Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 124836 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 624(@200wpm)___ 499(@250wpm)___ 416(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 124836 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 624(@200wpm)___ 499(@250wpm)___ 416(@300wpm)
“Monique.” He lifted his pen from the notebook. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”
He didn’t extend his hand to shake hers, but the gesture was there in his posture, in the way he subtly leaned forward.
Dima had a thing about boundaries, especially when it came to someone new.
Which made me wonder why he’d brought the reporter.
I raised my eyebrows. “And this is a great opportunity to tell me why she is here.”
The warm expression left his face. “She?”
“The reporter.”
Dima loudly cleared his throat, telling me in his way to proceed with caution.
Why? Is she really that important to you?
Next, he turned to the reporter. “This is Rose.”
Then. . .his voice took on a different, almost odd tone that I’d never heard from him. “I am madly in love with her.”
What?
Rose blinked.
Chen glanced at me.
I thought back to Chen showing me Rose’s little interview on the, Good Morning Paradise City, show over a month ago.
Rose was a wild card and in our world, wild cards could bring everything crashing down.
I assessed her. “You’re a Pulitzer Prize winner. Right?”
She gave me a warm smile. “I am.”
“You got it due to doing some big article on bad guys.”
“A group of corrupt NY politicians.” Rose remained composed. Her face was a mask of calm elegance.
“That’s right.” I bobbed my head. “You took down the bad guys.”
Frowning, Dima put up the notebook.
I put my view back on Rose. “I loved your interview on Good Morning Paradise City. I believe you said that you were coming down here to understand the violence and crime that plagues Paradise City. Did I get that right?”
Marcelo and Banks watched her, clearly not exactly won over by the reporter either.
Meanwhile, Dima deepened his frown.
“You did get that right.” Rose blinked again. “Well. . .a lot has happened since then.”
Monique spoke, “Nice to meet you, Rose.”
She gave Monique and me a small, polite smile. “Nice to meet you too. I’ve heard a little about you all.”
"You heard about me?” I forced myself to keep a smile. “I would hate for Diamond Syndicate news to make it to the papers. That would be very dangerous.”
Rose flinched.
Dima scowled. “It would be more dangerous to threaten her.”
Interesting. He’s willing to protect her from me. Hmmm.
Rose fixed her expression. “I’m off duty.”
“But you are still a reporter hoping to dismantle the evil elements in Paradise City?”
Rose stood her ground. “Thankfully for the Diamond Syndicate, there are much more evil elements than you all in Paradise City.”
“Thankfully.” I found her intriguing so far.
To stand next to Dima, she must have been beyond fascinating and willing to deal with all of his odd quirks.
While I liked that for him, I wasn’t going to easily trust her just yet.
Whether he understood how much I cared for him or not. . .I would not let just anyone have his heart.
I’ll have to make sure Chen gets a team of people to check her out. Last I knew, he was supposed to kill her.
Earlier, I’d watched Rose closely, noting the way she seemed to be taking everything in—the dynamics between us, the unspoken rules, the tension that crackled in the air like static.
Something about her made me uneasy. She was too calm, too composed.
Was she playing a part?
Or truly trying to understand our world for the greater good of being with Dima?
Hmmm.
Dima recovered the moment for all of us. “Well. . .I have a question. . .about a week or so ago, Lei drove back to Paradise City with a woman on the back of his motorcycle. Were you that woman?”
Moni looked at me. “What?”
Rose whispered, “Dima.”
“Oh. That wasn’t you?” Dima took out a different notebook. This one wasn’t yellow, it was white.
Meanwhile, I glanced at Duck. “What is he talking about?”
Duck shrugged. “I gave someone a ride on your bike. Her tire was flat. I thought it would turn into something, but I forgot to get her number.”
Dima flipped through the notebook and put several lines through some old notes.
And Moni continued to watch me.
I kept my voice low. “It wasn’t me.”
“My apologies. Wrong information.” Dima put that notebook away and pulled out the yellow one again. “Anyway, I’ve been looking forward to this introduction.”
Moni turned back to him. “Me too. When I was Friend of the Four Aces, I had chosen you as my advisor.”
That caused a clear stir among everyone. Shock hit Dima’s face. Marcelo smirked. Banks looked like he was holding in laughter.
I wish he didn’t know that. Now he’ll be hyper focused on being her advisor.
On my side, Chen appeared ready to explode and Duck shook his head.
Dima wrote in his notebook, surely jotting that information down. “How interesting. I hope that I still could advise you in some way—”
“Not happening.” I scowled.
Moni ignored me. “I am looking forward to that.”
Banks and Marcelo exchanged glances.