Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 106312 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 532(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106312 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 532(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
“Remind me why you guys aren’t following your boss again?”
“Because he’s not talking to us,” Hawke replies sulkily. They still haven’t told me what happened, but I’m confident it has something to do with the night Eli vanished and came back with the busted lip. And I haven’t seen Dutton since before then, either.
“There you guys are!” Billie yells from the front door. She ignores Sage, who goes to greet them and walks over to us. Behind her are two other women. One is Hope Ivanov, who I officially met at the engagement party, though I knew who she was before that. The other woman I’m not familiar with. She has short blonde hair, blue eyes, and a curvaceous figure.
Hawke looks away as he asks, “Why are you here?”
“Because we haven’t gamed in so long, and you’re avoiding me!” she exclaims. “Hey, Jewels!” She beams as she pulls me in for a hug. “Oh, you know Hope.” She awkwardly waves at her. “And this is Ivy.” She points to the blonde-haired woman who looks to be the same age as the others. “Have you met Will and Alina Walker yet? She’s their daughter.”
“And a pain in the ass,” Hawke says under his breath.
My eyebrows shoot up. Will Walker’s daughter? I give her a quick once over. I knew the infamous tracker had a daughter, but I didn’t know what she looked like or where to find her. Apparently, Will is not only good at finding people but at hiding them too.
“It’s lovely to meet you. I’ve heard so much about you. Apologies. I was in Puerto Rico with my family during your engagement party. Congratulations.”
“Such formal language doesn’t sound right coming from your lips,” Ford says as he turns to the next page.
“Ha. Ha,” she snarks as they cram themselves into the booth.
“What are you doing? No one invited you,” Hawke says as he’s squished against his brother. I inwardly roll my eyes. How did I end up with the majority of the group here?
“Why aren’t Dutton and Eli speaking? Dutton’s been sulking all week,” Billie presses, and Hawke sighs.
He goes to speak but is dissuaded by Ford, who glares at him over his book. “I don’t know. We’re just making sure little miss makes it down the aisle.”
Billie laughs. “I almost feel sorry for you, Jewel. I’ve never seen Eli so possessive.”
I offer an awkward smile. Because the casual way they speak to me is starting to feel too friendly. Too fun. Like I’m part of their world. They don’t know me, and yet they’ve already started hanging out at my place of work. It’s showing me a world and existence that I’ve never known was possible for me. And it’s not right because I don’t belong here. I only have a few more days to deliberate over my decision, but the closer the deadline comes, the more I wonder how I could kill Eli, knowing it would impact all of them.
“Jewels, are you okay?” Ford asks me quietly. The rest stop squabbling between themselves and look at me then. What kind of face was I showing just now?
“Yeah. I’ll just go grab some more menus for you,” I say with a tight smile before I turn and walk straight to the bathroom as an insufferable amount of emotion crashes over me. I feel like I’m going to have a heart attack.
I close the bathroom stall and sit on the closed toilet lid. I don’t get anxiety. Well, I’ve never had anxiety before, but right now, I have a disastrous number of feelings that I don’t want to address. That I can’t address because admitting them is going to break me.
One man is breaking me from the inside out, and I don’t know what I should do.
Three days, and then I have to offer his head to my client.
And I’m supposed to marry him in ten days.
Tonight, I’ll lie in bed with him again.
What the fuck am I doing?
I can’t breathe.
I fish out my phone, which is almost dead, and call Craig. He answers on the second ring. “Tell me what to do,” I demand, shocked by the desperation in my voice and how quietly I’m whispering into the phone, paranoid that anyone could hear.
“What’s happened?” Craig asks, and I can tell he’s on his feet already.
My bottom lip wobbles, and suddenly, I’m on the verge of tears.
What?
I try to keep my tone neutral as I consider my next words. “I don’t think I can complete the hit.”
My voice is shaky, and I hate how it sounds. It’s the first time I’ve said it out loud. I detest the tear that slides down my cheek as I realize with utter clarity the force of what I feel for Eli Monti, which is exactly why I have to leave New York.