AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I check the time as I turn onto my square and slow down as I take in the quiet. I’ve been watching No.19 for weeks; however, the last couple of days, I haven’t taken my eyes off it with the exception of the closing show last night where I had one of the surveillance guys do it for me and today where I tried to see Lucy and then ended up having to meet Simone. Still, there’s nothing. No one goes in, and no one comes out. Yet, there are people in there because you can see the shadows move behind the curtains.
We need to get inside and scout the place for ourselves. We’re going on presumptions, and they have a way of getting people killed. It’s time we actually did something. Watching isn’t getting us anywhere, and given they’re watching us too…better to strike first than to retaliate at a disadvantage.
Oh great, I’m tempted to put my foot down on the gas and drive away as I spot Christopher’s Lexus parked outside mine along with Leo’s Maserati. The two of them are standing outside my door, puffing on their smokes while I park up.
“Where the fuck did you go?” Christopher asks when I make it up the porch steps and open my door.
“Out.”
“How did it go with Lucy? Anything new?” Leo follows us straight into the kitchen, going to the freezer to grab the bottle of vodka and chilled glasses.
“Nothing,” I tell them, running the tap to get myself a glass of water before I drink any more. “She refused to see me.”
The cat picks a really bad time to come find me. Leaping up onto the side, Chips starts rubbing itself on me, purring for the attention he misses from Georgina.
“Why’s he still here?” Christopher looks at me, genuinely quizzical, cocking his brow as though the cat being here is some big to-do.
“Because he won’t let anyone else take him back to George’s place,” Leo chuckles as if he’s proving a point, and I’ve never wanted to break his nose as much as I want to right now.
“Georgina. She’s a fucking girl. It’s her fucking name. Georgina,” I snap, snatching the clouded Belvedere bottle from Leo’s hand and pouring each of us a measure since he’s too busy procrastinating on the one task he took upon himself.
Before I put the bottle back, I swallow back the cold liquid, savouring the way it freezes my brain for the shortest moment. It allows me to focus on something other than my relentless thoughts as it burns down my throat, and I pour myself another.
“Right,” Christopher sighs before he looks over at Leo and asks, “So, where’s Casper? You were meant to make sure he came.”
“He’s pissed.” Leo shakes his head down at the floor while swirling his vodka around the glass in his hand.
“This bullshit is done, you understand?” Christopher levels with a glower. “The situation with you, Georgina, and Lucy is getting in the way.”
“Wait…like your shit with Arabella got in the way, and still, we all had your back,” I bite back before downing half of my drink. He can give me all the death stares he wants, but he knows it’s the truth. “What?”
“Can you give us a moment?” Christopher asks Leo, nodding to the kitchen doorway.
“Sure.”
“Call Casper and make sure he gets here.”
It’s not until Leo’s walked out that Christopher grabs his drink from the side and sits himself at the kitchen table. He doesn’t say a word for a long while, or at least it feels like a long while from the way he’s looking around the four walls. Taking a sip of his drink, he draws in a deep breath before he pulls his phone out and makes a call.
“Cariño.” Arabella’s voice fills the room.
“I’m going to be later than I thought.”
“Is everything okay?”
Christopher looks at me before he answers with a barely there smile. “It will be, baby.”
“Please be careful, Christopher,” she breathes down the line, and it’s impossible not to hear the tears in her voice. There’s a split second where the pitch and the waver sound exactly like Georgina, and my chest blazes with the need to make it stop. “I know you have a job to do, but let someone else take the hits. Please.”
“We’ve got it covered.”
“Promise me you’re not putting yourself at risk.”
“Belles…” he sighs, taking a moment to before he says, “I promise I’m not taking unnecessary risks.”
“That’s not what I said.”
With a small smile, he peers back down at his phone as he states, “It’s what I can give you without lies. Stay at my parents’, okay? I’ll pick you up when I’m done.”
