Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 98583 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 493(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98583 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 493(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
I leave his office. I got what I came for and a lot more.
Now a new mystery is opening itself. I need to figure out what’s going on with this Demir Yilmaz guy and what it has to do with me.
Chapter 9
Lucy
Kennedy looks like she’s going to lose her mind. “Let me get this straight. You had me cover for you so you could sneak out to your future husband’s club? And then you two had kinky sex—”
“It wasn’t that kinky,” I say, covering my face with a pillow.
“He zip-tied your hands behind your back, gave you a safe word, then used your face like—”
“Okay! Okay! I really, really regret telling you all that.” I peek at her, smiling sheepishly. “Can we just pretend like I never mentioned it?”
She rolls her eyes. “Oh, yeah, sure, I’ll just act like you never told me you got face-fucked by a mafia Don.”
“Kennedy!”
“But what’s really bugging me is the stuff about this Gray Wolf organization.” She paces across my room, frowning down at the floor. “Adriano doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who would overreact to something, right?”
“I agree.” I stretch my legs, lounging on my suite’s couch near the bay windows. “When he was over here, he seemed pretty pissed.”
“And your grandmother was doing her level best to pretend like she didn’t have a care in the world. Which means she’s stressing.”
“He thinks she’s lying to him.”
“Girl, I don’t think Helena Willing-Morris has ever told the truth about anything in her life. Lying is a given with that old frog.” She glances over sheepishly. “No offense.”
“It’s fine. I know how you feel about her.” And mostly I agree, but I find it hard to say so out loud. “What can we do about it, though?”
Kennedy considers. Where I’ve always been the good rule-follower, desperate for approval, my best friend has a wicked streak. She’s always trying to get me in trouble, mostly out of boredom. I pretend like I don’t love it, but the truth is, my life would be extremely sad and dull without her around.
“We should break into her office and see what we can find.”
And now I regret every decision I’ve made in my life.
“No, absolutely not.” I sit up straight, waving my hands. “No way in hell am I doing that. Grandmother would kill me. She’d disinherit me! She’d burn my trust fund out of spite.”
Kennedy shakes her head at me. “Come on, think about it. Helena needs you right now. Whatever’s going down with this Demir guy, it must be serious. She’s desperate for your future husband’s money and power. You’re basically untouchable so long as you’re engaged to that guy.”
She’s got a point. Except she’s also insane.
Grandmother’s office is off-limits. She has made it clear over the years that one toe past that threshold means death. And I think that’s literal murder. Her office is the heart of the Willing-Morris family power, and there’s no way she’d ever let a worthless nothing like me anywhere near that place.
“Sorry, but I can’t. I just can’t do it.”
Kennedy rolls her eyes. “Fine, I’ll go alone then.”
“Wait, no way. She’ll fire you!” I hurry after her as she stalks to the door. “Seriously, Kennedy, we’ll figure this out some other way. Pierre’s home; maybe he knows something?”
“Screw him. Your brother’s just as bad as Helena. You can come if you want, but either way, I’m searching that office.”
Kennedy storms into the hall. I watch her go, feeling desperate and powerless. She’s got that determined look in her eye. I’ve seen it many times over the years, and it means there’s nothing I can say that will change her mind.
If she gets caught alone, I can’t protect her. I might actually lose her forever. I don’t know if she’ll want to still be my friend once we’re not paying her anymore. I have a feeling she’ll leave me the way everyone else has. Once I’m not useful anymore, I’ll be nothing.
But if I go, maybe I can deflect the blame.
“I hate you sometimes, you know that,” I hiss at her when I catch up.
She beams and slips an arm through mine. “Come on, this is fun! Besides, Helena’s getting her hair done, which means we have at least another hour before she’s home. We’ll be in and out, no harm done.”
Grandmother’s office is on the other side of the house. We pass several other staff members, but none pay much attention. They’re used to me and Kennedy moving around the house together, arm in arm, off to cause some harmless trouble somewhere.
Except this is different. This is Grandmother’s office.
We reach the ornate door. Kennedy doesn’t even pause. She wrenches the brass knob and shoves it open, striding inside like she does this all the time.
I stare in after her. Bookshelves line the back wall. Antiques fill the shelves. The floor is gleaming hardwood with hand-carved colorful inlays. The ceiling is more shining wood with a chandelier dangling over a massive old desk. The chairs are rich leather, and the curtains are crushed velvet. I bet this room hasn’t changed much over the years as successive leaders of the Willing-Morris family have come into power.