Page 63 of Against the Clock

“Fine,” he sighed.“But absolutely no sex under my roof.”

He turned and walked out of the room, muttering something under his breath as he worked his tie free from his neck.

Thirty

Roman

1 Day Ago

Islept like shit lastnight, but that was nothing new.Ever since Quinn showed up, asking for my help a few weeks ago, I hadn’t relaxed enough to truly rest.I had debated going back to my apartment to handle things but decided to stay at Mike’s place after agreeing that it was better to keep Rosie safe by having more eyes on her.

Quinn and Rosie slept in the guest bedroom while Mike stayed awake in his, and I camped out on the couch in the living room.He had gotten a call around five this morning, confirming that Saul had more complications during surgery and didn’t make it.

I was in the kitchen, brewing a pot of coffee when there was a knock on Mike’s door.Before I could answer it, he came down the hallway, looking at me, confused.I shrugged, not having any clue who was there, and then went back to grabbing some mugs from the hooks above the sink.

“What do you want?”he asked, slowly opening the door but not enough to let in whoever was on the other side.

“I need to talk to you,” a quiet female voice answered.

“Now isn’t a good time.We can talk at the office.”

“You don’t understand, Mike—there isn’t going to be a good time.This is urgent.”

The door pushed open, and the woman from the party that Mike hated appeared.I pushed at the corners of my mind, trying to recall her name, but the lack of sleep had me struggling this morning.

“Anastasia,” he groaned, shoving a hand through his hair in frustration.

“Look—I know that you don’t like me and hate having to deal with me, but there’s something that you need to know.”

“What?”

I leaned against the counter, not making any effort to leave as she tossed her honey blonde hair over her shoulder, and her hazel eyes pleaded with him to listen.

“Frank Bestillos was murdered this morning.They found his body when a neighbor called the apartment manager about a noise complaint.The door was kicked open, and his body was left in the kitchen, bullet to the head.”

“What the fuck?”Mike muttered, shaking his head in disbelief.

---