Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 107608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 430(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 430(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Garik wisely takes a step away from her before squirting more accelerant onto the fire. We all know not to get between a woman and her shoes.
He chews on his gum and blows a loud bubble.
Rosalie visibly jerks. “Fine.” She leans down and tears off the dainty heels to throw onto the fire, her face flushing and her lips pressed tightly together. The cute shoes land in the middle of the flames and instantly begin to curl and burn.
Garik sprays more accelerant, and we all take a step back. He blows several more bubbles, and the scent of mint competes with the smoke for just a second.
Rosalie jerks again and looks away. My instincts rise. Something is up.
The fire is warm and has definitely reddened her cheeks. Her long black hair falls down her shoulders, and she looks like a lost kitten in the oversized clothing. She rolled Garik’s sweats up several times to her ankles, and while it appears she attempted to roll the sweatshirt sleeves up, they keep falling down. The top hangs nearly to her knees.
“Now what?” She looks down at her bare feet.
I reach into the bag and pull out another pair of large gym socks. “Put these on.” I hand them to her.
She doesn’t argue this time and instead bends over and puts the socks on, pulling them up past her knees and then letting the sweats fall back down. “All right, socks on,” she says, her voice snippy. “What now?”
I catch a glimpse of amusement on Garik’s broad face. He shrugs and then looks away as if not wanting to get involved, popping his gum several more times.
Rosalie visibly flinches again and then looks away.
“What’s up with you and gum?” I ask.
“Nothing,” she says, her voice low.
I look at Garik. “Pop your gum again.” He does so, and while she doesn’t jerk this time, her ears turn red. “Rosalie, what’s wrong?”
She shakes her head. “It’s stupid and you wouldn’t understand.”
“I understand more than you think. Do you have some sort of gum phobia?” The smoke has obliterated the minty smell already.
Her chin jerks up, and she looks at me before rolling those spectacular eyes. “No, I don’t have a gum phobia.” She kicks at a pebble that rolls toward the fireplace. “I have something called misophonia. It’s a fight or flight reaction to certain sounds, usually mouth and nose sounds. Most people don’t get it.”
Garik looks at her. “You mean like when you’re at the movie theater and someone crunches their popcorn behind you? That drives me crazy, too.”
She nods. “Yeah, kind of like that, but it’s different. Like telling somebody who suffers from OCD that you also wash your hands a lot and thinking it’s the same thing. That a guy crunching ice by you at a restaurant is annoying. For me, it’s like getting stabbed in the solar plexus.” She hunkers down even more in the overlarge sweats, looking fragile. “Most people don’t understand or even believe me. There’s an institute now in California, and they’re studying the condition. I can’t explain misophonia any better than that.”
“No nose sounds?” Garik asks. “You mean like sniffing?”
“Yeah. Sniffing puts me through the roof.” She sounds vulnerable, as if she’s giving us a weapon to use against her. Maybe I should tell her what the plans are for her future, but probably not with Garik here.
“All right,” I say. “I’ll take Rosalie to claim her vehicle at her law firm and then meet you at the bar, Garik. Don’t leave until the clothing is nothing but ashes.” I need to know more about the three men I just killed, and hopefully Garik will have some information.
He squirts even more accelerant on the fire. “Sounds good.”
I grasp Rosalie’s arm through the thick cotton. “Are the socks protecting your feet enough? I can carry you.”
She jerks free and pads toward the motorcycle. “Not a chance.”
Cute. Definitely cute. She grabs the waistband of the sweats to keep them up, obviously trying not to trip over the bottom that has now unraveled.
Infinitely fuckable. For the first time in much too long, I anticipate a future. A good one. In doing so, I make a mental note to ban all gum chewing in my organization from now on.
SIXTEEN
Rosalie
Hours after watching the casual murder of three men, I scoot myself back in the booth and drink my fourth apple martini. “This was a good idea.” I look at my two best friends. Alana sits to my right and Ella to my left, and both of them seem to be shimmering in the air. I should probably slow down with the alcohol.
Alana leans forward, her hazel eyes blurry. “I can’t believe you haven’t called the police.”
Ella shakes her head, her blonde hair piled up high tonight. In a light-green dress, she looks more sprite-like than ever. “You can’t, right? I mean, you’re his attorney and there’s no imminent threat.”