Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 103852 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 519(@200wpm)___ 415(@250wpm)___ 346(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103852 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 519(@200wpm)___ 415(@250wpm)___ 346(@300wpm)
The woman who screamed at Yan earlier shoves her stall door open. “The fuck is this? Family drama isn’t supposed to happen in a damn toilet…” she trails off. Then she whispers, “Fuck.”
I raise my head and my mouth hangs open as the water keeps running from the faucet onto my stiff fingers.
I’m staring at a replica of me.
She’s dressed in a faux fur pink coat, torn blue gloves, and her hair is a mixture of blonde tips and darker roots.
Her face is smudged with dirt and a few other things, but we’re still so similar that both of us stop and stare for a second.
“Wow,” I murmur.
“Fucking wow, indeed.” She circles me as if I’m an animal at the zoo. “If I didn’t know I was an only child, I’d think I have a twin sister. How old are you, girl?”
“Thirty.”
“Eh, I’m twenty-seven, so we can’t be twins.” She stops in front of me and grins. “Fucking life kicking a lookalike my way, ey?”
“You’re…” I trail off searching for the right words. “Do you come to this shelter often?”
“Nah, first time. But what a first time it is.” She stares at my hand and her eyes bug out. “Look at that fucking rock! Bet it could feed me for a year.”
I’m about to tell her that this wedding ring is the key to my cage, but while I study her, a crazy idea slowly forms in my head as the cold water soaks my skin. I must’ve really gone insane if I’m thinking about executing it.
“I’m Lia. What’s your name?”
“Winter,” she says, still looking at my ring. “Winter Cavanaugh.”
“How did you become homeless, Winter?”
She throws her hands in the air. “It started a few months ago. I became an alcoholic after my baby girl was stillborn and my mom died.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“So am I, but I’d be less sorry if I was married to a man who gave me such rocks. Goddamn, girl, look at your necklace. It must’ve cost a fortune.”
“Do you really want that?”
Her head snaps in my direction. “What type of question is that? ‘Course I want it.”
“What if I can make it happen?” My voice is monotone and scary, even to myself.
“How?”
I step closer to her and speak low so Yan and Boris don’t hear. The running water also serves as a camouflage. “Take my place, my husband, my fortune. Everything.”
“Are you kidding?” She laughs, then stops when I don’t join her. “You’re serious?”
“Dead serious.” This feels like a movie, a reckless one, but I would be stupid if I pass on the chance that fate is finally offering me.
Her small features crease. “Why in the flying fuck would you give up all of that?”
“Because it’s suffocating.”
“I’ll choke by money any day.”
“It’s not that easy. My husband is a mobster.”
“Even cooler. Means he has more money.”
“You really don’t care about what he does? He’s in the Russian mafia.”
“That’s badass.”
I frown. How could she be this acceptant of it? But homeless people have a different way of thinking than I do, so she probably sees Adrian’s profession as an advantage, not an inconvenience.
She nudges me with her elbow. “You really gonna give me your husband and money?”
“If you agree. All I want is my son.”
“Of course I agree. Who wouldn’t want to live like a queen?”
Footsteps echo behind the door and I whisper, “Listen, do you have something I can write on?”
She opens her coat and lifts her sweater, revealing her fair belly with stretch marks. “Do it here.”
I retrieve my super matte lipstick pencil from my bag and scribble on her stomach. “This is my email address and password. Tonight at eight, I’ll self-send a document that has all the information you need to learn about my husband and his organization. I’ll also include notes about my mannerisms and way of talking so you can mimic me. I’ll delete the email in three minutes, so make sure you download it immediately and print it out. I’ll give you money. Hide your face with your hoodie when you leave, and don’t come here again except to meet me in this bathroom next week at the same time if you still want to swap places.”
“Sure thing.” Her eyes gleam as she stares at my email and password on her stomach as if they’re sacred.
I drop my lipstick back in my bag. “See you then.”
“Wait.” She grins, showing surprisingly white teeth, but that’s probably because she hasn’t been homeless for long. “You said you’d give me money to print out the document. Can you include change for some alcohol?”
I give her all of the cash Adrian tells me to keep on me in case of emergencies. “Dye your hair the same color as mine and buy shampoo with a rose fragrance.”
“Got it!”
I straighten as I exit the bathroom with my heart hammering.