Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 74554 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 373(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74554 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 373(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
“I think you need generational wealth for that kind of casual self-confidence.”
“Probably. So, what did he want to talk to you about?” he asked. “The plants?”
“Uh, well, he wanted to tell me he was going to reach out about the plants.” It was only a partial lie.
“See? Class act.”
He was.
And, what’s more, he did give me something to think about.
Because some part of me did want to make Kylo out to be a bad guy, someone who deliberately set out to screw with my emotions, to use me, then discard me.
Looking back, though, nothing about how he’d acted at the clubhouse had been pleased or indifferent to what Huck was saying to me.
He’d seemed upset, regretful, unable to even meet my eye.
And if what Teddy said was true about Kylo grieving as well, maybe I was being too harsh.
That said, my mind couldn’t let go of the lies.
I batted the issues back and forth until I felt dizzy.
Then I went home.
And, well, the shit really hit the fan.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Rue
It was just another night.
I cleaned up the store, dropped the money from the register, locked up, and headed home with Ernest.
“That’s a good boy,” I cooed at Ernest as he came waddling back into the kitchen after he did his business. “You already had dinner,” I reminded him as he sniffed out the pepperoni on my cold pizza I brought home from lunch, then sat down and tried to offer me his paw. “You know I’m a sucker,” I said, peeling off a pepperoni circle and giving it to him.
He’d just finished chomping when I heard something that made my heart lurch.
Crunching.
Like feet on the pea gravel that acted as a fire barrier between the house and the mulch that lined the flowerbeds around the house.
Sure, my house was in a neighborhood, but that didn’t mean wildlife didn’t find its way into my yard at times. It could be a raccoon, opossum, or maybe an iguana.
But it felt too loud to be a small mammal. And an iguana would drag along the gravel, not crunch.
I tossed another pepperoni toward Ernest before he started to cry for more so I could listen.
Crunch. Crunch.
There was someone out there.
Walking along the side of my house.
My mind immediately went to the bikers.
But they would have no reason to show up at my house and skulk around. We weren’t on good terms. But I would answer the door if one of them showed up.
The enemy of my enemy and all that.
But there was someone who might feel the need to creep around if they were coming to speak to me. Or hurt me.
I didn’t stop to think, to reconsider my fears.
I kicked off my shoes, grabbed my phone, waved my pizza at Ernest, and freaking ran.
This wasn’t some huge house. My grandmother lived relatively modestly. It was a simple one-level ranch-style home with tile floors. And the water table in the area meant there was no basement to try to hide away in.
But it came with one fun quirk.
Something unique that no one else would have, let alone think to look for.
I was rushing through the door of the primary bedroom when I heard someone twisting the knob on the front door.
Had I locked it?
How much time did I have?
My heartbeat thrummed as I forced myself to keep moving. There was no time to look back.
My breath was coming in fast, shallow puffs as I rushed over toward the mirrored sliding doors of the primary closet.
Ernest was happy to follow me, nose sniffing the pizza in my hand.
I slid the doors closed behind us, then dropped to my knees on the floor, pushing aside my luggage and feeling around the wall, then pushing to unlatch the hidden crawl space.
Ernest was going to hate this.
Hell, I was going to hate it.
But even as I hesitated, I heard the front door crack as, I imagined, someone kicked it in.
Not someone.
No.
It had to be Marco. And he likely hadn’t come alone.
What changed?
Was he still mad about the last visit?
Or, worse yet, had he seen me with Kylo? Did he know I was working with Huck and his club?
My stomach clenched as I waved the pizza in Ernest’s face, then tossed it into the darkness in front of me.
Thankfully, the promise of food overrode any reservations he might have.
He rushed into the darkness.
I turned and crawled backward inside.
Footsteps clicked on the floor in the main area of the house.
Something crashed, and I had to squeeze my lips together to keep from crying out.
I reached up, pulling the clothes back into order, then trying to pull the luggage in front of the door before pulling the small knob on the inside until the magnet caught.
Then it was complete darkness.
The sounds were more muffled in the crawl space, but there was the sound of more things knocking to the floor, the crash of glass breaking.