Total pages in book: 149
Estimated words: 141255 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 706(@200wpm)___ 565(@250wpm)___ 471(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 141255 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 706(@200wpm)___ 565(@250wpm)___ 471(@300wpm)
Angel,
Check your text messages.
XO
Dario.
I found my purse and the phone he’d bought me was inside but it was dead. I’d brought two phone chargers, so I plugged it in and poured some coffee that was already made. I caught something from the corner of my eye. I looked out the window and saw two guys outside. One was Nino. They had holsters over their shoulders. They were armed. I got a sinking feeling.
As the phone powered up, the text message alert went off.
Angel, I have a meeting this morning. I have Nino and Luke here to keep an eye on you. Stay inside. Don’t worry. All is fine. It’s just a precaution. I’ll text if I don’t think I’ll see you by dinner time. XO.
I answered:
Ok. XO.
I sat down with my coffee and tried to not freak out. I had to keep my cool. I was away from my Master and he’d told me Jason was in town. He’d said on the phone to his brother that there were two potential threats. And he had Zack digging around and I didn’t know what Zack would find, but if the digging had to do with Kruna and with me it could put the one person on this planet that I loved, other than Dare, in danger. I said a little prayer.
10
I left early to deal with some stuff at the office and then to meet with my brother and Zack before the Gan Chen meeting. I’d left her in bed, but Nino and another security guy were there. Tommy had dropped Tia off with the girls so we wouldn’t have to worry about security at three places. He asked if I should bring Angel to the girls, but I didn’t know that she could handle that yet. She was fragile and the last time I’d left her alone with Lisa things had obviously not gone well. With Tess and Luc having no clue about Angel’s past, Lisa’s past, and added to that the fact that Lisa was apparently a fuckin’ mess over losing the baby it seemed like a bad idea.
I was concerned about Lisa and therefore glad she was on lockdown. Tommy tried to approach her with condolences when he dropped Tia off and said that Leese had a fucking meltdown when she saw him. Tommy left her there but called me before he left the place and we agreed he’d tell Dex to make sure that Lisa stayed in the house. And then I told Tommy about Lisa’s comments.
I hated to do it, to bring up that shit for him, but told him that she blamed him for losing Pop. He needed to know, especially with the fact that she was now having this reaction to the miscarriage.
“She what?”
“She blames you. She didn’t out and out say it but eluded and was just about to when I told her to shut her mouth and said she had no idea what happened and didn’t need to know.”
Tommy was shaken up at that and it took a lot to rattle my brother, so him being rattled told me he’d been torturing himself over his actions since they’d happened.
We knew that the girls all suspected that Tommy ended Pop’s life, but no one asked; nothing was said. Tommy had no choice. I knew that and I had a strong feeling my sisters knew that, too. It’d be suspected to those not in the know that the death was due to blowback after taking out Jesse Romero and that’s how we left it. The papers made that sound like the case, too.
Tommy and I had been interviewed by the police and we had alibis. Our contact JC and his cleanup crew, along with someone we had on payroll in the homicide department made it so the whole thing was tidy. Not too many questions.
But Luciana, Tessa, and Lisa? Yeah, not much was said other than the fact that Pop and some of his guards were shot at one of Pop’s safe houses. The girls never asked Tia what’d happened. Tia never offered info, according to Tommy, and no one asked. But everyone knew Pop had kissed Tia in front of the family out of being angry at Tommy and at least a few people knew that a few of Pop’s men pulled Tia from Tommy’s Jeep after I put her there and took off with her.
Tommy showed up at the office and then me, Tommy, and Zack talked for a bit. When Tommy left the office at 11:30, it gave me some time to do a bit of work while waiting for noon for Gan Chen to show up.
I got my poker face firmly in place.
I stepped out onto the street outside the Ferrano offices and that’s where I was greeted by two uniformed cops who arrested me for the assault of Nick Gordon. Dex told me Gordon was gonna stand down but either he didn’t do that or the cops hadn’t yet gotten that message.