Total pages in book: 206
Estimated words: 192184 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 961(@200wpm)___ 769(@250wpm)___ 641(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 192184 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 961(@200wpm)___ 769(@250wpm)___ 641(@300wpm)
Her mouth dropped open and I started to feel guilty. I shoved it back.
“If you haven’t figured it out already, being with me means you have to think on your feet and think in a certain way. I thought I’d have to coach you on all of this stuff, so you’d know how to handle things, but it’s like you were made for this life. Good job, baby girl.”
Her fingertips shot up to her temples and she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, holding it in for a long time before exhaling. Her mouth was still wide open. I waited. She kept her eyes closed and massaged her temples and then her mouth shut, shut tight. I could see her working her jaw muscles by clenching her teeth.
“Tia?”
“Mm.”
“You alright?” I leaned over and put my hand on her knee.
She recoiled right against the car door, as far away from me as she could get.
“I’ll just give you a minute, shall I?” I suggested and snickered.
Her eyes were still closed but she was shaking her head slowly and I could see she was working up toward a royal fucking fit.
“How many more times are you gonna do this?” I finally asked, eyes closed. I had a throbbing tension headache coming on, a whopper of one.
“As many as I feel I need to,” he said softly, his voice laced with warning. “As many as I think I need to put my mind at ease.”
“Put your mind at ease about me not running away?”
“That, and about you being equipped to deal with emergencies. This was probably more about emergencies.”
I guffawed.
“You got a problem with that?”
His tone of voice grated on my nerves. I should just open the car door and walk the fuck away from him.
“Was that roughing me up this morning part of the test? Piss me off by being a total prick and then leave me alone to see if I run away?” I finally opened my eyes and looked into his.
“That was just me,” he said softly with a shrug. He looked so arrogant, so unapologetic.
And that was worse because that meant that on top of everything else, every frightened and helpless emotion he’d just put me through, that he really was an abusive asshole.
The car stopped at a red light and then I did what was probably the stupidest thing I’ve done since meeting him. I thrust the door open and I got out of the limo and stormed off between other waiting cars and then down the street in the opposite direction.
An instant after I did, I caught the view of someone running, from the corner of my eye. It was Nino. He’d gotten out of a small smart car behind our limo and he was on his phone, talking while he was following me. Figured. The whole thing was staged; I was probably never alone at all.
I shot Nino a dirty look over my shoulder and I kept right on walking. My pocket dinged. I kept walking, but faster, more determined. Then I was through a revolving door, Nino not ten feet behind me, and inside of a casino, I didn’t know which one, and I was storming down the trippy-looking butt-ugly carpet and because I’d ignored it the first time, my pocket dinged again. I ignored it again. Suddenly, I felt fingers grip my arm at my bicep. My heart hit the bottom of my stomach.
“Read your text,” Nino told me. He was not smiling.
I shrugged him off and thrust my hand in my pocket and pulled the phone out to read the text from Tommy.
Fine, cool off. Nino will keep you safe. Be back at the suite in half an hour. I’ll be waiting.
I responded to his text without hesitating.
FUCK YOU!
The read receipt popped instantly, and I turned the phone off and then thrust the phone back in my pocket. My heart sank, but that sensation was below the surface of my anger, which was bigger than my fear or my common sense right now, so I resumed walking and Nino followed right along behind me. After a few minutes, I was beyond annoyed with him being right behind me. I needed to lose him. I just needed five damn minutes by myself, totally by myself.
I spotted a blonde woman in a skimpy outfit carrying a tray of drinks. I saw a drunk-looking middle-aged Asian guy approaching her, so I suddenly took off running past him, sort of bumped him, and he knocked her drinks all over the place. This happened like it was carefully rehearsed choreography, right in front of Nino and I was off…half walking and half running, hoping casino security wouldn’t think I was suspicious and try to stop me.
I zig- zagged through rows of slot machines and then card tables and roulette wheels. I finally got the nerve to glance back and there was no sign of him.