Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 122609 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 613(@200wpm)___ 490(@250wpm)___ 409(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122609 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 613(@200wpm)___ 490(@250wpm)___ 409(@300wpm)
He didn’t reply right away. He wanted her to steep in her manipulations and lies. She casually leaned against the back of the tall white and silver barstool chair. “Well?”
“A part of me, Honey, appreciates your persistence in trying to wiggle out of this, but another part of me is growing bored and tired of it. Bad things happen when I get sick and tired of someone. You’re making my tummy hurt, and I feel a nap coming on. Sick and tired is commencing.” He winked at her. She cleared her throat and flipped to another page of the magazine.
“Oh yes, my twin… Jasmine Tookes. Do you know how many times I’ve been mistaken for her?” She held up the magazine proudly, switching topics. He leaned slightly forward and peered at the image of an attractive Black woman with smoldering eyes.
“Who is she?”
“An actress and model. Do you agree?”
“Agree that you two look alike?”
“Yeah… Think we favor? I kinda see it.” She grinned as she looked at the photo once more, then turned the page.
“Yeah, I see a resemblance.” The entire time, on and off, she was lifting the edge of her pajama shirt, curing some mysterious itch while exposing the lower curve of her right breast. A globe of soft skin.
“You said you know all about me.” She said it more like a statement than a question, not looking up from the magazine. “I believe you… somethin’ about you screams ‘OCD.’” She chuckled, though he could tell it was forced. “So, uh, tell me a little about you.”
“You’re not here to talk about me. I’m not here to talk about me, either. Tomorrow, you will go to work as planned. With a chaperone. If you try anything, like trying to send some secret message about you being in danger, then—”
“Yes, yes, yes! Chasity gets it.” She stabbed her words with a sharp attitude.
“Chasity… how’d you meet her?”
“Oh, so you can know more about the potential prey?” She glared at him and sucked her teeth. “I don’t care to discuss that with you.”
“I can always just find out on my own, so you may as well tell me. It’ll make it easier for both of us.”
“Now why in the hell would I make this easier for you?” Her eyes narrowed on him, and he swallowed the urge to laugh in her face. He hated to admit that he found her quite entertaining when she declared herself fighting the power. She looked back down at the magazine, feigning interest in an article of some sort.
“Didn’t she work for PETA? She’s an animal freak?”
She looked back up from the magazine. “So, you already know.” She tsked. “Yes, she worked for PETA, but it was more for investigative—”
“She’s a journalist, but she’s also one of those kooky people that go about screaming that leather and fur are murder, right? They stink because they don’t use deodorant or commercial soaps to clean their asses, yell about the oceans and scream that meatballs are small spheres of slaughter. She’s one of those people that wears $500 dollar moccasins made of flower buds and wheat, and smears paint all over themselves in protest downtown by art galleries?” He couldn’t help but smile. She was fuming. About to blow her top. It was delightful to watch.
“Why are you doing this? Poking at me.”
“Because you keep fuckin’ with me. You don’t like it, do you?”
“No, I don’t like it. I’ll do what you want, and you know I will because I am aware of what’s at stake. You can’t blame me for trying to get away from you! Away from this situation!”
“Doesn’t PETA stand for ‘People Eating Tasty Animals?” She rolled her eyes and he burst out laughing. “That shit was funny. Admit it. Your best friend is a commie vegan. Now she’s in the hospital and I bet there’s not a line of cows, pigs, or fucking squirrels trying to help her. Just people. People that she would spit on because they went to a BBQ joint, no doubt.” He pushed another button, curious what she’d say, how she’d react. Mere tests to see what he was truly dealing with.
“She wasn’t some animal freak, as you put it. Yes, she loves animals, but she was there undercover, doing a story… That was a long time ago.” She reached the end of the magazine, then turned back to the front cover and began all over again.
Tiny, long fingers, nimble and pretty, gripped the glossy corners with a tender touch. He inhaled the air, just as he’d done several times before when close to her. Her natural aroma was like an aphrodisiac. He wondered if she knew how good she smelled. No perfume required.
He sat down across from her and opened a drawer to pull out an iPad. A few minutes later, he was showing her the blueprint and layout of the clinic.