Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 77344 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77344 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Hell, she might even agree to it once she got a look at me.
Though, rationally, I knew what she would say. That I needed to get out of dangerous work. That I had to stop lifting wallets.
It wouldn’t be victim-blaming, exactly. But she wouldn’t just jump to the conclusion that we needed more protection—just that I needed to stop being in a dangerous field.
“Why does your head hurt so much?” he asked, still watching me with those inky eyes. Close like this, I saw the scar cutting through one of his brows that I’d missed before.
I waved at my face.
“Yeah, I get that. But did you get shaken? Struck? What?”
“Slammed into the wall. And lights out,” I said, gesturing outward. “Why?”
“Just wondering if you might have a concussion.”
I was queasy. But I was pretty sure that was from the pain. I wasn’t dizzy or disoriented.
“I think I’m fine, all things considered. Can we just get this over with?”
“What do you think is gonna happen?”
“I don’t know. But I can’t imagine some mafia guy is going to get away with losing that much money. And since I was the one who initially stole it…”
“Gonna level with you, if you were a man, you’d probably be in a world of hurt right now. But I don’t put my hands on women.”
“It’s interesting on the rare occasion that sexist double standards actually work in our favor,” I said, sucking in a deep breath. “So then… what? I can’t just get away with this scot-free.”
“Doesn’t look like you got away with anything,” Miko said, watching me.
“I—“ I started, only to hear the key in the lock, the muffled chatter of my roommates. “Shit,” I managed to say before the door flew open, and Nicole immediately reached over to turn on the big light right over my head.
“Max?” Megs gasped, spotting me as Nicole looked past me at the wrecked common area.
“Who are you?” Nicole asked, stiffening next to her girlfriend.
That made Megs look over too. I saw it the moment recognition hit. The way she stiffened. How her jaw went tight.
Because the man was a walking-talking gangster movie. And Megs had always been good at putting the pieces of a puzzle together.
“A friend,” Miko said, making my brows shoot up. “Decided to drop by for a visit. Looks like I just missed the fuck who broke in.”
Megs was dubious, but everything about Miko was calm and casual. Unthreatening. So she rushed to me, her eyes already filling with tears.
“I’m okay,” I assured her, though I was a long way from actually feeling that way.
“Peas. I have frozen peas,” Megs said, rushing to the freezer to bring back three separate bags. She’d been on a pea kick the month before, eating them with every meal. Until, inevitably, she got sick of them. It left us with quite the stash.
So within a minute, I had three of those little microwavable bags of peas in front of me.
“I don’t know where to put one first,” she admitted, a tear slipping down her cheek.
“Shouldn’t we call the police?” Nicole asked, looking between all of us, confused by the lack of panic.
“They won’t do shit. If they bother to show up on a busy night like this,” Miko said. As if to prove his point, police sirens screamed down the street.
“But what did they get?” Nicole asked.
“Just a wallet,” I said, seeing no reason to lie about that.
“Why? Why not take more?” Nicole asked, likely thinking about their pricey electronics in their bedroom: laptops, tablets, a nice TV.
“I don’t think he expected anyone to be home,” I told her, not sure how true that was. “Or that I’d fight so hard.”
I reached for some of the peas as Megs held one bag to my cheek, seeing that there were red marks on my wrists that I suspected might darken to bruises, given some time.
“Did you get a good look at him?” Nicole asked, likely still thinking about the police, sketch artists, shit like you saw on TV that didn’t often happen the same way in real life. Not over a petty burglary.
My gaze cut to Miko’s, knowing he was thinking the same thing.
I gave him the smallest of nods while I lied to the girls. “No.” Then, because I felt immediate guilt about the lie, I added, “He had a ski mask on.”
“Oh,” Nicole said, sounding disappointed.
Megs, bless her, sensed I had enough of the questions and suggested she and Nicole start setting things to rights.
“Guys, I’m gonna go get some ice pops for my throat,” I said, watching Megs’s eyes go sad again.
“I’ll go get them.”
“No, no. It’s okay. I want some air,” I said.
“I’ll go with you.”
“No!” Megs yelped, rushing forward, making her girlfriend frown.
“Megs, it’s okay,” I told her, giving her a reassuring nod.
“No. We’ll all go,” Megs insisted, casting distrustful glances at Miko.