Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 77887 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77887 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
He was right…but that wasn’t the point.
“Pretty one?” Walking over to the couch, I sat down beside him and pulled my manipulative doll onto my lap. “Let’s try this again.”
He leaned into me, resting his head on my shoulder as his hand stroked over my chest. “I’m very sorry you lost your receptionist, Owner. But I will be glad to help fill in whenever possible. I’m going to be a very cute secretary.”
I had no doubt about that.
“Pretty one?” I hoped being vague would get me more information, but as I waited, I wasn’t sure it would work on Emerson.
“I honestly had no idea she was running drugs through here until Eli’s friend knew this guy and he told us all about it.” Emerson shrugged. “Eli said you might feel sorry for her and that we shouldn’t tell you.”
I wanted to tell him he was wrong.
Fuck.
“How about next time something like this happens we have a rule that we both need to know?” I wasn’t naïve enough to pretend he wouldn’t do something ridiculous again.
Emerson sat up, smiling and looking lighter. “You’re not mad? Eli said you might be, but he said he would rather you get upset than get hurt. You’re too innocent, Owner.”
I was?
How would I have gotten hurt?
“I’m very glad I have you to take care of me, pretty one. But now that it’s all out in the open, how about you explain a few things to me?” I had a lot of questions, but getting a handful crossed off the list would be a good start.
“Alright.” Looking prim once again, he wiggled and sat straight. “What would you like to know?”
God, where should I start?
“Why was Eli looking into her background?” I didn’t even want to say her name because just thinking about what she’d done had my heart pounding.
“Well.” Emerson looked slightly guilty at that question. “We just needed to find a reason to make her quit. That way you wouldn’t have fired her. I thought it would just be speeding tickets or something like that to use against her, but it was a little bigger than we expected.”
Yes, just a bit.
She’d been running designer drugs through my business.
Closing my eyes, I leaned my head back against the couch. “Should I have seen it, pretty one? Did you?”
“No, Owner.” Emerson kissed my cheek before snuggling against me again. “I just didn’t like her because she was a bitch. Even Eli hadn’t seen it.”
Yes, that’d been a memorable visit too.
Letting out a breath, I nodded slowly. “That makes me feel a little better.”
What made me feel a lot better was that the police didn’t think I had anything to do with it. Evidently, a helpful little birdie had dropped off a lot of fascinating information at the police station and at her family’s attorney earlier in the day.
I was in the clear, but she was fucked.
One of the police officers had hinted that she’d stopped paying what her partner felt was fair and that’d started to unravel everything. No one was quite sure what had happened to her car, but that had Emerson and Eli written all over it.
“Do I want to know about her car?”
“No.” His cheerful response had me sighing.
“Pretty one?” Thankfully, I didn’t have to use his real name to get my point across.
Now it was his turn to sigh. “It was Robin Hooded.”
That was not a word or helpful in the slightest.
“Emerson.” His name had him huffing like he was offended and I almost smiled.
“If you’re going to be that way about it.” His sassy response earned him a tap on his ass which seemed to make him happier. “Yes, Owner.”
He kissed my neck, wiggling and getting comfortable before he told his story. “Well, she owed her business partners a lot of money. One of them has kids to feed. It wasn’t their fault she was a shady partner. It was just a few bad decisions on his part.”
What?
Emerson seemed to think it was all very logical and just kept explaining. “Well, Eli convinced him that trade school was a better option, so he’s promised to get out of that life. But he needed funds to start with. School isn’t cheap. So we had a chop shop liberate her vehicle and they’re splitting the proceeds. They have to keep a roof over their heads too. Real estate is very expensive these days.”
I had no idea what to say to that.
“How do you know a chop shop, pretty one?” It seemed like the least worrisome question, but honestly, I wasn’t sure I had any easy ones.
“I did a party for their son.” His perky tone had me opening my eyes and smiling without even thinking about it. “He’s very cute and a very talented juggler.”
Oh god.
He taught the local…fuck the local whatever’s kid how to juggle?