Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 95049 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95049 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
“No respectable man wants to take care of another man’s bastard child.” Her words, not mine.
“They won’t know,” Eric says, shaking me out of my thoughts. “We’ll report her missing, paint the picture of a troubled young woman. Nobody will ever find her, and she’ll become one of the millions of unsolved cases. I hate to do it, darling, but it will mean saving us. I sent him the pictures I had taken of her in the shower—”
“What?” she shrieks. “You were watching her in the shower?”
Oh my God! He was watching me in the shower and took pictures? Did he sneak in? Or does he have one of those creepy cameras installed in the mirror? It doesn’t matter now. I’ll never get undressed in this house again.
“Only so that I could send them to him,” Eric explains, like it’s totally okay to take pictures of his twenty-one-year-old stepdaughter since it’s for a good cause—selling her to pay off his debt. “It’s why I had you insist she come home. He needed to see the product before agreeing to accept it as payment.”
Holy shit, I’m going to be sick.
I swallow back the bile that’s rising in my throat.
“Okay,” Mom agrees. “When?”
“Tomorrow. The Antonovs will be out of town for that bitch’s wedding, and Nicole is going, so she won’t be around to possibly witness anything. I hate that she’s friends with them, and I’m going to handle that soon, but for now, it will work out in our favor.”
“Okay,” Mom says again. “Is there anything you need from me?”
“Just act normal,” Eric tells her. “Go to lunch and make sure she doesn’t know anything. I’ll handle the rest.” I hear shuffling, and then he says, “Soon, this will all be over, and our lives will go back to normal.”
“I’m so glad you changed your mind,” Nicole says a few hours later.
After I had lunch with my mom, where I put on the show of my life so she wouldn’t suspect I was aware of what they were planning, I went back to Nicole’s coffee shop to tell her that I’d decided to go on the trip with them.
I considered going back to Seattle, but Eric could easily find me there, and while I make a little bit of money from the clothes I create for my friends in college, I don’t have anywhere near enough to take off and hide out.
So, until I figure out my next move, my next best option is to get on a yacht to the Bahamas, where Eric and this Santiago guy won’t be able to get to me.
“The wedding is going to be beautiful,” Nicole says, handing me another cup of coffee.
“Wedding?” A woman standing in line perks up. “Is someone getting married?”
Nicole nods. “Brielle Morgan. She and her husband will be renewing their vows the day after tomorrow.”
“Oh, that’s sweet,” the woman says. “Brielle is such a nice girl. I love her Pilates studio. But those Antonov boys …” She mock shivers and then leans in so only we can hear her next words. “They’re just so scary.”
Nicole laughs, but it’s awkward and forced. And I’m about to ask why Bri’s brothers are scary when I remember something Eric said earlier on the phone.
“I warned you that the Antonovs wouldn’t be pushed out of this town.”
Because I was sent to boarding school and then went straight to Seattle to go to college, I don’t know much that goes on in this town, but over the years, when I’ve been home for the required holidays and breaks, I’ve heard Eric complaining about the Antonovs being a thorn in his side.
“Why does that woman think the Antonovs are scary?” I ask Nicole once the woman has gotten her coffee and left.
“Because they are.” She shrugs. “I love Bri, and her sisters-in-law—Peyton and Dani—are so sweet. But their family is dangerous,” she says, her voice low so nobody can overhear. “I didn’t want to say anything earlier in front of Bri, and I’d love for you to come on the trip, but you should know that they’re not … on the up and up.
“It’s not really a secret that they run Harbor Point, and because of that, my father doesn’t get along with them. He claims to want Harbor Point to be free of corruption, and he believes that in order for that to happen, the Antonovs would need to leave.”
“Kind of ironic, coming from the corrupt politician,” I mutter.
“Exactly,” Nicole agrees. “And recently, I found out that my father was involved with some bad people.” She sighs. “See that man over there?” She nods toward the guy in all black, standing outside of the shop. “He’s my guard. One of my father’s enemies, who is also an enemy of the Antonovs, tried to come after me a few months ago because my father had promised to help him get the Antonovs out of town, knowing he wasn’t capable of doing so.”