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 could stand right here watching her unpack for the rest of my days, and that would be a life well spent.
“You’re a creep, you know that?” She glances over, frowning a bit. “Are you going to just stare at me?”
“That was the plan.” And all at once, I’m reminded that I can’t let myself get too wrapped up in her. Not when my time is limited. I’ll end up like my father soon enough. When that time comes, I won’t drag anyone down with me.
“How about you come help instead?”
“I can do that.” I join her at the suitcase. “This is a lot of stuff.”
“Believe it or not, I left more back home.”
“Get the rest if you want.”
“You’re so generous.”
“I’m aware.” I lift up a pair of her underwear, black and lacy. My lips press together. “Bring more of these.”
“Stop it,” she says, snatching them away and pulling the bag out of my reach. “Focus on the pants.”
We fold and put things away in silence for a little while. She keeps glancing at me. I feel the weight of her attention like moth wings on my skin. I try to focus on what I’m doing, but it’s hard. She’s always there, a pressure in the back of my mind. I haven’t been able to shake thinking about her since that night we first met.
“Now you’re the one staring,” I say absently.
“You smell.”
“Not bad, I hope.”
She wrinkles her nose. “Like blood.”
I look down at my hands. “Maybe I should shower.”
“Why do you smell like blood?”
I give her a hard look. Her face pales slightly. “Do you really want to know?”
“I guess not.”
I put a few pairs of shorts away. “I’m going to rinse off. You should know there are going to be some new rules around here for now.”
“New rules? I didn’t know we had any old ones.”
“You need to stay at the house as much as possible. What happened at the wedding wasn’t random.”
She looks at me. I can tell that makes her very nervous. “It was aimed at you, wasn’t it? And it involved me somehow too?”
I frown sharply. “How do you know that?”
“Grandmother apologized to me. It was honestly bizarre.”
I take that in. Demir’s story is starting to seem more and more plausible, but I decide not to scare her. “You’re safe here. Don’t worry about the wedding anymore.”
“Kind of hard not to, given the whole explosion and fire thing.”
“Stay at the house. If you need to leave, make sure you tell Luca first. He’ll be your primary guard.”
“I have babysitters now?”
“You have men making sure you remain alive.”
She doesn’t sulk. I like that about her. Instead, she only turns back to placing shoes in an orderly row. “I’ll see what I can do,” she says.
I open my mouth to argue, but think better of it.
Instead, I go to clean the stink of death off me the best I can.
Though I doubt I’ll ever get it all the way off.
Chapter 16
Lucy
Ifully intend to stick around the house and follow all the rules. My conversation with Adriano keeps running through my head. The smell of blood on him. The tired, haggard look in his eyes. The way he stared at me with a strange, impossible-to-ignore hunger.
That man is dangerous. And for some reason, I’m drawn to him, like a moth trying to burn itself on a flame.
Except Kennedy invites me to a trendy bar near Adriano’s place, and I feel my heart flutter in my chest. Despite what she said, I keep assuming she’s going to disappear from my life like everyone else has over the years.
I tell her I’ll be there and hurry to get dressed. It’s around five in the evening on a Thursday, and I figure this won’t be that big of a deal. What assassin is hanging around chic gastropubs during happy hour? People only get murdered after sundown.
I leave a note for Luca, though, thinking it’ll cover my bases, before sneaking out the back. I hurry through the side gate and make my way four blocks to a cute little place called Moonlight, tucked between a comic book shop and a used bookstore.
There aren’t too many people drinking this early. Most of them are in business casual outfits like they’re straight from the office. I find Kennedy sitting at the bar with a big teal drink in front of her and one already waiting for me.
I’m weirdly nervous. But as soon as she turns and smiles, it’s like my world brightens. She hops down from her stool and gives me a big hug. “God, it’s weird not seeing you every day,” she admits.
“How’s the house going without me?”
“Oh, the usual. Helena’s been twice as awful since you left.” Kennedy makes a face. “I’m not sure how long I’m going to last, if I’m honest.”