AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Does he think we’re going to suddenly jump out of hiding and scare him?
Whatever it is he’s doing, my heart rate never slows and the trembling on my hands never abates.
Every second feels like it lasts an hour as we silently stare at the screen waiting for something to happen.
But it never does.
The mostly boring and uneventful visit eventually comes to an end.
My heart is in my throat as Victor claps his hands on his knees and pushes to stand.
Reid and JD follow, both looking noticeably tenser than Victor. I expect him to be the careless cunt that we know him to be, so when he picks up his mug and walks toward the kitchen with it, my breath catches.
Ice rushes through my veins as he closes in on the sink.
“Tell me they cleaned up from lunch?” I beg, my voice barely a whisper as my panic begins to get the better of me. The image of Reid abandoning four plates and walking out plays in my mind like it’s happening before my eyes.
Mav doesn’t respond and it does very little help to settle my anxiety at all.
“He’ll probably think it was Devin or something,” he eventually mutters, but it’s unconvincing. “Change the camera, follow him out.”
With dread sitting heavy in my stomach, I begin flicking through the channels once more with trembling hands until I find the hallway.
“Have you spoken to Richie?” Victor asks Reid as they walk toward the front door, JD lingering behind in the kitchen doorway.
He hasn’t said much throughout the whole meeting, but I assume that’s standard. JD is Reid’s right-hand man, and Victor treats him as such.
“Yes,” Reid agrees. “He assures me everything is fine. He’s aware his issue with supply is putting pressure on us but he’s promised everything will get better. He knows the consequences otherwise.”
Victor studies his son closely. It’s as if he’s searching for the evidence of the lie he just told.
I might not be privy to most of Reid’s plans, but I’ve heard little bits here and there and I know he’s fucking about with Victor’s suppliers.
Unable to find what he’s looking for—or at least I hope that’s the case—Victor continues toward the front door. But just before he passes the dresser I stubbed my toe on the other night, he pauses, his gaze darting downward.
“What’s he doing?” I whisper-hiss.
“I don’t know,” Mav replies just as quietly.
Giving a rare show of emotion, Victor’s shoulders lock up. But instead of saying anything or giving anything away, he bends down, swiping something from beside the dresser.
My brows crease.
If I thought Mav was tense behind me, then I was wrong, because that one move has turned him to stone.
What the hell could he have found beneath a dresser in a hallway that’s purely there to hold their keys as far as I can see?
I lean closer, squinting as if it’ll help me see better. But it’s not clear enough. And by the time Victor stands and turns back to Reid, his fingers are curled around whatever he picked up.
“What was that?” I ask nervously.
Victor uncurls his fingers very briefly glances at what’s in his hand before passing it to Reid.
Reid was already strung as tight as a bow, but the second he registers what his father just passed him, his shoulders pull even tighter.
My stomach bottoms out.
All the air rushes from Mav’s lungs tickling across the back of my neck as he does so. All the hairs on the rest of my body lift as the unease and dread racing through my system get stronger.
