Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 76309 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76309 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
I get out, pull my hood up, and shove my hands in my pockets as I hurry to her building. I buzz her apartment, step back, and wait.
Nothing. My stomach’s a wreck. My heart’s a racing mess. Did Burian get to her? Did Burian figure out that I’m working with Lanzo? And now he’s taking out everyone I love, one by one? Grandpop will be next. Fran and her little baby. Even Penny, my friend from a waitressing job I had a few years back. Everyone I remotely care about is in danger.
All because I decided to make a corpse burrito.
I buzz again, again, then suddenly the intercom clicks to life. “Hello, who keeps ringing—”
“Amy!” Relief hits me like a knee to the gut. “You’re okay!”
“Ren? I was in the shower. Have you been down there ringing this whole time?”
“Yes! You weren’t answering your phone so I got worried—”
Amy laughs. “Come upstairs.” The intercom buzzes, letting me inside.
I hurry to her door. She’s in an old t-shirt and shorts, her hair wet, grinning. Amy’s got my dark hair, the same light eyes, but she’s a little taller, a little leaner. More athletic, where I’m smaller and curvy.
I give her a massive hug. “You never lose your phone,” I say, squeezing.
“I didn’t lose it,” she grunts, pushing me back. “I broke the screen. It’s in the shop getting repaired right now and I haven’t figured out how to activate my backup yet.”
I let out a long breath. “That’s great. That’s so, so great.”
Her eyebrows raise. “Is it? Because this is costing me a hundred and fifty bucks. I don’t make that much money.”
“No, I just mean, you’re not in trouble and—” I’m interrupted by a knock at her door.
We both stare at it. I don’t speak for a second. “That’s ominous,” she says, laughing nervously. “Probably just a delivery.”
“Wait,” I say, but too late.
She pulls open the door.
Lanzo’s standing there, staring at me. Amy steps back, her mouth working, but he’s only got eyes locked onto mine.
“You’re coming with me,” he says.
Chapter 23
Renata
“Who the hell are you?” Amy says, getting in front of Lanzo like she’s about to do anything to stop him.
Lanzo looms over her like a mountain. He doesn’t bother glancing in her direction as he steps forward, nearly bowling Amy over. She moves back, pinwheeling her arms, waving her hands in the air. “Hey, asshole, you can’t just—”
How am I supposed to explain him? What am I supposed to say in this situation? There doesn’t seem to be anything that can make sense of this, at least anything that Amy might accept—but I want to stop Lanzo before he makes this worse. I open my mouth, about to call him my boss, but something else comes out instead. Almost by mistake.
“Amy, it’s okay, he’s my boyfriend.”
That makes everyone stop.
Lanzo stares at me with fire. He clearly likes hearing that come out of my mouth. I feel myself turn red from the intensity of the look he’s giving me, like that stare promises something very filthy to come. I have to avoid him and look at Amy, or else I might spontaneously combust.
“He’s your what?” she asks, staring from me to him and back again. “You didn’t tell me you were seeing—” She pauses, eyes widening, giving me a look that means an enormous, angry, gorgeous monster. Out loud, she finishes, “—Anyone.”
“It’s new,” I say, slipping past her.
Lanzo’s glower could melt glass. “We need to get going,” he says.
“Wait, hold on, you only just stormed in,” Amy says, smiling brightly now. She smells blood in the water. “Why don’t you stay? I’d love to meet the man able to pin down my cousin here.”
I grimace, waving her off. “Another time. Only came here to check up on you. Great talk, bye, Amy!”
I shove Lanzo out of her apartment, down the hall, and out onto the sidewalk. Thankfully, Amy has the good manners not to chase after us, but I can almost sense the phone call in my future.
Outside, Lanzo grips my wrist. “You disobeyed.”
That’s all. Just one bossy stare, his fingers tight against my skin, and those words.
“I was worried,” I say, voice small.
“You shouldn’t have left. You should’ve called me.” He leans closer, teeth clenched together. “Do you have any idea how I felt tracking you down?”
“How did you track me down?” I frown at him, head tilted. Then it clicks. “Oh my god. My phone.”
“Yes, I bugged your phone.” He drags me to his truck. “Good thing I did. If Burian had you—”
“This is beyond too far,” I say, yanking myself from his grasp. But he doesn’t seem to care: he picks me up by the hips and shoves me into the truck. I try to kick him, but he bats my foot away, slamming the door. “You can’t just kidnap me, you prick!”