Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 96129 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96129 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
I didn’t want to tell him about my father’s debt, but needing more money wasn’t far-fetched. He’d seen my tiny studio apartment. It was nowhere near as nice as his townhouse, not that I’d ever complain about it. I was proud of my apartment. Besides, he wasn’t entirely wrong. On my dancer salary, I did afford my bills, but I couldn’t afford to pay my bills and Tommy Costello back at lightning speed. I wasn’t going to divulge that information to him, but I knew he’d find out if he wanted to. He stared at me for what felt like an eternity, his eyes never leaving my face, and yet somehow he made me feel like I was sitting here completely naked. I really didn’t want to break the stare first, but I couldn’t take it. I felt too vulnerable when he looked at me. I felt everything and that was something I could not handle coming from him. I dropped my eyes to the large wood desk between us.
“I’ll match that price. How does that sound?”
I blinked up at him. “It sounds great.”
“You start Wednesday.”
“Perfect.”
“Good.” He gave a nod and tapped his knuckle against the desk. “You can go.”
“Um, thanks.” I stood up and grabbed my purse. I was halfway to the door when something occurred to me. I turned to him again. “How will I know what to wear or where to go?”
“You’ll be sent an email with all of the information a few days before and a follow-up the day of.”
With that, I left. When I stepped out into the hallway, I nearly ran into Veronica, who I’d met the other day. She was holding a folder in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other.
“I’m so sorry,” I said, shutting the door behind me.
“No biggie. Nothing spilled.” She smiled. “Are you ready? I know how awkward it is to answer all of those questions, but I promise I’ll make it as painless as possible.”
“I just did that.”
“You went over the paperwork?”
“Yeah. I just finished.”
She blinked. “With whom?”
“Dominic. He said you were indisposed.”
“Did he now?” Her brows rose.
“Yep.”
“Dominic went over paperwork,” she said, as if completely dumbfounded by this.
“Yeah,” I said quietly. “Was he not supposed to?”
“Technically, he can do whatever he wants,” she quipped. “But I’ve never seen the man do any kind of paperwork. I’m a little impressed.”
“Oh. Well, he said I’ll start Wednesday.”
She was looking at me weirdly, as if I was speaking a language she was familiar with but couldn’t quite understand in its entirety. “Sure. I mean, hey, he knows what he’s doing, right?”
“The way you’re saying this makes me think he doesn’t.”
She laughed. “It’ll be fine. We’ll be in touch soon.” She smiled one more time before turning and opening Dominic’s office without even knocking.
I left and got in the car. Dominic was having Marco drive me around as a precaution, which I had to admit was kind of nice. The rides themselves were pretty quiet though. Marco was always focused on ESPN Radio and wasn’t much of a talker, which was fine by me. The less I knew about their lives, the better. I pulled out my phone and found Yari’s last text.
Me: I took the job
Yari: HOLY SHIT YES BITCH
Me: lol
Yari: when do you start?
Me: Wednesday
Yari: we’ll celebrate after? Or maybe Thursday?
Me: 100%
Yari: AH! Love you. See you soon
I sent my brother a long text about my conversation with Dad before setting my phone aside. No matter what I did, my thoughts kept drifting back to Dominic. This was not good. I’d dated his twin brother, for God’s sake. And yet, Gabe didn’t make me feel any of these things. He’d been the safe bet. Dom made me feel like I was in over my head, and I wasn’t even in anything at all with him. I groaned. This arrangement couldn’t end fast enough.
11
DOMINIC
“Since when do you interview people?” It was the first thing Rocco asked when he walked inside my house.
I shook my head. “Veronica has such a big mouth.”
“Yeah she does, but seriously, I can’t even picture you doing paperwork.” He shot me a look, then brushed past me and headed straight to the fridge. “Oh shit, someone went grocery shopping.”
“Via my phone. You should try it.”
“Nah, I like seeing what I’m buying. Besides, you don’t know what those delivery people do to your food. One minute you’re eating an apple, the next you’re passed out and they’re robbing your house.” He closed the fridge, picked up a Granny Smith apple and smelled it before walking over to the sink.
“You don’t seem too worried about that.”
“I figure if I go down, you’ll rescue me.” He grinned. “Besides, they can’t tranquilize me. I’m worried about you.”
“I’m two inches taller than you.” I shot him a look.
“It’s not about height. It’s about endurance.” He switched off the water, dried the apple with a paper towel, and bit into it. He raised it. “This shit is good.”