Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 98398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 492(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 492(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
“Eddie, when are you coming back?” I asked into the phone.
“Well,” a deep masculine voice said. “I don’t think Eddie will be coming back, at least not until you do what you’re told.”
“What do you want,” I bit out, my stomach clenching and my heart racing.
“Don’t worry, Mr. Astrid, we’ll be contacting you with our demands real soon.” The deep voice laughed and then disconnected the line.
CHAPTER 36
EDDIE
Harrison left to have a drink with a friend and talk about whatever it was that ridiculously rich people talked about, probably plans for world domination or something else equally as asinine.
I’d admit I did make myself giggle when he dressed in a three-piece suit. Was this friend the president or a king? What would happen if he dressed in jeans and a sweater like a normal human meeting a friend? Would the Brooks brothers roll over in their graves? Would he be instantly disinherited?
I had to wonder what casual-Harrison looked like. Not DA Astrid, or Mr. Astrid, just Harrison.
Did that person exist outside of the time he spent in bed with me?
Did other people get to see that lighter, sweet side of him? Or was the warrior always out for blood and justice the only thing other people knew?
With a smile on my face and the tension that I thought had a permanent place in my back now gone, I took the opportunity to learn a little more about Mr. Harrison Astrid by snooping around his apartment.
Under normal circumstances, I would have considered it an invasion of privacy—I would have still done it, but I would have admitted it was wrong. But he had asked me to move in with him. I thought I had a good grasp on who he was as a man, but I hadn’t known him that long, and I had to be sure.
I started rummaging through his closet of never-ending suits while I let my mind wander.
There were some hard decisions that I had to make. Did I want to live with Harrison? I did, but was I ready for the things that would go along with living with Harrison? He had said no one in the office needed to know, but realistically speaking, they would find out. They always found out. Lawyers, secretaries, and paralegals were nothing but gossips, always looking for the next scandal. Minding other people’s business was what made them good at their jobs.
If it came out that I was living with and sleeping with my boss, it would definitely hurt my reputation, but we weren’t breaking any laws. It was an ethical gray area that I could easily argue was perfectly legal. I was a consenting adult, and Harrison was not holding my job over my head. There was no misconduct happening within the office that anyone ever needed to know about. I could go to Mrs. Lakeson and ask to be assigned to someone else’s desk after explaining the new personal relationship, but we had already put her through so much, and no one else’s work met Harrison’s expectations.
I didn’t know if I was going to be comfortable making this a long-term decision, but in the interim, I would admit it was better to live here in the lap of luxury where it was safe than in the only-sometimes-heated single room that I had been in. The idea of going back there to spend another winter almost freezing to death every single night was just unbearable. Although I would never be able to enjoy the change in my living situation knowing Sabrina was still there.
Tonight I would talk to Harrison about the status of his charges against my landlord or at the very least the possibility of finding new housing for Sabrina. Maybe he would let her stay in the apartment he first gave to me. I could just imagine her face when she saw the city views and luxurious accommodations.
I didn’t find any autopsy tools, severed heads, or women’s shoes in his closet. So there was no reason for me to tell him no.
There was, however, a limit to the generosity and charity that I was willing to accept from, well, anyone, but especially the man that I was sleeping with.
So I needed to run back to my apartment and grab some clothes, a few personal mementos, and let my best friend know where I was so she didn’t try to send out a search party. If she filed a missing person’s report and then I was found in the district attorney’s home, that would definitely get out, quickly.
I got dressed and then wrote Harrison a note letting him know where I was and that I would be back, just on the off chance he got back before I did. I didn’t plan on staying long, though, it was really just a quick in-and-out trip.