Page 82 of Sweet Poison

“Your panic room is blast-free, right?”

“Even if they burned down the house or threw a bomb on it, she would be fine. I’m prepared for anything. Paganini is insane. He could do anything to get to me, but if I know him well, taking my daughter is his plan. Once he has her, he can get me to do anything he wants. He can keep me going for as long as he wants.”

No more running. I hated running. I did it to buy myself some time so I could take him on, on my terms, but it was not to be. Paganini proved to be more resourceful and relentless than I had given him credit and I had given him plenty. But so be it. I would meet him head-on and we would see who walked out of the battlefield alive.

“Good luck,” Leila wished grimly.

“I’ll call you later.”

Chapter 49

Montana

“That was weird,” Natalie muttered.

“I know,” Pearl agreed, her eyes massive in her stunned face.

“Ten freaking thousand dollars!” Kelly screamed. “What the hell was that all about?”

“He’s rich, isn’t he? That story Tiffany told me about his daughter’s designer Gucci shoes is real. He’s rich, but he’s pretending to be a poor accountant driving a beat-up car. The question is why is he doing it? What’s actually going on?” Natalie turned on me. “Well, do you know?”

“No, I don’t. He told me and my father he’s an accountant. My father even offered for him to be the school accountant, and he accepted. As for the beat-up car, I believe, he finds it interesting to soup up a car and see how well it can go.”

“This is getting creepy now. To think he bid ten thousand dollars and then he pecked your cheek and walked away. What the hell is that all about?”

“Well, that sure pissed Jesse off though. His little face. Poor guy thought he had a clear road to victory,” Kelly noted with amusement.

I stared at my friends. I felt so confused I couldn’t think anymore. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on. I think I’m just going to enter the waffle-eating competition and just forget all this bizarre stuff had ever happened. I’ll sort it out in my head when I get home.”

“I … really don’t think you should enter the contest,” Kelly said.

I took a big gulp of the cup of alcoholic punch she was holding and spluttered with the strength of it. “God, how much vodka did you put in there?”

She grinned. “Most of the bottle.”

I shook my head. “How you don’t fall down drunk I’ll never know. Right, I’m off to the competition.”

“You shouldn’t go, Montana.”

I turned to her. “Why? I’ve been doing it for years and winning.”

“It’s so unladylike.”

“My dad does it. He thinks he’s cool?”

Pearl laughed as she adjusted her straw hat further down her head. “Cole might not think it’s all that hot to see you gobbling down twenty waffles.”

“Fuck Cole,” I said aggressively. I felt angry with him. True, he had not led me on, but he had definitely lied to me, and he had ruined my life. I was a shadow of the person I was before I met him.

“She’ll never give up that crazy contest,” Pearl said.

“Your dad’s not participating this year, is he?” Natalie asked

“That’s not out of choice; that’s because of his health.”

“And you don’t think you should look out for your health as well?” Natalie asked.

They continued yapping on about it, but my mind was determined. I could have easily skipped out on it, but we had invited all the kids and parents to the funfair. There were rides and stalls and contests and all in all, it was the best summer event in town. Everything was brightly lit and in colors; it wasn’t rainy, thank God, and not too hot either. It was a perfect day, and I wasn’t going to let Cole spoil it.

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