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)
“I’m not stupid. I’m sure someone’s trying to listen to us now.”
“Then, let’s just wait to have this conversation later. For now, let’s eat a whole lot of food.”
“How can you even eat?”
“How can you not?” I left her in the room and followed the succulent fragrance of simmering meat.
Chapter 11
Chase
I took the elevator since I was going to four and that was an even number.
Why wouldn’t the owner fix the other elevator that went to the odd floors? Who the hell is in charge of maintenance around here? Well, I guess I am now, since I own the place. Maybe Jasmine will think of what we can do to this area?
The whole elevator ride down her name echoed in my head. The tiny box lowered. Metal scraped against metal and shrieked all around me. For some reason, going down sounded way worse than going up. I planted my hands on one of the walls as if that could save me, if the elevator lost its hold and crashed down to the ground.
You see what I would do for you, tesoro? I’d ride a death trap, if it meant getting information that could help me back to you.
I played back the images of when I tasted her, and sucked on my own tongue like a dying, thirsty man would after crawling out of a desert to search for water. Her face caused an ached in my chest. I groaned in the pit of my liquored stomach. I despised Benny, but I always took comfort in the fact that he would never hurt her. That he’d protect my treasure with his life. If Troy was right about Jasmine possibly not being his daughter, would he still keep her alive? That information could never get out, not until I had her safe in my arms.
The doors slid open with a screech. I went to the stairwell, opened the door, and paused at the scene. My guard held a gun in the air and targeted a huge man in front of him.
Who is he? And why does he look familiar?
The handcuffed guy had to have been 6’7” or maybe even more. He towered over me, and I’d never been used to that. Usually I was the one that looked down on others. He had dark brown skin and a bald head. Muscles hung on every part of his body. I doubt he missed a day in the gym. In fact, I doubt he went more than three hours at a time of not working out in some way. Light, fleshy scars decorated his neck and around his forehead as if he’d been in several knife fights, and didn’t always win.
“You wanted to talk to me?” I let the door slam behind me and wished I had my own gun. I could picture a giant beast getting a good look at this guy and running off back into the wilderness, screeching. “Who are you?”
The man’s words came out in thick and dark, like someone had stabbed him in the throat and fractured his voice box. “What did you tell Ms. Montgomery? You tell her that you come down here to see me?”
“No. I left on my own. She doesn’t know that I’m here.”
My guard stirred on my left, probably not happy that I gave this stranger so much information. Love made a man do stupid things. For Jasmine, I’d be the dumbest of them all. An imbecile, if necessary.
The huge man pointed to my security. “I need you to make sure this guy doesn’t call the cops on me.”
“Why would I do that?”
“Because you got me out of prison, and I would like to stay out.”
“I got you out?”
“Yeah.” He extended a large, muscular arm and stretched out his fingers as if inviting me to shake his hand.
My guard came closer, his gun remained steady. “Put your hand down.”
The man raised both in the air. “I’m Sherman Montgomery. I don’t have any beef with you.”
I studied his face and didn’t see much of a similarity to Jasmine.
Maybe Troy. I can sort of see it in the eyes.
“If you’re her brother, prove it.”
“Who else would say they were me? No one even knows I’m out besides my kids, and they understand that it’s a secret.”
“You have some ID?”
“No, I have some information. I told Benny where we were, and I gave him the keys to the apartment, when he showed up a couple of days ago. He told me that he only wanted to ask Lucy something. I told him fuck you at first, but then other elements stepped in, and I had to do what I had to do.” He spat the next words at me. “That’s better than an ID, isn’t that right, Mr. Chase Stone?”
My temper burned to a scary level. I walked up to him and my guard closed in right between us, pointing the tip at Sherman’s face the whole time.