Page 75 of Your Coffin or Mine
“Considering the consensus after this photo has been online for an hour is that he’s as sus as he is hot, I’m unsure myself. Obviously, he likes you, and I wasn’t going to say anything but...”
“But what?”
“The man has zero anything on the internet—like nothing, nada, zilch, and his family supposedly died off a couple hundred years ago. Seriously, I can’t find anything anywhere, Aubrey.”
“I know. Most of the comments are calling him fake and me a hoe bag.”
“If I didn’t know any better, I would say he’s a fraud, right?” Burnie asks with a sudden twist of concern. “Like he’s just usingthe gimmick of it, and it’s a fake Dracula name, right? Whose name is actually Vlad Tepesh?”
My eyebrows crinkle. “I don’t think it’s fake.” Never once have I questioned who he says he is, even when we first met. He says it so matter-of-factly.
The line goes silent and then her keyboard becomes possessed once again, making me groan. She’ll be like a dog with a bone now.
The thought that I’ve been banging some guy I hardly know has my gut churning, but I feel like Iknowhim, and it’s not just the sex talking. The hard pill to swallow in all of this is that Ireallylike him, enough that I invited him home to my cousin’s wedding.
“People still exist that have no social media presence, you know.”
She snorts. “He’s either a liar or he’s a weird hermit. He said hello, my name is Vlad Tepesh, and what did you do? You just invited him into your pussy, him and his fake-as-fuck name. This is why we research,” the hussy has the balls to say.
My jaw drops and my eyes narrow. “As if you wouldn’t be right here where I’m standing. You’re the one who told me to get the hot European dong in the first place! So, don’t you dare.”
“Well, at least we are totally sure he’s not an axe-murderer, right? Like, if he were, you’d be a goner. Obviously, you’re not, so let’s look at your options, shall we?” Her voice is placating as fuck.
I sigh and keep digging for costumes.
“God, he is pretty. With a man that fine, I sincerely hope the dickening was good.”
“Can we be adults, please?” I huff.
“Then you’re welcome. It looks like it would be damn good, and I would have done the same thing, but are you listening? Because I know things.”
I eye the pile of old, unwanted clothes, most of it yellowed and faded with time. Ugh, how long has this stuff been in here? “What things?”
“You know the CEO of Talbot Global?”
I blink at the mention of one of the richest men in the world. “Frank Stein?”
“Okay, so Vlad still doesn’t even have a profile pic, but he does have connections to Talbot Global, aka Frank Stein, and all his money too,” she says.
I scoff. “Burnie, how much caffeine have you had today?”
“Four red bulls and two teas, but that’s not the point.”
“No, the point is, Frank Stein? The guy is a billionaire. Why were you even digging into Vlad?” My hand smacks soundly against my forehead. “God. You do this every time.”
“I know, and you love me, but also this is why I didn’t tell you. Vlad Tepesh owns shares in Talbot Global—a huge amount. Which means connections with Frank Stein. How does a person go from being a nobody to being a secret part owner to a multibillion-dollar company?”
I shake my finger, pointing at a wall like I would her, fully knowing she can’t see me. “Bernadette Theodora Crenshaw, I don’t want you digging. No more digging. Promise me.”
“You never complained when I tracked Chad down across the city.” I can practically see her talking into the phone, rolling her eyes at me, and it drives me up the wall.
Grabbing my phone from the small table, I frown down at it less than a foot from my face.
“The point is, I don’t even know what Vlad and I are doing, and now he’s gone viral. And you have been digging into a company owned by a billionaire!” I whisper-hiss that last bit while bringing the phone mic right up to my lips.
My head thumps and I can feel a headache coming on.I am losing it.
“Aubrey, stop it. You’re halfway around the world getting googly eyes over a man you do not know. If you think I’m not going to do some digging, you’re cracked out of your mind. No one will even know I was in there. Don’t be mad, or I’ll start crying into my ice cream early.”
