Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 76693 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76693 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Dad watches me with narrowed eyes but doesn’t speak to me.
Finally, the doorbell rings.
“I’ll get it!” I shout, bolting for the door.
I’m grinning from ear to ear when I fling it open, ready to leap into Two’s arms. Except, it’s not Two. It’s a man.
One of Dad’s friends.
Chief of police and Sloane’s boss, Hiroshi Tanaka.
The strange bird-like man bores his stare into me. Normally, I might blow off such an intense look, but something about him unnerves me.
“Hello, Gemma.”
His icy cold tone makes me shiver. He waits patiently, like a friggin’ vampire, for me to welcome him inside. I’m tempted to close the door in his face.
“Hiroshi,” Dad greets from behind me. “So happy you could join us today.”
Dad clutches my shoulder and gently moves me aside so he can usher in Tanaka. Their newly formed friendship wasn’t all that surprising. Dad aligns himself with anyone and everyone of importance. Having the chief of police in your back pocket is a flex my dad no doubt wanted to have.
I want to ask Dad why this man is here, but I bite my tongue. When I catch Sloane’s stare on me, she gives me a comforting smile. She’s obviously trying to assure me that it’s okay. Nothing to worry about.
So why do I feel edgy now that this man is here?
I could just be paranoid.
Before I can read too much into it, Two’s hunk of junk roars down our road. He skids to a stop right in front of our house. Since the driveway is full, he leaves his vehicle where it stopped, blocking our road from anyone coming or going.
As soon as he steps out of the vehicle, I run out of the house toward him. He’s waiting for me and catches me when I launch myself at him. Our mouths meet for a starved kiss, each of us mauling the other with desperation.
Yeah, we’re good.
Really good.
We pull apart to grin goofily at each other. He can be cantankerous and strange and obtuse, but he’s also cute, sweet, and funny. I love being with him. It truly is the highlight of my day when I get to see him.
I finally pull away from him and reach for his hand. “Ready for the firing squad?”
He snorts. “Yup.”
Then he pulls my hand closer to his face to inspect my nails. “I like these. It looks like real gold flecks on the matte black.”
I preen at his compliment. “I did them last night after you left.”
“What is that stuff?”
“It’s this really fine gold foil that sort of disintegrates when you handle it, giving it a gold fleck effect. Cool, huh?”
“Very.”
He kisses the back of my hand before letting our hands drop between us, though still conjoined. I lead him into my house where my family’s chatter dies down to meet the newcomer.
“Two?” Tate exclaims in shock. “Holy crap!”
Tate rushes over to us and hugs Two. “This is the girl who ran you over with her car?”
I gape at Two. “You told him that?”
Two shrugs and smirks. “Yes, because you did.”
“I hit you. I didn’t run you over.”
“Wow,” Tate says breathily, eyes wide with awe. “I have so many questions. So many. We’re going to talk about this tomorrow in our session.” He motions for the table. “Come eat with us.”
I introduce Two to everyone as my boyfriend. Some of the family doesn’t know the whole drama about the canceled adoption and Mom knowing his dads, but it doesn’t feel like the right time to fill them in. Especially not with Hiroshi Tanaka watching us with cool interest.
When we’re finally seated to eat, Sloane leans into me and says, “Tanaka’s here to meet with your dad about the stalker. See if he can offer his help. He’s good people.”
Is he, though?
The man continues to study me and Two.
“Yeah, sure,” I mumble.
I glance past Sloane to see Dempsey frowning hard. He’s never been Tanaka’s biggest fan. He must be feeling my uneasy vibes through our twin bond because he’s watching Tanaka like he might be about to do something stupid.
Like kidnap me?
The thought of going anywhere with Tanaka makes me shudder. Why isn’t his wife along for the visit? Why doesn’t he talk much? Why does he keep looking at us?
Finally, Tanaka tears his gaze away from mine to look down at his phone. He pecks away on it with one long, bony finger before he puts it away.
Seconds later, my phone buzzes in my pocket.
I freeze, terror clawing its way up my throat. It’s him. Tanaka is my stalker. Swallowing down bile, I fish my phone out of my pocket and read my message.
Except it’s not a message.
It’s a calendar reminder to turn in an interest form for a school workshop.
Not Tanaka. Just a reminder.
Ugh.
Fear is my new normal and I hate it.
Two
“What if it’s Mr. Pederson?” Gemma whispers, eyeing the papers he gave to the two of us when we came into class this morning. “He seems weirdly fixated on us as a pair.”