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TWENTY-THREE
Amethyst
He wasright about the house.
Whoever he had gotten to clean it had done a superlative job.
The place looked pristine, and nothing looked strange or out of place, not even the empty space where the curio cabinet had been.
If anyone were to come in, they wouldn’t know anything had happened.
But I knew.
I looked at the carpet and saw the place where he had lunged at me, could feel his hands on me.
Could easily conjure the panic of knowing that soon—very soon, if he had his way—I was going to be dead.
But there was no time to think about that now.
After all, I had a routine to keep.
Remembering that kept the panic from taking hold, and I did as Davit had instructed and went through my morning routine. An hour later, I was showered, dressed, and in my car headed to work.
I kept the phone he had given me close by, though I swore to myself I wouldn’t use it.
Instead, I parked, took a deep breath, and told myself I was ready to face the day.
I waved at Carol as I walked in.
“No coffee today?” she asked, looking at my mug-less hands.
“I left it on the counter,” I answered quickly, realizing I’d already deviated from my routine.
She nodded, looking both stern and sympathetic. “Well, you work too hard anyway, so it doesn’t surprise me things start to slip. You want me to make some for you?”
“Thanks, Carol, but I’m okay. And speaking of work…” I said cheerfully.
She shook her head with disapproval. “I know, I know. Duty calls. Maybe I’ll stop by later and we can catch up,” she said.
I smiled, nodded my agreement, and then scurried to my office.
This was going to be hard.
No change in routine, acting like everything was normal. I’d barely made it through a chat with Carol. How could I possibly keep this up?
My father thought I was a maniac.
An Armenian mobster had infiltrated my family’s company.
A very expensive hitman had tried to fucking kill me.
How much shit could one person take?
Buzz.
Apparently, I could take more. I scowled at the phone.
“Yes, Keenan,” I said in a honeyed tone that didn’t at all reflect how I felt.
