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I don’t know what I was thinking when I agreed to this. All I’d done was replace one bad habit with another, and he was the worst of the two. Alcohol could be bad for you, but Rhett Sullivan was a different type of poison. And I’d already over-indulged.
He came in for a kiss and I moved to reciprocate, demanding more despite my brain protesting. His hands cupped my face, stroking my cheeks.
He pulled away from me with an unreadable expression on his face.” I’ll see you in a few.”
I remained in the bathtub until after I heard the front door slam, and he pulled out of the driveway. Knowing Annika and Emery would be here soon was what motivated me to get the hell out of the tub. I got dressed in a simple sundress adding the basics, deoderant, lotion, and lipgloss before brushing out my hair.
I grabbed my laptop bag before going downstairs. Setting up at the dining room table. I checked the few accounts that were still active, frowning when I noticed one was marginally smaller. It was time to make the call I’d been avoiding, but I knew once I did this there would be a dramatic shift in my day to day.
When the girls came through the front door I pushed the screen down, wanting to keep this private.
“Nova?”
“I’m in here,” I called.”
“I was starting to think Rhett chopped you into pieces and pulled a Ted Bundy along with Callum.”
“Nika,” Emery reprimanded.
I refrained from rolling my eyes. “Right, Rhett and Callum run around killing people in their spare time.” I scrubbed my hands over my face. How could I have forgotten how much patience it took to deal with her? “Did you decide to come here just so you could tear them down?”
“No, I came here because I missed my best-friends, and I would never tear him down. He seems like a great guy, but you’ve never been able to see what’s right in front of you Nova.”
Emery’s gaze darted between the two of us.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
She blew out an exaggerated breath and shook her head.
“Nothing. I didn’t come here to rain on anyone’s parade. I just want you to look into them for your own safety, and mine.”
“What do you mean and yours? Did one of them say something to you?” Emery questioned.
She scoffed out a no, but after being friends with her for so long I knew how to tell when she was lying and now was definitely one of those times.
Annika could come off strong and piss me off like no other person on this planet, but her heart was always in the right place even if the delivery was shit. Something had happened, or she knew details that she was afraid to share and for Annika to not speak her mind…my gut twisted at what that meant.
“Hey, I’ll be right back. Need to use the bathroom.”
I flashed them a smile and hurried through the dining room, going into the bathroom that sat right off the first level.
I tried so hard to see things from an outsiders perspective. My brain was ready to rip itself in two the more I thought about things going on around me.
Double-checking the bathroom door was locked, I thumbed the matte black business card and finally dialed the contact number scrawled in white font. I’d wanted to go the more personal route but my text were being ignored all of a sudden so this was my next best option.
The line rang one…twice… “Legacy Realty,” a brisk voice came over the line.
“Hi, may I please speak with, Lance Parker?”
There was an elongated pause on the other end.
“May I ask who I’m speaking with?”
“Um, Nova…Morkav.”
A second pause, this one shorter. I heard the ruffling of papers and then the voice was back. “I’m sorry miss Morkav, Lance has passed away, but the file you needed is waiting at our front office.”
“He passed away?” I swallowed, trying to push down the sinking feeling in my chest.
“He was involved in another of the home invasions.”
“Okay, thank you.” Disconnecting the call, I leaned against the wall trying to process that Lance was dead. He was the one who helped my father, his own schemey business model was running through the real estate company.
I left the bathroom feeling at a total loss, like the universe was working against me. Realistically it was my actions catching up to me, but I didn’t want to take credit for everything that was happening. Even when it was all my fault.
That rabbit-hole that I’d been free falling down all this time suddenly had a deadly rock bottom, and I was close to hitting it.
I poured myself another drink, staring across the room at my father’s urn. I took a healthy sip, but the numbing effect had lost its allure, I’d found another fix to keep me grounded. Exchanging one bad habit for another, and this one wasn’t replying to any of my text.
