I know she’ll consider this another dumb question, but I ask it anyway. “Why would you have a burner phone?”
“Daddy says that everyone should have an untraceable phone on hand. Our government tracks everything through our cell phones. My friends received jewelry for their sixteenth birthday—I got a pistol and burner phone.” Her tone is matter-of-fact as if we’re discussing the weather.
I’m not surprised at her father’s gift. I’ve come to think of him as some kind of modern Adolf Hitler or, at the very least, a close relative of his. What kind of man buys his daughter a membership in the National Rifle Association and gets angry with her if she doesn’t solve her problems with a gun? In the time that we’ve been roommates, I’ve never actually met him. I have seen her mother fleetingly and she dresses almost exactly as Rose. Demurely and expensively. Apparently, she took after both parents. Heck, maybe it was the required dress code in their house growing up. “That’s…different. Don’t feel bad,” I joke, “my mother didn’t even remember my birthday. I treated myself by going to the library and staying until they closed so at least it was a peaceful one for me.”
Rose makes a sound of disgust. “Ugh, that’s messed up. I hope your mother gets a really big, ugly girlfriend in prison.”
I laugh in agreement before getting back to our original conversation. “So, what happened with Max?”
Rose’s voice became livelier again as she says, “Well, I did the whole damsel-in-distress thing and he ate it up. Even I was impressed with my acting ability. He wants to take me to get a restraining order against Jake today. He was all macho, like ‘that bastard’s not getting near you.’ I was so turned on, I could barely stop myself from taking his big ol’ cock and—”
“STOP!” I snap, not wanting to hear where this is going. I’m never going to be able to look Max in the face again. And I sure don’t need to know about his size, although mentioning it to Lucian would drive him crazy. He does seem to feel a bit of jealousy where his lawyer is concerned. No, no, I couldn’t—just no!
“But, Lia…” Rose whines. “You’re my bestie and I want to share this with you. He’s like seriously hung. I have yet to see it, but when I grabbed it in his car, my fingers didn’t even come close to meeting!”
“Oh crap,” I groan, trying to block that mental image from my head.
Trying to change the subject, I ask, “What are you going to do about the restraining order? Since Jake hasn’t actually been bothering you, I don’t think I’d go through with that.”
“Yeah, I’ve thought of that,” she muses. “I’m just going to have to find a creative way to distract him today.”
“You’re scaring me.” I laugh, only half joking. If not for girl loyalty, I’d be warning Max to run for his life. I’ve seen a side of Rose that I’d only caught glimpses of while she dated Jake. I mean, I knew her family was a little out there, but I never had any room to talk considering my situation. The first time she mentioned that her daddy gave her a new gun almost every birthday, I thought she was joking. Now I know to never discount bits of information Rose throws out in passing. Eccentric or not, she has always been there for me and I love her. Who knows, maybe she is exactly what Max needs in his life. I would have never pictured myself falling in love and being loved in return by Lucian Quinn, either.
“I promise not to take it too far.” She giggles. “Oops, that’s Max on the other line. Gotta go!” Before I can even say goodbye, she ends the call. I shake my head and toss my phone down. I’m just turning away when I hear a text chime. Picking it back up, I notice a message from an unknown number. Curious, I open it and see an invitation to breakfast—actually a standing one from Lee Jacks. He lists the name of a restaurant and says he will be there every morning if I would like to join him. I feel a surge of anger roll through me and almost give into the urge to send him a nasty message in reply. Instead, I throw the phone back down, shaking my head. I stand uncertainly, needing something to take my mind off Lee’s sudden appearance in my life and doctor’s appointment this afternoon. Even though it doesn’t really need it, I decide to clean the apartment. What better distraction could there be than a toilet brush and a bottle of Windex?
Lucian
“Good morning, Luc,” Cindy chimes as I approach her desk. I raise a brow, wondering why she is so chipper. Usually, she requires a few cups of coffee to get to that level. When I get closer and notice Sam sitting in the chair to the side of her desk, I have my answer. Apparently, they’ve both benefited from my decision to drive myself to work this morning.
“Good morning, Cindy. Morning, Sam. Everything going okay?” Cindy nods and actually gives me a thumbs-up. This unusual morning cheer is beginning to give me the creeps. I have a feeling it has something to do with sex and that I do not want to think about.