Page 372 of Evil Hearts

“Is he here yet?” Lisa’s lips curled into a heavy frown when she took in the same covered windows that I did. Her gaze rose toward the thin tap near the very top, which showed absolutely no light eager to escape.

I followed her eyes. I was so used to having that knot rest in the pit of my stomach that I barely noticed it was there anymore, only that sharp pain pulsing through my body was enough to get my attention. The smart thing to do was acknowledge what it was trying to tell me. My urgency to snatch the reins of my life back from Ryan left me willing to brush that silent warning aside.

Her blue eyes dropped down to me.

It took so much strength just to raise a shoulder in a half-assed shrug. “Andy texted me an hour ago, saying he had come by to look at the building to make sure no one had snuck in and fucked shit up. Insisted he was going to have the heat turned on.”

“Well, thank fucking God for that.” Lisa blew out a sharp breath. She tugged her arm free and made a beeline for a small hole in the paper keeping the interior concealed. Cupping her hands, she leaned against the glass and squinted through it. “I can’t see anything… None of the lights are on.”

I ventured along the front of the building, making my way over toward the door. “He’s probably upstairs.”

She threw a glare in my direction. “I’m not seeing lights up there either, babe.”

A snicker escaped me before I had the chance to stop it. Only a part of it truly held any amusement. The rest of it had slipped free from the weight of all the frazzled nerves dancing inside my soul. “They don’t cover second-floor windows, Lis. He probably doesn’t need to turn on those lights just to see. You still get some natural lighting on an overcast day.”

My best friend pushed her face against the glass again. “I’d call him to make sure we didn’t beat him here.”

There was a trickle of irritation leaking into my veins. It was more from the fact that I found myself in full agreement with what she had to say rather than that little voice in my hand insisting that she was overreacting.

Not when we both knew better.

I shook my head and reached out, testing the doorknob. The cold metal sent a strong tremor through my body, more intense than any actual shock could provide. Despite the powerful urge to recoil away from it to a safe distance, I curled my fingers around it and tugged it down.

The door slid free with eagerness.

“It’s not locked,” I remarked. “Andy’s probably already here, checking out upstairs.”

Lisa turned her head slightly with those glossy lips still weighed down with a frown. “Is it at leastwarmin there?”

“Uh…” I hovered in the doorway for a moment. My real estate agent had insisted he would arrive over an hour prior to our arranged meeting to throw the heat on. That way he could ensure it was working properly and to help soothe my frazzled nerves over the idea of checking out this location. The fact that I wasn’t getting slapped with a breeze that felt like it was coming straight from a sauna was a little concerning.

Her frown deepened.

My cheeks grew hot with embarrassment. “Well…it’s warmer than out here, so…”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” Lisa pulled away from the window and wrinkled her nose at me. “I don’t trust it, Ryse. That man swore up and down that he’d have this place feeling like an actual thriving business rather than a vacant building. My gut is telling me not to go in yet until we hear from him.”

That irritation dancing inside my soul exploded into a full-blown annoyance. I curled my upper lip. “Fine. Thenyoucall him.” I tugged my cell phone free from my jacket pocket and tossed it at her. “I’m going to head inside and check the place out.”

Her jaw dropped. She scrambled to catch the phone before it could slip through her fingers. Panic broke out across her face, especially when she noticed I was already tugging the door open further. “I don’t think that’s a good idea! We need to wait until—”

“No!” I cut her off before she could ramble on about all the reasons we needed to play this carefully. It didn’t matter that she was speaking utter truth splashed with a coat of common sense. I was freezing my ass off. My temper had been riding high for months now from the way Ryan had changed how I did everything.

Just for once, I wanted to pretend like everything was normal.

Keeping a hand up to ensure those lips didn’t push out anything, I glared at her. “I’m going to explore the building. You can stay out here to call Andy. I’m willing to betlunchthat he’s already inside and I’m going to watch him answer that phone call.”

A touch of hurt swirled around in those deep blue eyes. “Ryse…”

“Don’t‘Ryse’me. I’m sick and tired of letting that sadistic bastard control my life! I want tomove onfrom the constant fear. So I’m going to treat today like he doesn’t exist.” I blew out a sharp breath, shaking my head as I tuned my best friend out. With one more tug on the door, I slipped through the waiting gap into the muggy air waiting for me inside.

A part of me expected for Lisa to abandon the idea of giving my real estate agent a call. The bell was filthy as hell, but it still worked perfectly well. It didn’t ring again to signal her emotionalarrival right after me. One peek over my shoulder revealed that she hadn’t strayed into view either.

So be it.

She could stay outside to continue playing Ryan’s gamecautiouslywhile I shifted gears and took back my life.

I only managed a few steps into the main space before I drifted to a halt. Most of the store windows had been covered up with a few layers of paper to prevent prying eyes from realizing it was a free building to squat in. It might’ve aided with keeping the walls from getting tagged and trash not getting left behind by unwanted guests, but it didn’t offer any of that natural light inside. I had to stand still while I waited for my eyes to adjust to the darkness.

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