Total pages in book: 28
Estimated words: 25723 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 129(@200wpm)___ 103(@250wpm)___ 86(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25723 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 129(@200wpm)___ 103(@250wpm)___ 86(@300wpm)
Simon shifts excitedly in his seat and puts his hand on my exposed thigh.
“Let’s get the check,” comes his raspy growl.
I pretend shock.
“So soon, Mr. Marzakian?”
Those green eyes flare again, like a snake hungry for a mouse.
“Yeah. Now, in fact. Bill it to my room,” he directs Matt, and then the oily man takes my hand. “Anything for you Marley,” he oozes, his breath hot and sour in my ear. Chills run down my spine, and they’re not the good kind.
But a girl has to do what she has to do, and I simper while sliding off my stool, making sure to flash him with my pretty pink again.
“Of course, Mr. Marzakian. I’m ready if you are.”
With that, he tucks my small hand into the crook of his arm and we begin the walk to the elevator banks. Inwardly, I’m trying not to shudder at his touch, but on the outside, I look like a woman in love. The problem is that I’m not in love with Simon; I’m in love with Justin, and I’ll do anything to get to the bottom of his disappearance.
10
Justin
What the hell? I wake up to the blackness of the back of my eyelids. I know I need to man up and assess my situation, but fuck, my head hurts so much. My whole body aches, in fact, and I just want to lie here with my eyes closed and pretend this shit scenario isn’t real.
But that’s no way to go about addressing life, and I force my eyes open a crack. My vision is blurry and I’m utterly appalled by what I see because it looks I’m in the foyer of a cheesy Caesar’s Palace hotel. Whoever owns these digs must have awful taste because everything is coated in gold. There are gold tabletops, gold chandeliers, and even a giant, gold-colored TV in one corner. I wouldn’t be surprised if their toilets are solid gold too.
But unfortunately, I’m also locked in a fucking golden cage. Who does this? Cages are for animals, but here I am, in an ornate man-sized cage with golden bars. In slow-mo, I crawl to the door of the cage and try to pry it open with all of my might, but it’s no use. Then, I try bending the bars, but nothing happens. What the hell is going on?
A man strolls into the room, whistling, and I recognize him from the apartment from my last job. He’s greasy and wearing a red Adidas track suit with a huge dollar sign medallion dangling down his chest. Classy.
“Hey man,” I rasp weakly. “Can I get some water?”
He jerks his head my way.
“You’re awake.”
“Yeah,” I rasp again. “Surprise, surprise. Water?”
But the man merely pulls a pack of smokes from his pocket and lights one up before responding.
“Nah,” he retorts cheerfully. “I’m not feeling it.”
I grab a hold of the bars of the cage and shake them violently like a savage animal. The man jerks in surprise but my demonstration of rage ultimately does nothing. He chortles as he watches, and then exhales smoke from his nostrils. Once I stop, he turns to me again.
“Seriously, you need to relax, man. You want a bump?”
I shoot him a snarled look.
“Come on,” he whines. “What’s your vice? I’ve got it all. You’re not getting out of that cage alive, so you might as well take advantage of my generosity and take the edge off while you’re in there.”
“What do you want?” I ask flatly. “Why am I here?”
“Hell if I know, but it seems the boss wants your life,” he chortles.
“My life? You don’t know me from Adam. Your boss doesn’t know me from Adam because I’m just a repo man! So what the hell? What’s up with this cage? What’s up with this apartment?”
The man merely shrugs while inhaling again.
“Who knows? The boss wants what he wants. He says you saw him do a deal a while back, and so you’re a witness. But as for this apartment?” he asks, gesturing around the space. “Boss lives in the penthouse of the hotel, and this is his style. I wouldn’t insult the decor if I were you because Mr. Marzakian would not take that well.”
I blink. Marzakian. Where do I know that name? But the man continues.
“Anyways, Mr. Marzakian will be back soon, so you’ll get to talk to him yourself. And then, after that? Well, I expect it’s bye-bye.”
I stare.
“Bye-bye? Really? Why do they have me in this cage then if all you’re going to do is kill me?”
This time, the man’s smile is sinister and I swear he gets a hard-on from his answer.
“Because Mr. Marzakian likes to torture his victims first, what do you think? Then, bye-bye!” he says while waggling his fingers at me. The thug strolls from the room as I sit on the floor of the cage, befuddled. My heart is racing as sweat breaks out on my brow. What the hell? I witnessed a crime of some sort? When?