Page 46 of Bound to a Monster

I’m staring at a future of indifference, and it makes me want to curl up and sleep forever.

Chapter 18

Lev

My back hurts after a long day on the road. I’ve visited nearly half the jewelry store’s vendors, and most of them have seemed amenable to a change in ownership in the near future.

Except for one. A real prick of a sleazeball named Emory Smith. He’s an old-school watch dealer with a deep network of pickers and wholesalers, and he’s the best source for reasonably priced high-end pieces in the whole fucking city.

And when I told him that I might be taking over for my father, he basically laughed in my goddamn face.

I pour myself a vodka when I get home that evening. I’m in a sour fucking mood, and being in this house doesn’t help. There are already little pieces of Carmie all over the place: a floral potholder she left on the counter, a pad of paper sitting on the coffee table with little animal doodles all over the margins, her laptop on the couch covered in stickers.

I hate how defeated she seemed last night, and I can’t even blame her for it. Seeing Alex and Natalya made her realize we’llnever have a relationship like that, and what am I supposed to do? Get down on my knees and tell her that I’ll love her forever?

I’m not even sure I’m capable of that emotion.

But I do know it bothers me when she’s upset. Only I’m not sure how I’m supposed to fix it when I’m the problem.

I stomp around the house feeling bleak and angry before Carmie appears at the stairs, yawning. It looks like she just woke up from a nap, even though it’s nearly five in the evening. Her hair’s slightly messy and her eyes are bleary, and she stretches as she comes into the kitchen.

“I could hear you banging around down here,” she says. I stare as she gets herself a glass of water. She’s in a pair of tights and an oversized t-shirt that still somehow shows off her incredible figure. My pulse thumps thinking about my hands gripping her thick ass.

“I’ll try to be quiet the next time you’re sleeping at dinnertime.”

“I’m pregnant,” she says defensively. “I can’t help it. What’s your problem?”

I soften a touch and force my smile back into place. “Had a rough day. Some vendor prick got under my nerves.”

“Yeah? Who was it?” She leans against the counter, watching me with a frown. This is the most she’s wanted to talk to me since moving in here and I’m guessing she’s a little vulnerable after her nap. Her walls aren’t back in place yet.

“I doubt you know him.”

“My dad’s been in the pawn shop business for, like, fifty years. I grew up around all those people. If he deals in the city, I’ve probably met him.”

“You know Emory Smith?”

She snorts and takes a drink. “Yeah, I know him.”

“Seriously?”

“He’s the luxury watches guy. What’d he do to you?”

I’m not sure I want to get her mixed up in my business, but I’m frustrated and distracted by the way she licks her lips after drinking some of her water.

“Basically told me to go fuck myself when I said I’d be taking over for my father in the near future.”

“Sounds like him. Emory’s a control freak. If it’s not his idea, he doesn’t want to hear it.”

“That’s a problem for me then. He supplies Fed with half our high-end pieces.”

“I can talk to him if you want.” She says it so casually like it’s a totally reasonable thing, and that immediately sets me on guard.

“Why would that help?”

“I don’t know.” Now she’s smiling slightly. This girl’s up to something and I don’t like it. “But I bet he’d listen to me.”

“Why, exactly, would Emory care what you think?”

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