Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 76065 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 380(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76065 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 380(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
I hadn’t.
But I was feeling too wobbly.
“Order me something too. The drawer next to the fridge has some menus,” he said.
I expected him just to walk off right then.
But he surprised me by grabbing me, pulling me close, then pressing a quick kiss to my lips.
“Relax, babe,” he said. “Things are gonna be alright.”
With that, he walked to the door and headed out, leaving me alone in his fancy apartment.
“Well, except for you,” I said to Evander as I went over to the cardboard box, producing the litter box that Rico had thrown in there with him, and setting it up in the hall bathroom. I endured some scratches when I picked him up and put him in there, so he knew where to go.
Then I apologized with some food and milk.
Feeling frazzled, and wanting Rico to have something to eat when he came home, I found the menu drawer, ordered food, and waited for it to arrive.
Then I went ahead and did what he suggested. I ran a stinging-hot bath then climbed in, then let the heat slowly ease the tension in my neck and shoulders.
Eventually, Evander came padding into the room, casting a worried look at me in the water, then hopping up onto the sink counter to keep an eye on things.
“Do you like it here?” I asked him. “I think you might be living here,” I added.
Sure, Rico had been surprisingly kind to me. Understanding of why I’d done what I did. But he’d been confronted by my overwhelming emotions. Once he had some space and time to really think it through, I had a feeling he wouldn’t be so warm toward me. Especially once he talked things over with his cousin, his boss, and whoever else he needed to speak to about the whole situation.
I felt the sting of tears again, but I fought them back as I drained half of the water then filled it back up again with even hotter water.
“I bet Rico can even afford to get you that fancy litter box that cleans itself,” I told Evander as I finally climbed out of the tub. “And one of those cool cat trees. You know, so maybe you play with that instead of scratching the couch all up. But you’re going to need to be an indoor cat because he doesn’t have a fire escape.”
Evander followed me around as I went to get my bag, then got myself dressed.
Exhaustion was pulling at my eyelids as an hour turned to two, then three.
Eventually, I curled up on the couch under the soft faux fur blanket, the TV playing some old sitcom rerun to try to drown out my swirling thoughts before sleep finally overtook me.
___
I didn’t hear the door opening or closing. Or the sound of Rico putting the leftovers in the fridge.
It wasn’t until his arms slid under me that I came awake with a start, my fight-or-flight still engaged as I flailed and gasped.
“Hey, hey, it’s alright,” Rico said, voice soft. “It’s me. I’m just moving you,” he said, then continued to lift me into his arms.
“What time is it?” I asked, leaning against his chest as he carried me down the hallway.
“Late. Go back to sleep,” he said as he lowered me down onto the bed. He pulled the covers up over me, but I was too awake now, too worried about what his boss may have said.
“How’d it go?” I asked, blinking at him in the dark.
“That’s not sleeping,” he said, dropping down on the side of the bed, looking down at me.
“I can sleep later. Am I in trouble?”
“I told you no,” he said, shaking his head at me as he reached to turn on the lamp.
“But your boss…”
“Doesn’t want to punish you for being in a bad situation,” he cut me off. “But he has feelings about that ex of yours.”
“I think we all do,” I agreed. “What about my brother?”
“There’s going to be some questions for him.”
“What kind of questions?”
“Namely, if he knew who he was fucking with,” Rico explained.
“And if he did?” I asked. I wanted to believe my brother was at least partially in the dark, that he had some plausible deniability in the matter. That said, I knew my brother way too well. He was apt to let his greed lead him. Even past using his common sense. If Kyle had suggested that no one would ever figure them out, then Jake would have believed it as he sat there counting his money.
“There’d be consequences.”
“Would you guys kill him?” I asked.
Rico shrugged at that. “Normally, yeah,” he admitted. “But I think everyone understands that it’s complicated. He will have to get his ass out of the city. If he comes back again, I can’t vouch for what Renzo will want to do.”
“I understand that.”