Total pages in book: 33
Estimated words: 32248 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 161(@200wpm)___ 129(@250wpm)___ 107(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32248 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 161(@200wpm)___ 129(@250wpm)___ 107(@300wpm)
I’ve dressed my best for this interview as instructed, choosing to wear a tight black dress my mother designed, sheer black stockings, and black stiletto heels.
With my short hair slicked back and my lips painted red, I’m literally ready to walk down a runaway with super models. It’s been months and months since I’ve looked so feminine or so sexy.
But Lucifer’s gaze is so fucking cold, I find myself shivering and feeling inadequate.
He’s obviously not impressed.
Lucifer shakes his head sadly. “What a waste.”
“Indeed,” Simon agrees. “How shall we proceed?”
Lucifer leans back against the desk and his expression turns thoughtful.
As he continues to stare at me, figuring out what to do with me, I know I need to do something to save myself.
But what?
I’m damned if I do and damned if I don’t.
My heart is racing and pounding so hard in my ears I can literally hear the last seconds of my life ticking away.
Even my fucking palms are sweaty.
I’m not ready to die yet, dammit.
Not after all the shit I’ve been through.
I can do this, I tell myself. I can pretend this shit is totally normal.
I can push past these stupid lizard brain instincts.
I take a step forward and Lucifer’s eyes light up with interest.
When I take another, he straightens away from the desk. “Ah, perhaps we were too quick to judge, Simon.”
Simon gives me such a dirty look I take a couple more steps just to spite him.
My walking to the desk pisses him off so bad, he sneers, “Perhaps… but after looking through her file, I believe this is the boldest she’ll be.”
Lucifer turns his head to scowl at him. “What do you mean?”
Simon makes a show of flipping open the file he slapped down. “All the reports are here. If you would have bothered to look through them, like I urged you to, you’d share the same opinion.”
“What opinion would that be?” I ask, my voice coming out a little too loud.
I shouldn’t let the asshole get to me, especially right now, but I can’t help it. I’m freaked the fuck out over this whole situation.
And when I get scared now, I tend to get violent.
He’s rubbed me the wrong way since the moment he opened the door. There’s just something about his smug, nasty attitude that makes me want to punch him in the face.
I want to break his glasses.
Fuck, I want to break his nose.
Simon smirks at me then starts to flip through the papers in the folder. “I’ve personally confirmed the accuracy of all these statements. Even her closest friends had little good to say about her. If she wasn’t hysterically crying during the Russian auction incident, she was needlessly endangering them with her antics.”
Lucifer’s scowl deepens and he says in my defense, “Well… that’s understandable, given the circumstances.”
Simon rolls his eyes. “Fine. Given the circumstances, given that she was a sheltered, spoiled, little brat, her behavior is understandable. But what about since then, hmm?”
Lucifer sighs and makes an annoyed motion with his hand. “Stop playing games and just spit it out. What has she been up to since then?”
Simon looks me dead in the eyes as he says coldly, “Besides exploiting all the security weaknesses in Garden City’s police database and accessing their internal records? I do believe she’s currently working on breaching the FBI’s private network… She’ll fail, of course.”
“So she’s giving you a run for your money?” Lucifer laughs. “No wonder you dislike her so much.”
Simon shakes his head sharply. “No. Not even close. Her methods are weak and sloppy. All her techniques were probably learned off fucking 4chan, posted by hacker wannabes who don’t know their head from their asses. She’s a fucking disaster waiting to happen.”
“But you can train her, yes?” Lucifer frowns. “After all, she’s the reason we gained access to the former Chief’s records…”
Simon glares at Lucifer. “Didn’t you hear what I just said? She’s a walking disaster.”
The two of them talking about me like I’m not even here pisses me off so bad I can feel my blood starting to boil.
Clenching my hands into fists, I watch them completely focus on each other. Ignoring me as if I’m insignificant. As if they didn’t invite me here…
As if they didn’t put me this is messed up situation.
What is the point of this shit?
Why drag me to this shithole?
Why put me in this spot?
To break me down?
To completely shred my confidence?
To scare me off?
Is all of this another fucked up test?
I throw an angry glance at the man strapped to the chair.
Noticing my attention on him, his eyes plead with me to help him.
I glance back at Simon and Lucifer. They’re so caught up in their discussion about me they’ve completely forgotten I exist.
What fucking irony.
Letting my flare of temper get the best of me, I march up to the bound man.