Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 95883 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 479(@200wpm)___ 384(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95883 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 479(@200wpm)___ 384(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
“While this call has been lovely, I can’t make it to lunch this afternoon. My day is fully booked. I also have a show debuting with the new ballet performance starting this week. I won’t be free again for the next week or two.” Marc was proud of how he’d managed to keep his voice even and devoid of sarcasm.
He slowed the car for a stop sign, frowning when it seemed like the brakes took longer than usual to engage. The car came to a stop—a little sharper than he’d intended, but that was likely his own fault for letting his brother and sister distract him.
“Whatever, Marc. You could have just said that you weren’t interested in joining us.”
“Catch you later,” Lilah added to Richard’s asshole comments and then ended the call.
Dropping his head back against the headrest, Marc closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It was moments like this that he really missed his mother. She’d have some great little bit of wisdom about not letting the comments of small people get to him, or she’d joke that his brother had a stick shoved so far up his ass, it was blocking blood flow to his brain. She was always so good about keeping the peace in the family, while their father liked to stir up the chaos and animosity.
A car horn jolted his eyes back open. He looked into the rearview mirror to find another vehicle waiting behind him at the stop sign. Time to wake up, focus on the work ahead of him, and forget about his damn family. Once he got this new artist settled and the final walk-through of the new show completed, he could consider his other personal problem…and his family.
With a sigh, he pressed the gas and turned right, down the winding hill. He was just a few miles from the on-ramp to the expressway that would take him downtown. This was always his favorite part of the drive. During the spring and summer, it was a blur of bright green as the trees lining the road rushed past the window. The fall held a brief explosion of colors. But they were still a couple of months from the heart of spring. Right now, the trees were bare brown against a bleak gray sky. But even the lackluster scenery couldn’t detract from his drive. The winding road was filled with tight turns as it cut down out of the hills. The Porsche so easily hugged those turns, allowing him to push it faster and faster, getting his blood pumping. For a moment, he could forget about all his worries and just concentrate on driving.
Coming up on the first significant turn, Marc pressed carefully on the brakes…and nothing happened. The Porsche continued to speed toward the turn, its own momentum keeping the car moving far too fast. He pressed hard, putting the pedal down to the floor of the car. The car didn’t slow for more than just the impact of a little friction from the tires on the road.
“Fuck!”
Marc’s heart thundered in his ears, and his fingers tightened painfully around the steering wheel. This couldn’t be a coincidence. The car was less than two months old. The brakes had been perfect just the day before.
He shoved the thought aside and focused on pumping the brakes. If he could just get enough brake fluid built up…but as he tried to slow the car again, it didn’t work.
Clenching his teeth, he shifted the car into a lower gear. The Porsche jolted as if insulted by the rough treatment. It slowed just enough for Marc to manage the turn—though he was forced to drift into the opposite lane. Luckily, no one was coming toward him.
He whipped the car back into his lane and allowed himself a breath of relief, but it was short-lived. The grade of the incline steepened, and the car wasn’t slowing enough for him to comfortably take the rest of the turns. And then at the bottom of the hill was a busy intersection that would dump him into significant traffic.
Another curse slipped from his lips as he gripped the emergency brake. He had no choice. He tried to slowly apply the emergency brake, but it was a crude instrument compared to the main brakes. The car lurched and jerked, starting to spin. He turned the wheel into the spin, fighting to regain control. The road was too damn narrow. There wasn’t enough room to maneuver. His lovely Porsche sideswiped the guardrail on the driver’s side. The car slowed as the sound of screaming metal on metal filled his ears.
Fighting the car, he yanked the wheel to bring the Porsche back into his lane. Marc’s heart gave a painful lurch. A truck was coming up the hill, moving too damn fast around the next turn. The driver tried to avoid Marc, but they were already too close. Marc’s entire body clenched for the impact as the truck’s front bumper caught the rear end of the Porsche, sending the car into a sickening spin.