replays over and over again in my head as I hurry through the dark streets, my heels clicking against the pavement. My fake fur wrap does little to ward off the winter chill, but I barely feel the cold.
My shame is keeping me warm.
“The man you’re seeing isn’t who you think he is, Maya,” Sydney had said, her voice vibrating with concern. “Clark isn’t even his last name! He’s lying about who he is and what he does for a living and God only knows what else. Get somewhere safe, where he isn’t listening, and call me, okay? Or, better yet, come to my place. You and Pudge can stay here tonight, and I’ll tell you everything I found out during my Internet deep dive. But don’t worry too much, okay? I don’t think you need to be scared for your safety. He doesn’t seem like a dangerous person, per se, but until we know why he lied about his whole ass life, I want you to be very careful. Very! Okay? Liars aren’t to be trusted. Call me!”