AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I hope you’re right.” I pick at the chocolate chip muffin in front of me. “So, tell me about everything going on in your life. I know that we didn’t talk much about it last time, but I’m here now.”
Anna eyes me suspiciously. “Do you really have nowhere to be? You’re not just going to run off after half the time you spend with me like you usually do?”
“I know I’ve been a shitty friend lately, but I’m working on changing that. Whatever you want to talk about, I’m here to listen. I don’t have to go anywhere, and work won’t be calling me today.”
Her whole face lights up as she leans towards me and talks about a movie she's seen and the books she's reading. For a moment, the thoughts in my head go quiet. I try to concentrate on Anna as much as possible because I know we both need that.
I can’t get through life without my best friend by my side. I’ll be damned if I lose her because I’m too busy wasting all my energy on Nik.
Nik will have to wait until I decide what to do with him.
***
A few hours and two coffees later, I’m sitting in my car staring at a red light. I tap my fingers on the steering wheel to the beat of the song. As I hum to myself, the cars in the lane next to me start moving.
Officer Carpenter’s patrol vehicle passes me slowly. He taps at something on the screen in the car as he inches forward in traffic.
I miss that.
I wouldn’t have to miss it if I had just told the truth, or if I wrote that damn statement.
Although it’s been a few days since I jumped out of his car, I still haven’t been able to bring myself to sit down for a moment and write the statement. I don’t know what to write.
I've only been with Nik for less than two days and he hasn’t given me much insight into his life or done anything to compromise me.
Other than giving me the best orgasm of my life.
I could tell them how I’d witnessed the murder of Joseph and how Dimitri killed another man. The police would be more than interested in that. It would be enough evidence to get Nik behind bars.
But the thing is, I don’t want him locked up.
Something in me changed when I was drawn into his life. That confident Hazel, who always shows up when I need her most, seemed to settle into me, even though he scares me.
The Hazel that’s not scared … wants Nik.
It doesn’t make any sense. He is the last person on earth I should be falling for.
Hell, I bet he doesn’t even care that I’m gone. Not beyond worrying about what I could do to him and the Bratva.
My knuckles ache from gripping the steering wheel too tight. The traffic light shifts from red to green, and I drive down the road to my house. My mind keeps spinning like a hamster wheel. The lyrics of the song fade into the background as I think about my next move.
I should just hand in my statement with the truth.
If I do that, he will kill me.
Get your shit together. He isn’t going to kill you.
The heat in his eyes when he looks at me gives me a glimmer of hope that he desires me as much as I desire him. As if he wants to give me everything and more.
Unless he was faking it the entire time, luring me in and taking what he needed.
Nik is the kind of man who is always in control. He will say and do whatever he needs to.
I would be a fool to forget that.
Trees and houses blur on either side of me as I speed up a little. I just want to get home and sink up to my nose in a bubble bath. The hot water might wash away the dirty feeling I get when I think about keeping Joseph’s death a secret.
I need to untangle all the threads of thought in my head and think about my next steps.
