Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 84871 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 424(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84871 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 424(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
Kaden stops me on my way out. “Hey, Dempsey?”
“Yeah, man, what’s up?”
He glances toward the break room and then back at me. “Want to come over tonight? We could order takeout and play games. Gemma could come too.”
Excuse to go to Sloane’s? I’ll take it.
“Sure thing. See you later.”
His grin helps soothe the irritation from dealing with Sloane’s dick of a boss. I give him a two-finger salute and head outside. Gemma is holding up her phone and I can see her lips moving. When our eyes lock, she gives me a warning look.
She’s making a video for her fans.
I take off in a sprint toward the car and yank on the handle, eager to embarrass her, but it’s locked. She starts talking faster, clearly trying to quickly wrap up. Finally, she drops her phone and hits the unlock button.
“Must you do that every time I’m recording?” she demands with a huff when I climb in. “It’s so annoying.”
“Hey,” I say with a devilish grin. “Which video has the most views again? Oh yeah, that’s right. The one where I photobombed you in the background. People went bananas over that shit. You even have that video pinned. I basically made you famous-er.”
“Not a word, Dempsey. Gah, you’re so obnoxious.”
“I’m right, though.” I crack up laughing, taking great joy in her misery. “Tonight we’ve got plans, so keep your calendar open.”
She groans. “You know, Dad thinks he’s punishing you, but I’m the only one being punished. We go wherever you want to go, whenever you want to go, and you always drive. It’s really not fair. You’re insufferable. Google it if you don’t know what it means. Your face will be the first image.”
“All I heard was, ‘wha, wha, whaaaaaa,’” I tease. “Kaden invited us over tonight to hang.”
She goes from being pissy to excited in a flash. “He did? Are you going to put the moves on Sloane? You saw that dork she was with Saturday night? Is that why you were being such a dick?”
I’m not about to go into all that drama again.
Unlike Sloane, Gemma can’t protect herself. The less she knows, the better.
“Sloane’s just a friend,” I lie. “A really fucking hot one.”
Gemma punches me hard in the arm. “Don’t be stupid. If you’re so in love with her like I think you are, don’t screw it up by acting like an asshole.”
“But I am an asshole.”
“I’m actually rooting for you even though you drive me crazy.” She smirks at me. “Maybe if you start fucking Sloane, our parents will be so pissed they’ll forget about being so overprotective over me. You can ride off into the sunset on your stupid motorcycle with Mom’s best friend. Then I can actually have a life of my own.”
As much as we’d both like those things to happen, I know they won’t.
Sloane’s morals will keep us apart.
And Dad’s fear of the unknown will keep Gemma forever locked in her cage.
Sucks to be the Park twins.
Sloane
This time when I walk back through the bullpen with Tanaka hot on my heels, everyone averts their gaze. No one wants to get their ass handed to them by the boss. After that bizarre moment in the break room, I feel I’m suddenly under Tanaka’s radar.
Montgomery smirks as I pass, probably thrilled by the drama of it all. He’s worse than a teenage girl with his nose in all the station gossip. At least Bishop has the courtesy to give me a sympathetic smile.
“My office, please,” Tanaka says from behind me. “This will only take a minute.”
Great.
Is he going to chew me out for hugging my friend while on the clock?
Or am I in trouble because my friend parked where his expensive Porsche was supposed to go?
Maybe it’s not about my friend at all. Maybe it’s something else entirely.
I’m annoyed because rather than getting to simmer in the information I learned from Dempsey, I’m about to get reamed. I can just feel it.
He shuts the door behind us and motions for me to sit in the chair across from his desk. Since the old chief left, Tanaka has decluttered and updated the new space. Expensive, modern wood furniture adorns the office—a far cry from the ’70s crap that was here before.
Did the department pay for this excessive upgrade?
His office walls are lined with his accolades from Seattle. When he ran out of those near his desk, he decorated the rest with colorful abstract art canvases that remind me of Dempsey.
“I see you’ve been busy lately,” Tanaka says when he takes a seat in his squeaky leather chair. He adjusts the knot of his sleek slate-colored tie and pins me with a probing stare. “I heard you’ve been digging around in some recently closed case files.”
A chill races down my spine at his words. His features are sharp and birdlike. He watches me as though he can see the thoughts skittering around in my head, ready to pounce on the one he wants when the time is right.