Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 96742 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96742 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
But it didn’t last long.
Somehow, Christopher tracked me down, and now he’s going to kill me.
This mess, this is just his warning.
I can see his face now so clearly in my mind. I can picture him sneering as he went through my things, shaking his head, mocking me. He always said I have shit taste and worse style, and this coming from a guy with more gaudy jewelry than a Broadway musical. I wanted to make something without him, something that was truly all mine, and now it’s been soiled.
And I don’t know what to do.
“Thank you, Hermia,” I say and glance back at her. She’s wringing her hands and looks terrified. I feel bad for her—she probably thinks she’s going to get in trouble with Evander, and now that I know who and what he is, I can’t blame her. “You don’t have to worry. I’ll be okay.”
“But, Camille, I promised Mr. Kazan—”
“I know he put you in charge of keeping an eye on me, but I’ll talk to him. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
She relaxes, but only slightly. “At least come to my apartment. I’ll sit you down, let you clean up, and feed you something good. You can rest and get your strength back and decide what to do from there.”
“No, thank you,” I say, shaking my head. But Hermia doesn’t move. She’s rubbing her hands together and looks nervous, and I know there’s no getting out of this one. I sigh and wipe my face with both hands. “At least give me some time to take a shower and get changed. Please, Hermia. I know you have to call him. Just give me some time.”
“Thirty minutes,” she says quietly. “Get yourself together and then I will call him.”
“Thank you.”
She nods and walks over and gently touches my arm. She doesn’t say anything, only looks at me with a sad smile, and it makes tears choke my throat.
I feel her comforting touch still after she’s gone and I’m alone in the wreckage of the first good thing in my life, already stolen and ruined and destroyed.
Chapter 12
Camille
Hot water rushes down my face. I stand in the shower and let it scald the horrible thoughts from my mind, the bad memories, the barely healed bruises.
Christopher was here. He was here, in this apartment, ripping through my things for his own sick pleasure. I don’t know how he found me, but my ex-husband has connections, the kind of connections I hoped wouldn’t be of much use.
But apparently, I was wrong.
I should’ve left Chicago. I thought Evander was right—it’s a big city. I could get lost here, disappear forever in this tiny little Greek neighborhood, and Christopher would never be the wiser. He’d be too busy trying to track me down back home in Philadelphia.
But I’d never go back to that place. I’d never return to my parents and their dump of a South Philly row home with the rats in the basement and the leaking roof and the constant scorn and their anger. Mom hating Dad and Dad hating Mom, both of them locked in some sick duel to the death, a slow-motion murder. They despise each other, and their hatred rubbed off on me, until I didn’t know what it felt like to care for another person without an undercurrent of loathing.
I thought I learned about true love with Christopher.
I was very wrong.
The bathroom door opens. Fear jolts me from my thoughts and I let out a soft yelp as my heart races, but the voice on the other side of the curtain isn’t him. It’s arguably worse.
“You should’ve called right away, asteraki mu,” Evander says in his low purr.
I let out a breath and press my hand against my chest. “You scared the fucking shit out of me.”
He chuckles and I watch his shadow move across the light, coming nearer. “I love it when you curse.”
“Now’s not the time, okay? You saw what my apartment looks like.” I cover myself with my arms.
“I did.” He’s standing on the other side of the thin fabric. I’m intensely aware of being naked, wet, and vulnerable, and Evander’s a big man. If he wanted to tear me out of the tub and take me, right here in my wrecked apartment, he could and there’d be no stopping him.
Not by me and not by anyone.
“I heard something about you today.” I’m talking quietly. He’s so close, I feel like I can taste his tongue on my lips. “I feel stupid for not figuring it out sooner.”
“What did you hear, asteraki mu?” His voice is a croon, a whisper, a promise.
“You’re a gangster. You run a family, don’t you?”
His laugh is velvet. He’s right there, right on the other side of the curtain. “And where did you hear that? Did Demetrios’s daughter tell you? After she caught us in our compromising position?”