Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 56180 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 281(@200wpm)___ 225(@250wpm)___ 187(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56180 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 281(@200wpm)___ 225(@250wpm)___ 187(@300wpm)
“Is everything okay?”
“Why haven’t you been sleeping, Graham?”
“Sit down, Sera. Has something happened?”
“I visited Ellie on my way to work. She’s doing well, thank God. But something stuck out to me. That place she’s staying at, the place she had to move into – the place our insurance apparently covers… It’s like a palace. It’s—”
“Don’t,” Graham cuts in, baring his teeth like a freaking animal. I’ve never seen him like this before.
I take a step back. “Excuse me?”
He plants his fist on the table. Is he trying to intimidate me? Is it working? “I’m saying this for your own good, Sera. Ellie and I care about you, but you need to stop this right now. You can’t go any further. Go back to your desk and forget about this. This line of thinking ends. Here. Got it?”
“Or what? Are you going to hit me, Graham?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Am I free to leave?”
“I’m saying this for your sake,” he says, sounding exasperated. Well, too bad, so am I.
“You’ve just admitted you were involved.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Sure, you don’t,” I say, running from the room and right past my desk, tears sliding down my cheeks as I rush into the stairwell.
I could keep it together when I was in there with him, but this is too much. Mom and Dad betrayed me by being… well, Mom and Dad. I never thought that Graham would do the same. I always believed they were different. But if he did it for money – for Ellie – maybe I can get my head around that.
When I call Luke, he rejects it with a text.
Luke: I’m in a meeting.
Sera: I lied to you yesterday. I’m sorry. I need your help. I think Graham was involved in the sabotage. When are you free to talk?
Luke: Woah, slow down. You think he was involved?
Sera: I just confronted him, and he basically confirmed it. I’ve never seen him so angry. Yesterday, I found an email from Damien on his computer.
I type quickly.
Sera: I planned on telling you, but I was scared of getting him into trouble. But I can’t do this alone.
Luke: It’s lucky I’ll be in Tampa tomorrow.
I gasp.
Sera: What, really?
Luke: That’s what this meeting is about: East Coast business. I’ll be with you soon. I have a little spot where we can meet. It’ll be perfect. Do nothing until then. We’ll work this out together.
Sera: Am I supposed to just go on like everything is normal?
Luke: Yes. Until we can meet. When we’re together, I’ll lead the way for my little vulnerable princess.
That last line is… weird.
Sera: I’m not little or vulnerable, Luke. I just need help.
Luke: Yep. Gotcha. Sorry about that. My head is in a million places. I’ll text you the time and the location. We’ll do this together.
Sera: Okay, Luke, thank you. That means a lot.
I take a moment to gather myself, drying my cheeks and breathing slowly for a minute, trying to diffuse some of the panic. Luke will be here tomorrow. Together, we’ll fix this.
Chapter Eighteen
Luke
Not Delivered
I stare down at my phone, my hand trembling like any second I’m going to curl it into a fist and crush the thing. I’ve tried to text Sera several times, and it keeps giving me that same message. Whenever I call, it cuts out without even ringing. Is her cell turned off? Or is she ghosting me?
My day is a busy one. Those suspicions won’t let up, whispering in my ear, telling me she lied to me, that this has all been a game. My heart, my instincts, and my soul – something I never thought about before Sera – tell me she would never do that. But my head can’t ignore the possibility.
Andy approaches me backstage. He seems on-edge, shifting from foot to foot. When he opens and closes his hands nervously, my assistant’s Michael Faraday tattoo shifts around.
“Relax,” I tell him. “You’re not the one who has to charm her. I do.”
“Cynthia Linx?” he says, raising his eyebrows. “Sorry, boss, but if I had to charm her, I wouldn’t be complaining.”
“Is something wrong?”
He averts his gaze, shaking his head slowly. It’s like he can’t bear to look at me. I wonder if the stuff with Sera is making me suspicious about everyone and everything.
“The company,” he says. “We need this to go well. It’s not just your job on the line.”
I look at him, but he still doesn’t face me. He’s acting weird. I don’t buy the company angle, either. It’s like he’s saying what he thinks I want to hear.
But life is too busy to give me time to ponder this. I check the message I sent to her socials, but I remember she said she doesn’t use them often. She hasn’t seen that message, either… or she has, but she simply didn’t open it. Perhaps she’s already got what she wanted; perhaps now she and her team are working out how to get away with the sabotage.