Page 68 of His

“Twenty minutes.”

I look at the clock. “We better hurry.”

Forty-Four

Sabine

The apartment complex is a rundown two-story brick building at the end of a cul-de-sac. The kind of neighborhood where you wouldn’t want to be out past sundown. It strikes me as odd, considering how much Astor pays his employees, but then I remember that Leo spends most of his time bouncing between, and living in, Astor’s many mansions. Why pay for something that nice when you spend most of your time in luxury, anyway?

The neighborhood is quiet, with only the roar of rain to break the eerie silence. Every room in the complex is dark, and not a single light is on in the surrounding homes. Everyone is asleep in their beds—where we should be.

We pull into the small lot.

“Oh no.” I shake my head.

“What?”

“That’s Brittney’s Nissan.”

Astor squints through the rain at the car parked at the end of the lot. “What is she doing here?”

“She and Leo have a connection—they had a one-night stand recently. She’s having trouble letting go, to say the least.”

“She told you that?”

“Yeah. We’ve become friendly. She is a sweet, young woman trying to find her way.”

“Wow, the guy gets around, doesn’t he?”

I nod. “She’s probably here because of the fight earlier, to tell him about it, maybe.”

“Well, shit.” Astor looks at the clock. “He shouldn’t be home yet. According to the person I spoke to at the bar, he’s closing tonight.”

“Let me see if she’s in her car. Park there, and I’ll be right back.”

“No, let me do it.”

I snort. “No thanks, Incredible Hulk, I’m pretty sure she never wants to see you again. Stay here. She’s comfortable with me.”

Astor grabs a poncho from the back of his car and hands it to me. I slip it on. “I’ll be right back.”

Dipping my face against the rain, I pull up the hood and jog across the parking lot.

Brittney is sitting behind the steering wheel scrolling on her phone. She nearly catapults through the roof of her car when I knock on the window.

Shocked to see me, she rolls down the window. When I try to shield the rain from dripping into her car, she rolls her eyes. “Don’t worry about it, seriously. What are you doing here?”

“What are you doing here?”

“I . . . I” she stammers. “I came here to tell Leo about what happened. I heard Astor scream Leo’s name, and I, well, I came here to warn him.”

“Of what?”

“That something huge happened and Astor appeared very upset with him. What happened, Sabine?”

“A lot. But I can’t go into all that right now.”

“I didn’t have your number; I wanted to call you. I’ve never seen someone so mad. I’ve never seen a fight like that.”

---