Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 94686 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94686 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
He raised his hands in defeat. “Hey, man. I’m trying to tell you to let this play out.”
“What?” I asked as Dawn escaped up the stairs.
“You got cameras everywhere?” Troy asked.
“Everywhere except the bathrooms.”
Troy furrowed his brows. “Do you think they know?”
“Maybe Dawn and Wendy. Lucy doesn’t pay attention to things like that. She’s more on the business end of things. I keep her busy.”
“Or at least she pretends to not pay attention.”
“That could be true.”
“Is there a place to view their rooms?” Troy looked at his watch. “Maybe we can rewind the past minutes when Wendy and Lucy were in their rooms. See what they said and what Dawn asks them.”
“I don’t believe she gave anyone the gun.”
“It makes sense to me.” Troy shrugged.
“Why?”
“Dawn isn’t a killer.”
I waited for the evidence to his statement. He gave none. Sighing, I led him to the viewing room downstairs in the basement. “Would you like to elaborate for me?”
“I don’t see it in Dawn’s eyes. She’s probably a bitch, but she’s no killer.”
Doesn’t see it in her eyes? What is he some sort of sprite or wizard?
“Did you see it in the others’ eyes?” I asked.
“Not yet. In order for me to really see it, the other two need to let their guard down. You get them to do it pretty easily. Dawn’s walls came down as soon as you started yelling. She was scared and not only of you, but someone else. I bet you she’s going to the chick right now to ask what’s up with the gun.”
“She’s full of it. Dawn wouldn’t give that gun to anybody she didn’t trust.”
“Who does she trust?”
“Me.”
“Who else?”
“Up until now, I would’ve said only me.”
“What about three years ago?”
“Three years? I don’t know. I think that was when Lucy joined our arrangement.”
“So Wendy came before Lucy?”
“Yeah. She was with Dawn and me for five years. Lucy had been my personal assistant already and knew all the intricate details. It must’ve taken her several months to ask if she could join us on her terms.”
“You mean the whole watching-you-all-have-sex terms?”
I unlocked the basement door and signaled for him to go down the dimly lit stairs where several guards monitored all of the screens. “Yeah. Lucy said no sex, but that she would love to watch. Dawn liked the fact that I wouldn’t be touching Lucy so happily invited her to our arrangement.”
“How did you feel about it?” Taking his time going down the stairs, Troy gazed back at me.
“It wasn’t a big deal to me. The addition of Lucy was more like inviting a good friend to a party or long vacation. I knew she could be trusted, but there wasn’t this tingling in my heart or anywhere else in my body.”
“Tingling?”
“I wasn’t heart-struck or horny to add her.”
“Okay.” Troy nodded.
And I was glad we stayed off the topic, because if he’d asked how my body reacted to Jasmine’s invitation, I would’ve had to admit so much more.
“So three years ago, Dawn says she gave a gun to one of them as a sign of commitment. You think she was telling Lucy that her secret about what happened on the beach was safe?” Troy asked.
“No. There would be no need. So many years had passed. Lucy’s father had been long gone. A new bigwig took his place. Others forgot about him, because he wasn’t much to remember.”
“But it doesn’t add up. Three years ago, Dawn gave a gun for a sign of commitment and Lucy enters your arrangement around the same time.”
“Well, this is according to Dawn. I don’t trust her at all.”
“But she used to be your lady.”
“Didn’t you mess with a few females that you didn’t trust?”
“All the time, but I never wifed them.”
“Wifed?”
“Made the chick your number one.” He laughed. “You know what I’m saying, man? Having her all up in the house with her own account and car and shit. Even if I had the money, I wouldn’t have gave it to a girl I couldn’t trust.”
“Well, then you’re smarter than me in that aspect. In my world, females of any age come with a price tag. You check the goods out, explore the possibilities, and then take them up to the register to finish the deal.”
“Is that right?” Troy rounded the corner and disappeared from view.
“Pretty much.”
“And what if they aren’t worth the value you gave them?”
“I let go.”
“That easy, huh?”
“Yeah.”
“How much is my sister worth to you?” Troy’s voice sounded off in the black of the space, but I couldn’t get a hold on whether he was still in front of me or not. The staircase’s light went out. Before I could place my foot on the last step, darkness hit me. I wagged my hands out. “Troy?”
He slammed me into the wall. I lashed out. He blocked it and punched me in the face. What the fuck?! My nose swelled. Hot liquid dripped from my nostrils. It had to be blood. I couldn’t see. Troy’s huge arms plastered me to the wall. Grunting, I kneed him. He wouldn’t let go. He wrapped those big fingers around my neck and squeezed. All oxygen left. Just pressure so hard I swore I would explode.