AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Sorry,” he grumbled, and even though my marriage wasn’t real, the pleasure of seeing this fucker backing out of sending me to Alaska was very genuine. “How was it?” Emmett asked dispassionately. I could tell it had cost him a mental arm and a leg to call me.
“Great.” I got to our—Duffy’s—floor and stopped by her door. I didn’t want to have my attention on anything or anyone else while I faced her. “How’s life at the fishbowl?”
“Stop calling my office a fishbowl.”
“It’s not just your office.” I yawned. “It’sanyoffice.”
“I like my fishbowl,” he maintained.
“I like my freedom,” I retorted.
He laughed. “Well, you just signed it over when you got hitched.”
“Funny,” I said dryly. “Is that why you called? To congratulate me?” I found it hard to believe.
“Actually, I called to tell you I’m still not buying your marriage, and I’ll be keeping a close eye on you. I hate to be lied to.” There was a pause. “Also, you’ll be glad to know that now that Alaska is off the table, I have a new,localassignment for you.”
“Hit me with it.”
“Abandoned prisons.”
“How many are there in the state of New York?”
“Two,” he answered. “One more in New Jersey, and one up in Connecticut.”
I tried to ignore the claustrophobia tightening around my neck. I was going to stay in New York for a while.
I cleared my throat. “Sounds good.”
“I’ll email you the details tonight,” Emmett chirped.
“You do that.”
“Oh, and Riggs? We still want to meet this wife of yours.” Then he added to clarify, “The entireDiscoveryfamily.”
I smiled big, so he could hear it. “She would love to see you too. Just give us a time and a place.”
After we finally hung up, I shoved my key into its hole. I was about to turn it when a voice stopped me.
“Hey, Riggs.”
Dammit.The one time I wanted to speak to my wife, the entire world and its uncle decided to talk to me.
The one time? Really? What about the time you sneaked in on her after she ignored you after that almost-kiss? You tiptoed your way upstairs so she wouldn’t hear you come.
It was the first and only time I’d actually contemplated fucking someone else for the entire duration of our engagement, and pathetically, I couldn’t even do that. I ended up falling asleep on that chick’s couch, then did the walk of shame back to the train station the next day, only to get giddy about finding Duffy tasty-lookingwaffles.
I turned around, smiling tightly at Charlie, who exited his apartment in a Hawaiian shirt and Bermuda pants. He looked like he hadn’t slept since 1995. Wrinkled and worn out.
“Charles, my man.”
He advanced my way before stopping a couple feet away from me, shitting all over my personal space.
“Where’ve you been?”
“Uh.” I looked around, ruffling my hair. “Just here and there. Places.”
“You look a little drunk.”
