Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 75891 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75891 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
I wouldn’t have given her the limited-edition black-and-gold card if I had that worry. She could buy ten more like it, and it wouldn’t matter to my bottom line. Plus, I owe her way more than that. When I slipped into her bedroom last night, I’d stood there for a long time just looking down at her pretty little face.
This is what I have to look forward to for the rest of my life. The thought didn’t give me heart palpitations or make me break out in a sweat. Instead, I felt a peace that hadn’t been there before. She didn’t sense me, didn’t budge when I slid in beside her. She did murmur when I drew her into my arms but settled quickly and didn’t open her eyes.
I’d lain there awake for a while longer before sleep took over. I was sure from what had happened before that she would be passed out until at least noon, so I had no worries about her waking and finding me here.
I slept like a log with her in my arms and woke up with the sun to start my day. I didn’t risk taking a shower there, though, because I found that I liked her not knowing that way I don’t have to hear her mouth. But for as long as she plans to stay there, I’d be spending the night.
I thought I had her just where I wanted her until my own mother called me not long after I got to the office. I’d gone home after leaving Jess to shower and get ready for the new day and had kissed Mom goodbye the way I always do; there were no issues then.
Now there was frost in her tone. The kind of tone that makes you forget that you’re a grown man. “Mom….”
“Don’t Mom me. You go fix what you broke, or don’t come home. You hear me, Julius Blair? I thought you had more sense than your brother, but I guess I was wrong. How did I ever give birth to two such dumbasses?”
“Hey, how did I get involved?” Roman complained from somewhere in the room with her. I gritted my teeth and sat back in my chair. That little…
JESSICA
Hehe, I bet I know why you’re calling. I looked at my phone screen and blocked the number before carrying on with my shopping, just to give him sciatica. That’ll teach him to mess with me. It hadn’t taken much to get his mother riled up. Nothing beats telling a woman with baby rabies that her grandkids might have to be put on hold because of her idiot son.
Sure, I embellished the truth a little, but so what? It’s nothing less than he deserves; besides, it will keep him off my back for the time being. The good thing is, she didn’t question me one bit before promising to take care of it.
I went on with my merry life and put him out of my mind. I’ll deal with him when I’m ready to think about everything he’d said the night before in a rational way and not a moment sooner. I had bigger fish to fry at the moment, thank you very much.
Round two of Operation Skank Destroy is about to start, and I didn’t want to miss a minute of it. It was almost nine o'clock by the time I made it back to the house and dropped off the groceries before heading right back out again.
I sang along with the radio, my devious little heart doing pitter-patters in my chest. Nothing gets my juices flowing like taking down an enemy who didn’t see it coming. Besides, dealing with these two fools took my mind off other things, which was nifty.
I found my usual spot at the little café and pulled out my laptop as I waited for the men in suits to appear. I knew what time their meeting was supposed to be, of course, from reading the back-and-forth emails between them and the general manager, who probably hadn’t gotten a wink of sleep last night.
Sure enough, not fifteen minutes later, I saw them entering the building across the street. From their body language, I knew they were taking things seriously as they should. Billions of dollars were on the line, not to mention jail time for those involved, and the SEC just might shut their whole operation down when all was said and done.
There’s nothing like corporate espionage to give them boners, not to mention the Feds were going to want their pound of flesh for the embezzlement scheme, and the sharing of private information across state lines.
I’ll never understand why people who do such shady shit don’t keep a low profile. Then again, her setup was so well orchestrated, I’m sure she never expected anyone to follow the trail back to her. She, or someone she knew, had gone to great lengths to keep things hidden. Unlucky for her, she’d slept with the supposed boyfriend of a first-class hacker who was now out for blood.