Total pages in book: 225
Estimated words: 218500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1093(@200wpm)___ 874(@250wpm)___ 728(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 218500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1093(@200wpm)___ 874(@250wpm)___ 728(@300wpm)
One of the stories I found online was one Adam wrote before we met. Derek’s father Michael Steele wasn’t painted in a very positive light. It was the last article in a series about the wealthiest men in the state. In fact, there were undertones that eluded to organized crime ties. Derek’s father’s self-made money comes from real estate, mostly, but his father was a wealthy shipping magnate.
The organized crime accusation wasn’t blatant, but there were seeds planted there about not only Michael Steele, but also his sons Elijah and Thaddeus as well. Reading it left me even more unsettled. Michael Steele’s older brother did two years in a minimum security prison over tax evasion a couple of decades ago.
I’m sure, though, that Derek’s obsession with me has got to be about more than the article Adam wrote because Adam certainly isn’t the only journalist in town that has written negative things about his family.
And there’s a lot of negative stuff out there about Derek’s recently murdered brother. And gossipy stuff about an ugly divorce happening for the oldest sibling, Elijah. The now-dead Thaddeus was second-born. Derek is third. He has brothers named Jonah and Asher as well as two sisters, Naomi and Grace.
Grace Steele, who I know now is the blonde I saw in the elevator the other day, got some tabloid coverage not long ago as she dated a guitarist in a mid-level rock band.
I couldn’t find much about Derek, other than pictures of him with some of his family at charity and other press events. Derek’s mother is a retired supermodel and was a TV actress for a while. I recognize her, remember watching a sitcom she was in when I was in grade school, but there isn’t much press about her.
Adam’s announcement about work interrupted my sleuthing, so after I pack his suitcase for him while he showers and shaves I think about getting out of the house this evening.
I’ve pondered reaching out to Coraline or Maddie for a night out, but it’s a weeknight. I’m too gun shy to meet up with Alannah because she will see everything the minute she sees me. But after turning down her lunch invite, if she finds out I met up with Cor or Maddie, she’ll march her fine ass straight here to confront and interrogate me. Finally, after Adam leaves, I decide to go to the gym and then to the soup place and bring the shifter romance Derek bought me.
I can’t figure out what to do about him at the moment. I don’t know what to make of the way he dressed me up like his own personal sex doll with that lingerie, presented me with an elaborate meal, and then just let me leave.
He seemed pretty blasé about the fact that I again didn’t fawn over his efforts to woo me.
I could call his bluff by breaking his rules and telling people, but everything in me is telling me not to do it. If he’s gone to these extremes financially as well as having me followed and installing cameras in my house, I need to be cautious.
I’ve told myself I can hope he loses interest in a way that won’t end in my disappearance without a trace, but I’m beyond stressed out. Because if he gets bored, aren’t I a loose end?
When I leave the house, the blue SUV follows me.
After the gym, the donut shop is busy and I’m grateful there’s no small talk with Mr. Nguyen or his wife because I’ve been worried they’d ask me questions about my last visit, about Derek, who they seemed fond of.
I eat my soup from the corner table, facing the window and doing my best to pretend I’m not being watched by some guy out there named Kenny in a blue SUV. I don’t see it, but I’m sure it’s out there. I surprisingly get hooked into the book I’m reading. Before I know it, I’m a few chapters deep and my soup bowl is empty. I didn’t get an éclair this visit since they’re sold out, but got a cherry cruller for later.
Once home, I take a hot bubble bath with the curtain closed tight (just in case) and then I change the sheets and get into a fresh bed with the book and my treat and a grateful feeling that I haven’t heard from Derek today.
I’m feeling strange being alone, but it doesn’t take long for the book to hook me again and make me forget about the fact I’m likely being recorded or watched. After a few more chapters that get pretty steamy and leave me feeling a certain kind of way, I shut the lights out and then under covers, I stealthily fetch, then start to use my vibrator. I work at it for a while, but release is elusive. Probably because Derek’s face keeps showing up behind my eyelids. His face. His body. His voice.