Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 129571 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 648(@200wpm)___ 518(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129571 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 648(@200wpm)___ 518(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
He’d get rid of Jasmine before Benny got rid of me.
Can I save Jasmine from Dad? Yes. But he’s not the problem right now. It’s Benny, then I’ll deal with Dad, the cops, and everyone else.
The phone rang some more, and then finally stopped. I scanned the bathroom and blew out a long breath.
Where are you, Jasmine? Why won’t you answer the damn phone? Why did I leave you there to clean up my mess? What was I thinking?
I was nothing but shivering nerves bottled up within rage and fear.
I can’t lose her.
The ambience didn’t help either. The wall on my left was a long sheet of thick glass with vines of Jasmine etched along the border. Any other night, it showed a breathtaking view of Oshane City. The area boasted two things: the highest amount of wealthy residents in an American city on the East Coast, and the most amazing views.
Our condo sat up in the lush hills above the city. Luxury buildings sparkled. The hills rolled with a majestic grace. Birds wintered there, letting the warm breeze ruffle their feathers. They sang in the morning, flew near the window in the afternoon, their feathers almost golden in the sun. At night, they lay in their nests, making love and inspiring me to hold Jasmine within the hot water of our bathtub.
We spent a lot of time in there, enjoying each other’s scents and the smoothness of our wet flesh against each other.
Tonight, the view hurt. The dream of a happy home shifted into a nightmare with Benny at the center, dressed in a black robe and wielding a curved knife.
Lucy in the sky with diamonds? Her life was a joke? You sick fuck. I’m going to end this, before you hurt Jasmine.
Dim light blanketed the whole space. Shadows touched the dark brown granite countertops and sky blue tiles accenting the walls. Her brown and my blue. It had been a merging of mine and Jasmine’s favorite colors. A place for both of us to enjoy.
But, she wasn’t here. Jasmine was handling Benny’s disgusting show, and in shock, I’d walked off like a zombie and let her.
What have I done to us? Why can’t I just be happy with her?
My bathroom was supposed to be a palace. No king could’ve done better without foolishly wasting his money. My bathtub was a work of art. I’d put a lot of money into our new home.
I’d known men to spend millions on some of the most trivial things. Before my father’s best friend died from a drug overdose that was quieted up, he’d bought a roll of toilet tissue. It was 22 karat gold paper and had cost him 1.3 million dollars. Instead of giving the money to charity, he wiped his ass with gilded paper, and then flushed it all down the toilet.
My father, himself, had a Baldi Rock Crystal bathtub that sold close to eight hundred thousand dollars. The tub was carved from one massive rock found in the Amazon forest. It was over eight feet in diameter. Ancient Chinese medicine used the crystal for its healing powers. I had no idea if it really worked. During my teen years, I’d spent many times with giggling girls in that tub, and nothing got healed but my length as it went in and out of their mouths.
No.
My bathroom served as a place to get away from it all. It wasn’t for flash or to big-up another rich guy who would never be in my space in the first place. The room was for Jasmine and me, to capture our moans and laughter, somewhere to build memories.
And now, not even the tub was doing its job. Shaped like a giant’s soup bowl, it glowed sky blue. A 36 inch LCD flat screen and four speakers were in the front. I could change the channels through voice commands.
Tonight, I couldn’t even focus on the futbol game. My assistant recorded it. Granted, I didn’t like Germany or Brazil. I was just excited to watch one of the teams cry as their hope for getting another World Cup Title disappeared. But that didn’t matter anymore.
The TV’s images blurred as tears filled my eyes.
I wiped my face. “Shut down.”
The screen went blank.
Every time I blinked, Lucy’s dead body dangled in front of me.
Don’t think about it. Focus on the present moment.
I inhaled and exhaled in a calming rhythm, the whole time scanning my bathroom and taking it all in. Since Italy, I’d been seeing a psychiatrist, to work with the trauma of those last months. Men could go crazy over lesser things.
I wouldn’t chain Jasmine to me, while I was a mess. But she would be trapped. That was for sure. So I did the responsible thing, and sought help. If I wouldn’t let her go, then I’d have to be my best.