Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 142783 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 714(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 142783 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 714(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
As if you could be lured into the comfort of it all when you were stumbling into a trap.
I padded barefoot through the living room. The smooth floor was surprisingly warm as the fireplace continued to cast its luxury across the rambling space.
I walked into the posh kitchen and searched for a glass in the cupboards above the countertop. I found one and moved to the sink where I filled it with tap water and brought it to my lips.
The main door suddenly burst open behind me. Surprise had me whirling around and the glass slipped from my hold as I went.
It shattered on the floor.
Shards scattered while my arms drew up in front of me like I could protect myself from any attack.
Which just so happened to be an attack by a woman who had to be in her late sixties. She skidded to a stop just inside the apartment looking just as shocked as I felt.
Humiliation crept to my cheeks at my overreaction.
But it was basic instinct. The fear that Jarek would come for me.
I frantically tried to regain my composure. “I’m so sorry, you scared me.”
The woman’s smile was sly. She was stocky and short, though clearly her strength hadn’t lessened with age as she carried the bags inside.
“Don’t you worry your pretty face about it. My husband used to tell me I garnered quite the reaction when I came into a room. I was a looker, too, you know, when I was your age. The man always did have to be right.”
Her smile widened. “You stay right there, now, and I’ll come rescue you. I heard we were going to have a pop of company for the next little bit, so I figured I’d better get to the market and get the refrigerator stocked.”
“That’s very nice of you,” I mumbled.
She waddled the rest of the way in and piled the bags on the island. “Gretchen is my name, cooking is my game. Well, and cleaning and shopping and keeping that boy out of the messes he makes. He might look put together, but that’s all me.”
She tsked like Logan was nothing but an unruly little boy.
“Is that so?”
“Mmhmm…he’s lucky he has me, that one.” She eyed me up and down.
I tried not to flush, considering I was standing there in nothing but that tee that hit me mid-thigh.
“Looks like he’s lucky to have you, too.” She winked at that before she moved to a hidden pantry at the right end of the kitchen and came out with a broom and dustpan.
“I’m thinking lucky is not the way he would describe it.”
She chuckled low. “That boy wouldn’t know what’s good for him if it knocked him upside the head, which I have half a mind to do most of the time.”
“I guess he’s not the only one you have to pick up messes after around here. If you can just hand me the broom, I can do it.”
“Nonsense. What’s your name, sweetheart? I think you and I are gonna be friends.”
“Aster.”
She froze at that, a wash of curiosity coming from her as she stopped to peer closer at my face.
A bout of nerves had me shifting on my feet, and I dropped my chin in a rush of insecurity.
Why was she looking at me like that?
“What the hell is going on in here?”
I jumped again when a deep voice hit the air, and I landed just to the left. A piece of broken glass pierced me on the bottom of my right heel.
A shriek tore from my mouth. Forcing myself not to move, I squeezed my eyes closed and gripped the counter behind me as if it could ground me.
I hated that Jarek wasn’t here, and he still had me on edge.
The problem was, I knew firsthand the types of atrocities he inflicted, and as much as I wanted to cling to my father’s promise, I would never forget the nineteen-year-old girl who’d lain bloody and weeping at his feet.
When I felt the movement, my lids peeled open, Logan a tether that widened my sight as he strode deeper into the apartment, dropping the bags he held on his way.
“Are you injured?” he grated through clenched teeth as he rounded the island. Some kind of venomous worry twisted his expression into hardened anxiety.
“I’m fine,” I forced out. That gaze dragged over me like hot stones, narrowing on the shirt I wore before it went traipsing the rest of the way down my legs.
“You don’t look so fine to me. I thought I told you not to get into any trouble while I was away?” There was the tweak of that tease at the end of his words.
Exasperation huffed from my chest. “I didn’t realize water counted.”
Gretchen tsked and waved the broom at him. “Are you just going to stand there staring? Where are your manners, young man?”