Total pages in book: 43
Estimated words: 39756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 199(@200wpm)___ 159(@250wpm)___ 133(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 39756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 199(@200wpm)___ 159(@250wpm)___ 133(@300wpm)
“True. We were trying to keep things quiet, and then, well, you know what happened last weekend.” There was no keeping it off social media once it happened, along with certain magazines getting ahold of pictures later on that night. Delaney handled that, having friends in the business and knowing that we needed them leaked. And what better way to control the media than hand-delivering the story yourself?
“I’ll say. The dress looked amazing on you. Nico wasn’t looking too bad himself. You two are the ultimate power couple.” We stand up from the bar in the kitchen, both of us throwing away our trash.
“Thanks. Sadly, that won’t be the only wedding. Once our parents are back in town, between my mom and Nico’s, it’ll be absolutely everything I don’t want. That’s why I’m glad we did things the way we did—small and intimate. Guaranteed the next one will have over three hundred guests in a church followed by an even longer reception.” It comes with the territory, and while I’ll love walking down the aisle to Nico again, I could do without the fanfare.
“You know, we could document the process. Not a whole lot, especially because of the costs, but definitely some of it. Maybe give tips on how to cut corners to save money here and there, or we could do a spend versus splurge option for new content.” This is why I love Hendrix; she’s the peanut butter to my jelly.
“That will work perfectly, and the moms can get in on it, too. Alright, chickadee, today hasn’t been that fun, but there’s nothing else to do. I think we can head home for the day.” Having an early day is rare for the two of us. It’s usually go, go, go from the time we get here until the sun starts setting.
“Early day with lunch. I’ll take that gift. I think I’ll go home, change clothes, grab Jolene, and take her for a nice hike. Maybe then she won’t attempt to eat my shoes.” Jolene is Hendrix’s Golden Retriever, a little over a year old, but she’s a chewer along with a panty thief. Everything is fair game when it comes to her dog. At first, Hendrix would bring her here during the day, but as she got older, we had to either crate her, or she’d chew up packages. So, she made the decision to keep her at home and have a dog walker come twice a day to let her out and play with Jolene for a bit.
“Take it and run because it might not be this way next week.” Especially if the mysterious packages arrive.
“I’m good with whatever. Let’s lock this place down and head home.” She goes about doing that while I text Enzo to let him know I’m ready to return home. I’ve got a whole new routine of being chauffeured to and from. You’d think I’d like it, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. I miss driving my car with the music blaring, windows down, and decompressing. Apparently, when you become a boss’ wife, that goes out the window and Enzo handles you and will be picking me up and taking me wherever. The only time I’m without a guard is here in my apartment, well, that I’m aware of, clearly. I’ll have some hurdles to jump through until I get used to how things are supposed to go.
NINETEEN
Nico
I walk into our bedroom. The time on my phone tells me it’s well after one in the morning, and I’m just now getting home while wrapping up another phone call, a useless lead once again with all of this shit that involves the Russians and Petrov. Earlier tonight, one of his cronies was caught distributing ecstasy throughout one of our clubs. I’m not saying people can’t do their own thing recreationally, but dealing in the clubs we own? Fuck that. Not without a fee, and the Russians don’t hold that contract, along with the fact that the guys we do work with have a binding one where nothing else is slipped in the ecstasy they do distribute. One issue, and they know we’ll pull the plug on anything and everything. The attention the Russians could give us would also mean cops breathing down our backs. It doesn’t matter that we have them on our payroll. There are certain things they can’t turn a blind eye to, and people dying would definitely make certain of that.
I’m stopped in my tracks; every light in the house is off except one. Off to the side in our bedroom is a sitting area. A place Journey has made her own, a few magazines and books stacked one on top of the other. “She left a light on,” I murmur quietly into the room. She did it in her apartment and has done the same thing here since she’s been here with me. Why I’m finally getting all the little things she does for me through my thick head, I’m not sure. All I know is that there isn’t a single person who could take Journey away from me, even myself.