Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 129460 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 647(@200wpm)___ 518(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129460 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 647(@200wpm)___ 518(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
The hunch I should have ran with years ago augments when his attitude dips low enough I can secure a full breath. He’s more caressing my neck now than attempting to strangle me, although I can see that changing when my next confession reaches his ears.
“She scratched her attacker. His skin and blood were lodged under her nails so deeply, bacterial growth during DNA analysis will never be an issue.” Tears spring into my eyes when I recall him blaming my golden retriever for a large scrap down his right thigh in the days following our return from Munich. “Sammy didn’t scratch you. You attacked Serenity.”
He pffts me while pushing me away from him. “You’re delusional. Why would I do such a thing?”
“Because I would have recognized your snake eyes.” I bang my fists on his chest. I don’t care if the police witness me assaulting him. The self-defense act doesn’t solely focus on who threw the first punch. “I would have smelled your disgusting scent.” I put more oomph into my next three strikes. “And I would have known that your arrival to Munich couldn’t have occurred so soon after the attack if I weren’t so scared.” That confession hurts more than any of the previous ones. “Why were you in Munich, Warren? Why were you there within hours of me leaving the police station?”
“Because you were my girlfriend! My girl! You shouldn’t have been backpacking around Europe without me.” His words are as loud as mine, his façade just as hot-headed.
“You didn’t want to come.” I begged him to come with me, to leave behind his horrible existence the prior twelve months, but no matter how much I pleaded, he ignored my suggestions.
“So you shouldn’t have gone, Jessmina.” His words are shouted in my face, his spit sizzling on my cheeks. “But you did. You left me when you promised you wouldn’t.”
“I meant figuratively like your parents did when they died. I didn’t mean that I’d never leave your side. I had a life, Warren. Friends—”
“Who only fended for themselves when times got tough!”
I step back like I’ve been punched in the stomach. My intuition knew I was on the money, but it is far more shocking having it confirmed by the perpetrator.
“You were half Serenity’s size, but you still helped her when I wanted her to pay penance for her slutty reputation.”
“She wasn’t a slut, Warren—”
“She had sex before marriage!”
I slap him so hard, his head snaps to the side. “And so did we. But unlike me, you were too ashamed to admit that to my father.”
Before he can confirm he’s more fearful of my father’s wrath than the judge his confession will bring into his life, two police officers enter my apartment. Their guns are drawn, and their brows are joined, but it only takes Warren flashing his badge for their sole devotion to be fixed on me.
CHAPTER 17
CALEB
“Thanks, man. Keep the change.” I squeeze two twenties through the partition separating the driver and me before curling out of the back of his cab. I could have hired an Uber like Octavia does when she works late, but since they’re notorious for flaking on new app users, I swallowed my cheapness and hailed a taxi to take me to Jess’s favorite burger store.
She said she only accepts applications with a dozen burgers, so I splurged on twelve double-decker cheeseburgers with four slices of cheese, hopeful they’ll get me over the line since my bursting bladder required me to detour her apartment and enter the one a floor higher.
My fast steps slow when I enter the alleyway at the side of my apartment building. Two police cruisers have mounted the curb, and Jess is being assisted into the back of the closest one.
What. The. Fuck.
“Move back.”
“I live here,” I inform the officer stepping up to me chest to chest like I’m a thirsty reporter after a scoop.
Aware few people believe anything without proof, I dig my wallet out of my pocket and show him my license. I curse my stupidity to hell when I remember I haven’t updated my address yet. I’m not even down on the lease since Octavia didn’t want anyone from our old life tracking us down. She is using her mother’s maiden name, and until tonight, I’ve been the annoying leech family member with no responsibilities but still have a roof over my head every night.
“That’s my cousin. I live with her,” I say, pointing to Octavia at the side of the foyer, speaking with a younger officer.
The officer with the rounded stomach breaks into a sweat when he has to shift on his feet to authenticate my claim. He wipes at the sweat beading on his brow when Octavia confirms my story. “Very well,” he mutters through the thick mustache hogging his top lip. “But don’t stay milling in the foyer for long. It’s a fire hazard to have so many people in one space.”