Total pages in book: 180
Estimated words: 176012 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 880(@200wpm)___ 704(@250wpm)___ 587(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 176012 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 880(@200wpm)___ 704(@250wpm)___ 587(@300wpm)
He sets her down, but no sooner does he let her go than Farrow grabs the waist of her jeans and yanks her back to him.
“Did you ask for his help?” he growls, his eyes on Noah, his mouth next to her ear.
She shakes her head slowly, and I frown, ready to intervene.
She’s Weston. Same as Farrow. I know they’re territorial about their people, but…
“You want him touching you?” Farrow asks her.
Another head shake.
Codi stands frozen, not even trying to get free, and although I spent several minutes in Farrow’s company today, wondering how he can be a criminal, it doesn’t seem like a stretch now. He changes faces quickly.
I reach over to grab her away from him, but in the same instant, he releases her. Following her over the wall, he disappears out of sight.
I realize I’m breathing in short, quick bursts, and I’m more grateful for my new place now. I’ll be keeping an eye on her. I don’t know if that was for Noah’s sake, or if Farrow purposely intimidates her on a regular basis, but I don’t like it.
Maybe Noah is exactly what she needs.
“She works for me.” I walk with him. “You should stop by.”
“I’d rather blow a pinecone than fuck with whatever that was.”
I let my mouth fall for a moment before I break into laughter. I guess with Farrow keeping a leash on every Weston citizen, it might be more trouble than Noah cares to invite. Understandable.
He gently nudges me in my stomach. “Hurry.”
Then he rolls over the wall, somersaulting into the next section.
I like him. He’s easy to be around. Easier than Lucas.
And so is Farrow. He’s flirtier than Noah, but I never dreaded dealing with him when we were together today. He never made me uncomfortable.
Except, of course, during the episode with Codi just now.
I need people around me who aren’t family. Not that I can’t count on every Trent and Caruthers, but for my own sense of autonomy, I need to not need them for everything.
Farrow will stay firmly in the friend zone. He’s not serious enough. I would never be certain if he really liked me, or if I was just a game.
Noah, though… I don’t know.
Maybe…
But…my heart never stops when he looks at me. Not like it does with…
I stop, clenching my teeth. Stop thinking about him! Why is he in every other thought? Damn.
“What do you mean ‘it’s locked?’” I hear Kade snap from somewhere.
I jerk my head toward his voice.
“Carnival Tower!” I hear Hawke grit out. “I just came from there, and it’s fucking closed up.”
I stop and veer to the makeshift window with netting separating me from the outside. I press myself to the wall next to it, hearing them out on the grass.
“I don’t understand,” Dylan says.
“What don’t you understand?” Hawke sounds out of breath. “I can’t get in. Quinn warned me about renovations she’s planning, so I went to clear out some essentials, and I was locked out!”
Carnival Tower. So that’s what they call it.
I fold my lips between my teeth to stifle my amusement.
“You tried the roof?” Hunter chimes in.
“Oh, yeah,” Hawke mocks. “Should’ve done that. Completely forgot.” Then, in a bark, “Yes, I tried the roof! I tried Rivertown too. The phones are in there, and I haven’t finished gathering the data from the one left at Quinn’s shop!”
I stand up straight. The phone left at my shop? I lock my jaw. Hawke took that phone from Lost and Found?
What the hell is going on? My lungs swell with pain. The fuck?
What other phones? What data? What the fuck are they doing?
“It’s Manas or Deacon,” Dylan speaks up next. “It has to be. One of them left her the phone, just like they’ve kept leaving us phones, so we know they’re around.”
“At least one of them,” Hunter adds.
Manas and Deacon… Are they dangerous?
“Why would they lock us out now, after years?” Aro questions.
“Because they’re using it now?” Hunter offers.
Someone else breathes out, “Fuck.”
Manas and Deacon. Two people they know who have been leaving them phones. For what? Phones like the one that was left at my shop? Old ones?
It’s not these two characters who locked them out of the tower, but someone did leave the phone at my shop. That man the other night. The one in the suit who stayed late and didn’t speak.
He left it for me to find. He has access to the hideout? My chin trembles.
“It’s time to tell her,” Kade says.
“Manas won’t hurt her.”
“And if it’s Deacon?” he retorts.
“It’s not a coincidence that they leave another phone and lock us out right after she returns home,” Hawke states.
My mind swims. Have these men been watching me?
Dylan whispers, “She looks like Winslet.”
My God. I don’t know what to think. It’s all coming too quickly.
“And she just asked me about the ’72 black Dodge,” Aro tells them.