Page 104 of Always Salty

It was such a great view that I pulled my phone out and snapped a photo.

I cursed when the shutter sounded, but Dima didn’t wake.

Carefully tiptoeing out of the room, I did my business and got ready for the day.

I had to be with Copper in an hour and a half, and I needed to find something to wear before then, meaning I’d have to run by my apartment.

I had some clothes, but not nearly enough.

Since I didn’t have an alternate ride, I called an Uber, then wrote a note and left it on the kitchen counter.

I fed the cats and left, disarming and rearming the alarm after I shut the door behind me.

“Where you goin’?” my brother, Cutter, asked.

I looked up to find him stopped at the end of the walkway that led to the street.

He eyed the Uber that was waiting for me, then raised his brow.

“Copper’s taking my car, and I’m apparently carless for the time being. So I need a ride back to my apartment,” I explained.

“Thought you moved in with Dima?” He raised a brow.

“I did,” I said. “Kind of. I just said I would, not that I’ve moved a single thing other than a few sets of clothes. I have to go back to my apartment and get a few things before I have to meet Copper at the office. The rest is scheduled to be packed up this weekend.”

His eyes went hard. “Chevy told me what y’all walked in on.”

I shrugged as I went to the Uber and said, “Hi.”

The woman smiled in greeting, and I looked over the hood of the car and said, “We’ll talk about it when I get home.”

“We’re going to have to figure something out, because Copper’s gone from his place.” I sighed. “There’s more to that than him being angry. But I’ll talk to you later. Gotta go.”

I dropped into the SUV, thankful that there was a woman driving and not a man.

Men always made me uncomfortable.

“The drive should take about fifteen minutes,” the woman said.

But there was something about her voice that had me frowning.

“Are you okay?” I asked as she pulled out of the street the Semyonovs lived on.

She looked up at me in the rearview mirror, and when our eyes met, I knew that something was wrong.

Then I saw the head pop up over the back seat, and a thick arm came around my neck and pulled. “Nothing’s wrong. Not anymore.”

We drove what felt like all the way through Dallas, ending up in Irving at a big white building in the middle of nowhere.

Chester gestured for me to get out on his side, and I had no other choice but to do so.

I only had to delay for a little bit.

It’d been plenty long enough for Copper to wonder where I was, and he would’ve called Dima already.

I had to give myself another half hour or so, and he’d be here.

I knew it.

---