Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 107204 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107204 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
As I rushed around the kitchen, my whole body tensed up at the sound of shattering glass in the main dining area, along with shouts of fear.
Darting through the door, I found Tatiana standing at the hostess stand, which was covered with shattered glass and a brick. My eyes fell on Tatiana who had blood dripping from her forearm.
“Are you all right?” I asked as a grabbed a napkin from under the stand. I wrapped it around her forearm after examining it for more shards of glass. My eyes glanced at the shattered front door before moving back to Tatiana.
She had tears in her eyes, alarmed by the situation. The happy-go-lucky version of her was shook to her core from panic.
“That brick almost hit me,” she stuttered. “If I was a little to my left—” tears began falling down her cheeks and she shook her head. “Sorry. I’m just a bit shaken up, that’s all.”
“Don’t apologize. Did you see who it was?”
“Just some kids on their bikes. They were wearing ski masks, though. I didn’t get a good view. It happened so fast and I, I…” her words fumbled away as the fear and intensity of the situation overwhelmed her.
I pulled her to my chest and held on as she fell apart.
“Is everything okay?” a man asked, walking over from his table. “I saw the jerks ride by with the brick. Wish I could’ve seen their faces, the little punks.” He and a few other guests went to help clean up the mess. I stopped them as my staff came out with brooms and dust pans. Tatiana was still stunned. I surveyed the room and all the guests seemed uneased from the situation. An employee picked up the brick and studied it before placing it on the hostess stand in front of me.
I looked at it and saw the words scribbled across it in red paint.
Go home, Chicago.
This was officially past boys being boys. This was much more than some apple pies and silly string. Tatiana was injured. She or others could’ve been seriously hurt. It had all gone too far now, and I knew exactly who I needed to talk to—even though I didn’t want to at all.
“Hey!” I exclaimed as I barged into the police station, straight to Cole’s desk. I slammed the brick onto his desk. “Do something about this.”
He arched a brow and surveyed the brick. “You’ve been finger-painting or something?”
“Some kid threw that brick through the front door of my restaurant tonight.”
A sinister smirk spread across his face. “It sounds like kids just being—”
“Stop the shit, Cole! Tatiana was injured. It could’ve been a lot worse, too.”
“What do you want me to do about it? I sent some of my guys down there.”
“I want you to start actually giving a fuck. These vandalizations have been happening for months now, and for some reason your department can’t seem to figure out who these kids in ski masks are. You need to do your job.”
He sat back in his chair and folded his hands together. “You want me to do my job?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“Fine,” he agreed, “as long as you leave Yara alone. You want to know whose doing this to your place? I’ll dig deeper once you leave my wife alone.”
“Ex-wife,” I corrected. “And what’s that? Blackmail? You think getting me to stop seeing her is going to what, magically make her want you back? Get real.”
“Real? You want to talk about real? Fine. Let’s chat. I did some digging on you, Alex,” he coldly stated. “I saw that you were abandoned by your parents. Shipped off to Madrid. Then your girlfriend left you, too. Are you seeing a trend?”
“Piss off,” I murmured, feeling my rage building. I knew what he was doing. He was trying to get under my skin. He was trying to shake me.
“You’re a rebound for Yara,” he said. “You’re not end game. You’re the passing fancy. Not the final stop.”
“It must kill you, huh? Seeing her with me. Seeing her happy and knowing you’ll never have that again.”
His mouth twitched as his face reddened. If he was going to get under my skin, I was going to return the favor. “Screw you, Ramírez.”
“Look, I didn’t come here to talk about her. I came to get some real help down at my restaurant. My employees and my customers don’t deserve that harassment. Especially with people getting injured.”
He pushed out a hard laugh. “I don’t care.”
“What?”
“I don’t care about your customers or employees. Did you really think I’d give a damn about the harassment, especially now?” Cole questioned. “Between you and me, I hope the thing burns down to the ground.”
I should’ve known I’d be wasting my time talking to him. He was such a maniac that trying to talk sense to him was too far-fetched. Without another word, I turned and started to leave.