Page 20 of Shattered

“Cedar Road.”

His brows lift more in surprise. “Ahh, the brown house. Have you met your neighbor, Lila? She’s a friend of mine.”

Oh my god, could this be? “Are you her ex-husband?”

“No, just a friend.”

I find that a little surprising. I picture Sunshine with someone dark and edgy, and this old hunk sure fits the bill. It wouldn’t surpriseme if she occasionally got some silver cock, though I guess she doesn’t want to change his diapers in ten years.

“So what brings you to Alton?” the man asks. He’s got this tough persona wrapped up in a friendly old guy, and it’s weirdly unsettling.

“I needed a change. My friend and I are opening a tattoo shop down on Main Street. We’ll be officially opening in a few days, but we’re painting and putting in some new doors and windows right now.”

“Well, good luck to you. I hope it all goes smoothly.” He takes another look at the doors, unimpressed. “These are all fuck ugly.”

After Turner leaves, I check out the doors again. They’re ugly, but I don’t give a fuck. I pick out a new door and windows, making an appointment for them to install them. Then, I make my way back to the tattoo shop.

Chapter 6

Lila

Icalled in sick today, thankfully getting Dr. Parr’s answering machine. After all the shit that went down yesterday, I knew there was no way I could sit at a desk for eight hours and not explode.

When I park in front of Neela’s house and lightly honk the horn of my SUV, I spot Ty and baby Marina in the window, Ty helping Marina wave at me. I wave back to Marina as Neela exits her house and enters my vehicle, greeting me with a smile. She’s wearing shorts and a T-shirt that display her dozens of colorful flower tattoos, and her long brown hair is up in a messy bun.

While I drive, Neela leads the way. She knows all the best places to shop because she’s an interior designer. She wants us to check out a few shops in Madison, the nearest city, about forty-five minutesfrom Alton. Neela wastes no time once we’re on the long stretch of highway.

“Alright, what’s going on with this neighbor of yours?” she asks.

When Neela first moved to town, she was pregnant with Marina but didn’t want anyone to know. She was a patient at the clinic where I work with Dr. Parr, so I knew, but I would never tell anyone. She was scared of me, and she’d lash out. Now, I consider her one of my best friends. She’s an easy person to confide in; she doesn’t judge.

“You can’t say anything to anyone about this.” Juliet’s a loudmouth, and Macy wouldn’t understand. And Allegra… Well, she doesn’t need to know about this.

“I promise. I’m also very intrigued. Go on…” she says theatrically.

I chuckle. “Alright. Well, these two guys, Asher and Bane, moved in next door to me. They stole my chairs and wouldn’t turn off their loud music. So, I may have yelled out the window at them, and Asher challenged me to go down to them naked.”

I’m keeping my eyes on the road, but I can see Neela’s eyes widen in my periphery.

“He tried intimidating me by flirting, but I didn’t fold. Macy was over, so she called Edgar, and he came and pulled me out of there.”

“Probably a good idea, by the sound of it.” I can taste the sarcasm in her voice.

“Yeah, well, there’s more. When I told Juliet, she wanted me to make her a sex tape to make me feel better. Fucking woman.”

Neela smirks. “And that surprises you?”

“Well, I may have sent an old video… But to the wrong person…”

“Who?”

“Asher.”

I can’t look at her, but I see her jaw hit the floor in my periphery.

“Uh…” she starts before three more words come out garbled together, probably the beginning of three different questions. After some weird as hell noises, she manages to spit out a single word. “HOW?”

“He tried to intimidate me! He wanted to put his number in my phone in case I wanted some cock, so I let him, and then I told him I was going to block him.”

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