Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 63289 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 316(@200wpm)___ 253(@250wpm)___ 211(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63289 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 316(@200wpm)___ 253(@250wpm)___ 211(@300wpm)
The classical music shifted to a piano solo.
“Enough about that.” I noticed the bubbles shimmering. “What do you think the killer is doing right now?”
“He or she is probably confused. During a party like this, I never have so many guards, watching over my office, library, and bedroom.”
“The maskless waiters probably threw the killer off too.”
He chuckled. “I hope so.”
“It was genius. Thank you for protecting me.”
“Nothing will happen to you on my watch.”
Smiling, I closed my eyes. “Tell me more about Estelle?”
He groaned in annoyance.
“Ethan.”
“I want to enjoy this moment before it is gone, not talk about my crazy old assistant.”
“What did you do when you found her in the bed?”
“I yelled for my guards. She stopped humping the pillow and shrieked. None of my guards heard me.”
“Oh no.”
“Not thinking and only wanting to get out of there quickly, I rushed back into the secret passageway to get my phone and alarm my guards.” He let out a long breath. “The last thing I wanted to do was put my hands on Estelle and get her out of my bed.”
“That's how she knows about the passageway?”
“Yes. She followed me through, naked, crying, and begging me to not fire her.”
“This is crazy.”
“I get back down to my office. She comes in there too and tries to hug me. Thankfully, the guards finally heard all of the commotion and rushed in.”
“They took her away.”
“Eventually, she fought them, screaming that we were in love and she just needed time to talk to me.”
I opened my eyes. “Did you ever see her again?”
“No. It's been three months. No further contact.”
“But, she would know the inner workings of your masquerade party?”
He tensed against me. “She worked with the party planners for years. She would definitely know about the costume storage room and that my waiters were always masked.”
My nerves flared.
Could Shi be Estelle? No. That would be too. . .terrifying.
I swallowed.
“Oh fuck.” He growled. “How could I forget?”
I sat up and glanced over my shoulder. “What?”
“She was able to be in my room and do what she was doing, because the cameras were down.”
“Fuck.”
“Christopher never knew how she did it, but he figured the problem was solved and made sure to put codes in place to block anyone from ever doing it again.”
“So, she could very well make the cameras go out again?”
“Yes.” Rage covered his face. “How could I have been so stupid, and not think of her as the number one suspect?”
“Maybe because you died and then repeated time. It's a bit shocking. First, you had to wrap your head around that.”
“Still—”
“Don't beat yourself up, Ethan.”
“What if you had been killed for real and there was no magic clock with some time altering spell?”
“Thank God we don't have to wonder about that.” I turned around and leaned back on his chest again. “But. . .”
“Yes?”
“What if. . .my assistant Shi is Estelle? She was my date to this party.”
“Goddamn it. Then, I'm going to strangle her before she gets out of the limo.”
I thought back to all of the times Ethan met us by the limo. Shi wore a mask that covered her entire face. There was no way he would have recognized her.
She had said that she researched the property and talked about the maze. But, what if she really knew about it because she worked here.
I let out a long breath. “Did she know about your obsession with me?”
“Of course. Everyone knew. In fact, Estelle was assigned to not only buy your books, but get a detective to learn about you.”
I glanced over my shoulder. “What? You hired a detective to check me out?”
“For a man with my wealth. . .it is important to truly know who he plans to bring around him.”
“It's still weird.”
“I can see that.”
“When this is done, I'm going to get a detective to look into you.”
“Good. I'll pay for him.”
I rolled my eyes and turned around. “What did your detective find out?”
“Everything I've already confirmed in these moments that we've shared together. You're smart, talented, and spend way too much of your time writing, instead of living life.”
I smirked. “After this, that's something I plan to change.”
“No, Maya. That's something that I plan to change.”
My smirk deepened. “Back to Estelle.”
He groaned in annoyance and slipped his hand up to my breast.
“How do I say this?”
He slid his fingers to my nipple and tenderly squeezed. “What?”
“Well. . .Shi said that she was Chinese.”
He let go of my nipple. “What?”
“Yeah.” I sat back up. “So. . .what is Estelle's ethnicity?”
“Her parents are from Seoul, South Korea.”
Tension gathered in my shoulders. “As a Black person, I know other Americans can be ignorant to things about my culture.”
“O-kay.”
“So. . .Estelle could understand that too. So, consider this.” I turned around some more in his lap. “Some people from Korea and China may share similar physical traits, but they are not the same.”