Series: Penny Dee
Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 97669 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 488(@200wpm)___ 391(@250wpm)___ 326(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97669 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 488(@200wpm)___ 391(@250wpm)___ 326(@300wpm)
“But you and I,” I say quietly, meeting her eyes, “we need space. A lot of it. For a while.”
“What if I need you?” she asks quietly.
“You won’t. You’ll have Ben,” I say, standing and putting some money on the table to cover our food. She watches me do so without a word or even bothering to fight for me. Smiling down at her, I turn and walk out. Not even looking back as I get in the car and head home.
My chest aches. I just walked away from the one person I’ve ever truly loved. Not that I don’t think I’ll ever see her again. I will. I know that without a doubt.
But I have enough of my own shit to deal with, and it’s okay to prioritize myself.
28
SILAS
“Tell me about her,” my sister says, sitting opposite me.
“Nothing to tell,” I answer, because this isn’t the first time she’s asked me. In fact, the questions are occurring more often.
“I know when you are lying, so tell me. Come on…” she groans.
“It’s desperate times if you’re trying to suddenly live through me, sister,” I say as I look up at her from my paperwork. It’s my niece’s usual time for a nap.
Gia scoffs and crosses her arms over her chest. “Please, I’m not living through you. I’m curious because for once you look like you have a beating heart instead of going through the motions to keep the business together.” I go to speak, but she puts up her hand. “I know, you do it to protect and provide for us, and I’m grateful for that. Always will be. But you’ve been different lately. This could be good for you.”
Good for me? It doesn’t matter what is good for me. It’s an obsession I can’t shake. The more Leonore shoots me down, the more she sucks me in.
But I know my sister better than that. If I don’t give her anything, she’ll become even more nosy, and the last thing I need is my sister involving herself. “It’s nothing. We’ve been together less than a handful of times. She doesn’t want anything serious, and I never do, so it works.” I reach for the bread roll on the table and break it apart. Her elbows are on the table as she watches me, holding her tea.
“I don’t believe you.” She leans back with that defiant expression in her gaze that irritated me both as a kid and even now, because she’s determined and can be relentless.
“Okay, if we’re sharing. Who have you been fucking; care to enlighten me?”
“No one. If I were seeing someone, I would tell you,” she says sweetly.
“No, you wouldn’t. You hide your relationships from me,” I remind her.
“That’s because you always find them and threaten to kill them,” she says with an eye roll. I don’t say another word because I did that with her ex, and it wasn’t me who killed him. The heavy weight settles between us, but I catch her as she smiles. Although I don’t think she’s been with anyone else since, I can see that over time she’s started to smile at memories and the mention of her departed husband, opposed to the stricken grief that immediately crossed her features.
I look at the time on my phone and know it’s time to leave. That’s when I hear Lotti greet Valen as he enters. Punctual as ever. But before I leave, my sister is quick to say, “All I am saying is, I hope she is right for you. And is in it for the right reasons. A lot of women try to get close to you just because of who you are. I hope she isn’t like that. And if you’re serious about this one, you should wine and dine her instead of fucking her. You can’t have a relationship with just sex.”
I look at her, confused. That’s the only type of relationship I know, and the thought of “wine and dine” feels more foreign than any random job I’ve taken on.
I lean over and kiss her cheek before leaving. Leonore is the complete opposite to what she imagines. I’m pretty sure she hates the fact of who I am. But my sister is right. People are drawn to me because of my power, just like the fool I’m about to meet.
Although I prepare for the worst, I suspect that tonight will go according to my plan.
We meet at the same abandoned warehouse where we found my uncle’s body. I’m practically eye rolling as we arrive, since the man doesn’t have any original ideas himself. Waiting outside in the dead of night, only with two guards, stands Michalis Nero.
I’m sure he thought he was clever having his voice altered when he called, but I knew who he was all along because I planted the seed the moment he involved himself in my meeting with Elias when he returned my uncle’s body.