Total pages in book: 166
Estimated words: 169305 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 847(@200wpm)___ 677(@250wpm)___ 564(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 169305 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 847(@200wpm)___ 677(@250wpm)___ 564(@300wpm)
I raised one palm. “I can explain.”
One final step, and he cornered me completely.
His body pinned me to the door, not quite touching mine but close enough that the invisible hairs on my arms stood at attention. “I wholeheartedly doubt it.”
“You can’t do anything wholeheartedly. You don’t have a heart.”
I didn’t know what made me provoke him, but I couldn’t stop even if I wanted to. Not with the surge of momentum behind me. With the zap of electricity bleeding into my veins.
And beyond logic, not with every fiber of my pride wishing to chisel a scar onto Zachary Sun.
His face remained unmoved. “I may have no heart, but my brain compensates for its absence, and it is telling me to punish you for your—”
I didn’t stick around to hear what he had in store for me. I whipped around, jerked the double doors open, and bolted outside.
Zach was at my heels in seconds. His smart shoes clanked against the marble in long strokes.
I sprinted to the edge of the stairway and hopped onto the banister, zipping down the handrail as fast as I could.
Zach snapped his fingers. “Chase her.”
In an instant, two people materialized, scrambling up the stairs after me. Zach was still the closest, but even he wasn’t as fast and nimble as I was.
Olympic material, baby, I wanted to taunt.
In another life, Zach and I would be friends. Maybe. We’d play Go. Do mental math. Exchange ideas.
I’d win.
Sometimes, anyway.
Keep him on those even-heeled toes of his.
At the bottom of the stairs, I sprang off the handrail and did a little twirl and wink before charging for the exit.
The place had emptied out. No one but cleaners and an event manager milled about. They shrieked at my sudden intrusion.
A mop went flying out of a hand, jetting soapy water across what was probably an original Baselitz.
Oops.
Without missing a step, I burst out the front doors, startling a valet on a cigarette break. The crisp air did nothing to cool my flesh.
I picked up speed, thighs burning with the strain. Andras would perform a human sacrifice if it meant I trained this hard every practice.
My heavy pants drowned out the choir of crickets. Sweet summer sweat crawled down my spine.
The gown’s slit tore higher with every stride.
I was scared as hell.
But also more alive than you’ve been in a while.
I snatched a discarded water hose from the grass and pointed it at his employees, spraying them down and knocking them over like dominos.
Breathless laughter hiked up my throat.
What are you doing, Fae?
Having fun.
Something I’d almost forgotten how to do.
I tossed the hose aside and picked up pace. By now, I’d lost the employees. Only Zach could keep up.
“Wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Somehow, he sounded composed. Neither out of breath nor dumbfounded by my sudden bravery. “You can run, but you cannot hide. What I want, I get. And right now, I want answers.”
My sneakers sank into the soft ground, ruining his carefully trimmed grass. The sprinklers turned on, no doubt on purpose.
Water sprayed me from every angle, weighing down the nightgown until the satin plastered to my body.
But I refused to slow.
A dark chuckle curled around my wet skin like ivy. “You’re top entertainment, Octi.”
“Why are you calling me Octi?” I screamed into the air.
I didn’t want to show how much he riled me up, but I couldn’t help it.
Of all the nicknames in the world, I couldn’t conjure a single one less flattering. Not even if I workshopped it for a decade.
“Because you’re an octopus.” He said it conversationally. Like I wasn’t running, and he wasn’t chasing me. “Exceptionally smart. Hands everywhere. And venomous. Plus, female octopuses hurl shells at males that harass them.”
“If you know you’re harassing me, stop.”
“How’s Friday for you?” He managed to scroll through his phone while picking up speed. What a weird, weird man. “I can fit in a game between eleven p.m. and one in the morning.”
One in the morning?
For Go?
There was only one thing I wanted more than turning around and flipping him off—surviving this bizarre encounter.
I swallowed my pride, legs pumping so fast, I was seconds from igniting a friction fire out of Reggie’s nightgown.
“Octi.”
I wasn’t going to answer this stupid nickname.
I wasn’t.
“Octi, you need to stop. I’d hate to put a hole in your skull—yours actually contains something inside it—but we both know I will.”
“It’s the only hole you’re interested in tonight,” I hissed, hiking up the gown’s slit when I almost tripped. “Too bad the female population of Potomac hasn’t caught on yet.”
He ignored me. “Friday, eleven p.m.?”
“The next time I’ll voluntarily be in the same room with you is to attend your funeral to make sure you’re dead.”
A sudden whoosh pierced the air. The scent of metal burned my nostrils. A fancy gold knife landed in the grass mere inches away.