Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 123672 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 618(@200wpm)___ 495(@250wpm)___ 412(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 123672 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 618(@200wpm)___ 495(@250wpm)___ 412(@300wpm)
“The fuck you do,” he mutters.
“No, really,” I continue. “Last week I came at you and made ugly accusations without a shred of evidence, and you didn’t deserve that. But not only that, you resisted biting my head off, despite how badly you wanted to.”
“You don’t know that’s what I wanted.”
“Yeah,” I scoff. “I do. It was written all over your face. But either way, I’m sorry. You were really cool about the whole thing when I didn’t deserve it.”
Viper nods, accepting my apology, and something tells me that’s all that’ll be said about it. He’s not the type to linger on a topic or draw something out, which is surprising seeing as though he’s been relentlessly hanging on to the idea of making me his old lady for years, despite my constant refusal.
“Alright, if you’re all good, I’m gonna jet,” Viper says. “Got shit to take care of.”
A soft smile pulls at my lips, and despite not needing him to check up on me, I appreciate the thought and the time he’s taken out of his day to stop by. He goes to push off the table when I find myself reaching out toward him. “Before you go,” I say, my brows furrowing, unsure why I’m even asking this of him. “You wouldn’t happen to know anyone in security, would you?”
Viper immediately steps closer to me, his body going stiff. “Why the fuck do you need someone in security?” he demands, his gaze quickly scanning the street before flicking toward the back of the shop. “Did something happen?”
“No. Shit. Calm down. Everything’s okay,” I say, resisting the urge to laugh, because honestly, in his line of work, I suppose looking over your shoulder is just a part of the job description. “I was just thinking about getting some security cameras installed in my apartment. I think one of my neighbors is screwing with me so I figured, why not?”
Viper holds my stare a moment longer than necessary, and it’s clear he knows I’m lying, that there’s another reason I want to get security cameras installed, but it’ll be a cold day in hell when I actually tell him that I think I have a stalker sneaking into my apartment every night, somehow unlocking my window from outside. If he knew, he’d never leave my side, and in the blink of an eye, I’d have his men stationed outside my door while he slept sitting in the armchair across from my bed. Hell, that’s assuming he doesn’t go complete caveman and just kidnap me instead, insisting I move into his home like some kind of twisted romance novel.
“I know a guy,” Viper finally says. “He’ll have it installed by the time you’re home tonight.”
“Huh?”
“You heard me,” Viper says. “Keys.”
My brows furrow, and he holds his hand out toward me. “I’m not going to ask again. Keys, Kyah,” Viper growls, that familiar anger flashing in his deadly eyes.
Shit.
Hastily scrambling for my bag, I fish my keys out and drop them into his hand, and as he turns away, I call after him. “Wait. How much is it gonna cost? I’ve got some cash saved up.”
“Don’t worry about it, Ky. It’s on me. The fucker owes me a favor anyway.” And with that, Viper is gone, leaving me gaping after him while kinda terrified of the thought of having him and his henchmen alone in my apartment.
It’s dark by the time I start for home, walking through the waning crowd in the streets of Brooklyn. Exhaustion clouds my mind as I continue thinking about the design I created this morning. Hell, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it all day. It really is terrifyingly beautiful, and it speaks a dark truth about the man I’m not sure I really knew at all. It’s every fear and tormenting thought in my mind displayed before me on paper.
Maybe Big Jim is right. Maybe I should use the design to complete my sleeve. I’d have to make a few alterations to make it fit the space available, but I could make it work, and there’s no denying it would be beautiful. Plus, it’s also a bonus that I know Big Jim would do an incredible job with it.
My phone dings in my back pocket, and my brows furrow. Maybe it's Alex checking in. I’m usually home by now, but it was a long day. Even though I had a week off work, the rent is still due, so I’ll be doing some longer hours to make up for the missed work, otherwise, I’ll find myself not only down a friend, but down an apartment too. Though if it were to come to that, I’m sure Nat would take me in, but it wouldn’t last long. There’s only so much of each other we can handle before needing a break.