Page 27 of Through The Woods

And I’m so sorry.

“Okay then. Well, don’t let me stop you. Continue.” He went over to a desk in the corner of the room and sat down with his back to me and I fought the urge to go over and hug him.

Instead, with shaking hands, I began spraying down the mirror. His room was probably the cleanest of them all—it looked like he’d had someone come in this morning. He was probably one of those people that cleaned up their hotel room too.

“Hello?”

I jumped at the sound of Charm’s voice in the other room, knocking over the roll of paper towels in the process.

“Yeah? You do? No, I’m not surprised. I just didn’t expect an answer so soon. It’s tonight—send three of yours and I’ll bring three of mine. We can work out the details of that later.”

I wiped down the counters, trying to do it as quietly as possible so I could hear his side of the phone conversation. I wondered what it was they were into—was it drugs or weapons?

“I’m glad you decided to come around. It’s a good arrangement.”

Maybe both.

This was good. I was focusing on the club’s activities and not on the fact that they’d adopted a puppy and nursed it back to health only to have him ripped from them.

I wondered what happened to the guys who helped him. Had they moved away and left him to take over the club? Did he still see them when he met up with the girl from the picture? Obviously, they meant something to him. I knew that just from the way he wrote about them.

“Neve.”

Neve?

Like some guy would ever write in his diary about me.

I wondered if men called them diaries—probably journals. It sounded manlier.

“Neve?”

Charm was standing in the doorway when I looked up and I ended up throwing the sponge in my hand at him before jumping back in fright.

He knew.

He probably dusted it for fingerprints while I was lost in thought and—no, that was ridiculous. He’d probably just read my mind. That seemed more plausible.

“Y-you scared me.” I clutched my chest and cowered in the corner.

His eyes narrowed. “You enjoy listening in on other people’s conversations?”

I shook my head. “No. I wasn’t. Just cleaning—see?” I grabbed the bleach spray as if to prove a point.

“I think it’s time for you to start dinner. You can finish tomorrow.”

I nodded and began gathering everything up. “I’ll um, I’ll just be downstairs.”

He stepped back to let me through. “You might wanna pick up the pace, Sweetheart. You’ll never get this place cleaned at the rate you’re going.”

He slammed the door shut behind me and I couldn’t resist turning around and giving it both middle fingers.

Asshole.

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