Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 58090 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 290(@200wpm)___ 232(@250wpm)___ 194(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58090 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 290(@200wpm)___ 232(@250wpm)___ 194(@300wpm)
“I’ll let Mr. Parkston know you’d like to speak with him,” I replied. Was he going to complain about me snooping through his private room? Sure, I was only cleaning, but if a man like Richie wanted to cause a stink, I had no doubt he’d find a way to get me fired. He’d never warmed to me. But I suspected that was mainly because I didn’t throw myself at him like nearly every other woman on staff. No amount of money was worth riding that fat, greased-up pig.
I turned to leave, but Richie whipped his arm out and snagged my wrist. “Listen, Red, when I finish my business with Reed, maybe you could come back, and we can take care of a little business.” Nausea swept through me at his suggestion. I tugged my arm, but Richie held fast. He offered a sharp-toothed grin. “That Eric was quite taken with you. I wanna see what all the fuss is about. Besides, wouldn’t want you to get lonely now that he’s gone.”
“Gone?” the word slipped from my lips before I could stop myself. I didn’t want to play into his game and from the sick gleam in his eyes, that was precisely what I’d done.
Richie released my wrist and gave me a twisted smile. He’d hit his mark, and he knew it. “That’s right, Red. You won’t be seeing him around here anymore. He’s gone on a bit of a vacation.”
The tone of his voice implied it was a permanent vacation.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Tori
I scrambled out of the red room as fast as my heels would take me and made a beeline for the private offices, praying that Reed or Paige would be there working. As I rushed into the room, I ran right into Reed.
“Oh my God! Reed, I’m so sorry,” I gushed, backing up a step after bouncing off what felt like a solid wall.
Reed’s eyebrows were halfway up his forehead. “It’s all right, Avery. What’s wrong? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost!”
“Richie’s asking for you,” I said, trying to stop trembling. I wasn’t sure what unnerved me more, Richie’s subtle threat or the fact that he knew about Bennett and me. I’d bolted from Richie’s room before asking too many questions. To anyone on the outside, Bennett was Eric, and I was Avery. We could flirt, talk, drink together, hell, we could even fuck, but that was it. We weren’t supposed to have a history, and we definitely weren’t supposed to fall in love.
Reed grimaced at my statement. “Shit. What does he want now?”
I was surprised by the harshness of Reed’s tone. He wasn’t the type to raise his voice or get angry. Even when someone royally fucked something up, the most I’d ever heard him give was an irritated sigh.
“I—I’m not sure,” I stammered. “He had a big meeting. Uhm, do you know who Eric Starr is?”
I held my breath as I waited for his answer.
Reed nodded and ran his hand over his jaw. “He’s one of Richie’s new business partners. At least, that’s what I’ve gathered.” His eyes snapped to mine. “Why do you ask?”
I hesitated, unsure of what to say. I couldn’t bring myself to raise my concerns, and I couldn’t tell Reed who Eric really was. Not without blowing my own cover at the same time. I swallowed down the panic and shrugged. “He was the last one I saw in the red room.”
“Hmm. Well, to be honest, Avery, I’m not in the mood to deal with Richie’s shit tonight. Can you tell him I’m gone for the night? And to call my cell if it’s a real emergency. Though, I doubt it is.”
He scoffed and crossed to the desk to snatch the rain jacket from the back of his office chair. He shrugged into it and caught my eye again. “Paige may come by in an hour or so. She’s got some friends in town, and she said something about giving them a tour of the place now that we’ve remodeled the second-floor suites. Make sure that Richie doesn’t harass her and her friends, all right?”
I nodded, though I wasn’t sure what he expected me to do. I wasn’t security, and if it came down to it, there wasn’t much I could do to stop Richie from doing what he wanted. With any luck, he’d get pissed that Reed wasn’t at his beck and call and leave the club for the night.
Ideally, forever.
Reed clapped me on the shoulder and made for the back exit. “Thanks, Avery. Go ahead and have Barbie close up tonight. I’ll take care of the tills in the morning. You can take off as soon as Richie clears out.”
“All right. Have a good night, Mr. Parkston.”
“You too.” He smiled and slipped out the back.
I drew in a shaky breath once the door closed behind him, sealing me in the office alone. I wanted to curl up under one of the desks and never come out again. But I summoned all my strength, threw my shoulders back, and marched back to the red room, ready for a fight.