Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 129571 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 648(@200wpm)___ 518(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129571 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 648(@200wpm)___ 518(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
Forget about it.
Sadness rained down on me. Everything was different now, and nothing would return back to normal.
“Yeah. That was our theory.” I stormed off. Even with his old age, Benny rushed and got on my side with ease. He was too damn efficient, too quick. I could never escape him.
“Who’s driving?” I asked.
“Scar.”
Glancing over my shoulder I whispered another good-bye to Chase.
“You’re doing the best thing, Jasmine.”
I turned back and increased my speed. “So who’s Scar?”
“A good friend of mine. You’ve seen him around.”
“Scar. Hmm. I’m assuming that’s your friend with the huge scars on his face and neck.”
“That’s him.”
“Very creative nickname.”
“We’re killers, not poets.” Benny tried to grab my hand as if to guide me over to the car. It was something he used to do, when I thought he was a good man. No. You can’t touch me. I put space between us as we hurried to Betty.
“No.” I held myself and kept walking. “Where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise.”
“I saw one of your surprises last night. I don’t like them.”
He had the nerve to appear embarrassed. “This one is a good surprise. Plus, Troy and Vivian are already there. It’s going to be a family affair. A vacation. We need this. All of us. A lot has happened. We need to start looking at what’s important—”
“Where are we going?”
“Why so impatient?”
We got to the car.
“Benny, I don’t feel like doing these games with you. You’ve done enough. I’m only going with you for a few days at the most, so Chase will move on.”
“Ha!” Benny opened the back door for me. “You think he’ll be over you in a few days?”
“I think he’ll give up.”
“If that’s true, then he never deserved you in the first place.”
I got in the car. “Just tell me where we’re going?”
“You’re mad.”
“I am. Where are we going?”
He leaned his head into the car, and all I wanted to do was slam the door into his skull.
“You look very angry,” he said.
“Where are we going?”
“I promise, I’ll make this up.” He ducked inside, slid onto the backseat, and closed the door. “You don’t get it now, but I’m really just a concerned father, trying to make sure my daughter doesn’t ruin her life. Men can drag you down until you’re nothing. I’ve seen it so many times. I’ve seen Chase’s father and men like him do it all the time to good women. I’ve seen Chase himself ruin people’s lives.”
An edge dotted each of my words. “Where the fuck are we going?”
“I don’t like the cursing.”
“Fine. Where are we going?”
“Where else?” He winked. “London.”
“What’s in London?”
“Family.”
Chapter 5
Chase
In my dream, I walked in a house with dark, crooked hallways that melted at the touch. “Jasmine?”
I couldn’t remember how long I’d traveled through the big place. I just knew that Jasmine was lost somewhere inside.
“Jasmine!”
The space was cold,
hard,
and silent,
except for my echoes.
Nothing lived in this house.
A door appeared. I opened it and stepped outside, where a dog whined off in the distance and the grass stood still. No wind. I scanned this strange backyard. It was a small place with just a manicured lawn and a large, towering steel fence that rose in the air.
“Jasmine!”
She never answered back.
Filled with anxiety, I raced to the fence, thinking Jasmine stood on the other side.
“Jasmine, please! Where are you?” I banged on the wood, rattling it. “Jasmine! Jasmine!”
And then I woke up from that haunted dream, stared at the empty space next to me, and knew. It all made sense. The night before, she’d been acting odd. Every time we made love, she kept her back to me, while I thrust inside of her.
She never let me look at her face.
She left. No. She’s just not in the room. I’m just being paranoid.
Just like in my dream, I screamed for her. “Jasmine!”
The cook should’ve started work by now and probably thought I’d lost my mind.
“Jasmine!”
She didn’t respond, just like in the nightmare.
She left.
What other answer could it be? What else would she do, when faced with Benny’s ultimatum? It was the reason why I’d kept it all from her. I knew she would try to save us, not realizing that in the end, the only way we could be saved was if Benny breathed his last breath and died.
Grasping on a last bit of hope, I jumped out of bed, tripping over my own legs, naked, and hurried out of my cold, empty bedroom. “Jasmine!”
Just like the dream, I rushed through our place, screaming her name and hoping she would answer me.
“Jasmine?!”
My two main guards barreled up the tiny stairs. “Sir—”
“Where is she?”
They exchanged uncomfortable glances as if hoping the other would tell me the news.
“Where is she?!”
“Sir ...” The tallest one stepped my way. “Ms. Montgomery disappeared early this morning.”
“When? How?”
The other one shook his head. “Someone disabled all of the cameras around 7 a.m. We just got them working again. The security on duty in the back gate are ...”