Imperfectly Yours Volumes 1-4 (A New Adult Romance Series) : Imperfectly Yours, His Diversion, Of Fear And Fate, Hard To Love You by A. Gardner

what he says. I’ll find my window if I wait patiently. Then maybe I can sneak a call to Mikki and let her know I’m still alive. I stand up, looking out the window at the sea of green in the back lawn. I remember playing back there when I was a kid. We’d come here during ski season and if I wasn’t on the mountain I was near that grove of trees building snow forts. Of course everything was covered in snow back then. I’ve never been here in summer.
    Regardless, I will forever hate this place when I get home.
    I have got to find a way out. Dad ruins everything. I don’t know what he’s up to but I don’t want any part of it. I’m afraid that I won’t have much of choice, me being his only son.
    Paige has no problem backstabbing for a living. Dad should bring her into the family business. Not me.
    Rig will sleep sometime. That’ll be my chance. He’s been pacing for the last two hours. I know he’s tired. I sit on my bed, thinking through a plan for when Rig finally crashes on the couch.
    I rest my head back on my pillow. Dad might have me locked away up here but he can’t control everything. If there’s one useful thing Dad actually taught me it’s never let others stand in your way.

MIKKI
     
    Four
     
    “. . . hypocrite.”
     
    “I’m being followed.”
    “No you’re not,” Zanna laughs. She struts through the doorway and helps herself to whatever is in the fridge. I rub my forehead. Aunt Scarlett is working late and I’ve lost myself in trashy reality TV. “I tried calling you like a million times, girl.”
    “Oh . . .” I glance at the beige couch cushions. My phone is missing. I feel through the creases.
    “So,” Zanna continues. “First day. How was it?”
    “Lame. I need some Ben & Jerry’s.”
    “Any office hotties?” She winks. If you would call my tour guide Paul hot. I’m pretty sure a spritz of cologne in the morning is not an important part of his hygiene routine.
    “No but . . .” I hesitate to blurt out the rest because Zanna is going to call me crazy for bringing it up again.
    “Not this again.” She rolls her eyes and takes a sip of soda, slurping the foam first. “No one is following you, and even if that guy from the party was by your office this morning . . .” She waves a hand in the air. “I’m not saying he was . . . but if he was, he was probably trying to get a better look.”
    “Come again?” I wrinkle my nose.
    “He probably recognized you from that night but wasn’t sure. We were all pretty tipsy.”
    “Sure,” I reluctantly agree. I search again for my cell phone. “Shoot.”
    “What?”
    “I left my phone at my desk.” I hit my forehead with the palm of my hand. “Idiot.”
    “No biggie,” Zanna responds. “I’ll drive you. And we can stop at that ice cream place on the way home.” Ice cream does sound good after the day I had. I grab a notepad from the kitchen drawer by the sink and write Scarlett a note in case she comes home to an empty apartment.
    I grab a jacket and rub at the edges of my cuticles. Maybe I have a message waiting for me . . . from Dane.
    Don’t be stupid, Mikki.
    I haven’t heard any updates on the kidnapping from anyone. There seems to be an unwritten rule at the office. If you talk about a Haskell in the Banley building you’re basically asking to get fired.
     
    *           *          *
     
    The lobby looks dead with the lights off. Zanna frowns as we pull up alongside the front entrance to the Banley building. I sigh before opening the car door. Zanna shakes her head and turns off the car.
    “I’m going with you,” she whispers.
    “You don’t hear me arguing,” I reply. We walk quietly to the doors. The sky is dark and only the street lamps on Main Street illuminate the town. The night is quiet, even the pub down the street isn’t very busy. I pull at the handles on the glass doors. They’re locked. I should’ve known.
    “Ugh.” I shrug my shoulders.
    “Relax,” Zanna chuckles.