the treadmill. “This is ridiculous.”
“Tell that to your pretty wife when you have a heart attack, old friend.”
Sure enough, that did it. Erik turned on his heel and walked away, grumbling. Anton disregarded him as he slid the iPod out of his pocket, and put the ear buds in before turning on the device. The loud, harsh bang of heavy metal thrummed in his eardrums as he continued jogging. Less than five minutes later, a female form joined the pace on the machine next to his. Anton smirked under the cloak of his hood, but said nothing while Vanessa Macey began her workout.
As per his information, the girl lived four blocks away from the gym. Working a part-time job in a bar across the street as a waitress, she showed up to the gym three times a week before her work shifts. She attended Long Island University full time, intent on getting her degree in Education. Born and raised in Long Island, New York, she likely had the usual expectations and naive understanding of the crime world that revolved around her home state.
With a sick father at home and no mother, Vanessa had yet to move out on her own and took on a great deal of her diabetic father’s care by herself. Add that in to everything else she had going on, and she was a busy woman.
For all purposes, she was a good girl. One who seemed nice enough on the outside, and probably was just as sweet on the inside. But, she’d also hurt his wife—the only thing on the earth Anton would move heaven and hell for. It didn’t make much of a difference that Viviana moved on from the situation, determined to brush the girl’s comments and opinions off. Anton couldn’t let it go.
After all, he hadn’t promised his wife a thing when it came to Vanessa.
That didn’t mean he had to tell Viviana, of course.
Ten minutes into Vanessa’s run, Anton pulled a single ear bud out of his ear. Letting the wire dangle freely, the loud music hummed from the tiny speaker, drawing in the girl’s attention. Watching her from the corners of his eyes, Anton said nothing as she reached out to hit the speed button on her machine. Just as quickly, he stopped his altogether.
Placing both of his hands to the treadmill’s top, he rolled his shoulders and took a breath. With his face still covered by the hood of his sweater, Anton knew Vanessa didn’t have a fucking clue of just who was beside her or how close to death she had come two nights before when his wife had cried herself to sleep.
There were things Anton knew he and Viviana couldn’t ever get away from—judgment from others for one, but that didn’t mean he had to turn cheek, either.
“I suppose you switched from law to education because it wouldn’t take as long to get your degree, huh?”
The girl missed a step on her run, nearly slipping off the treadmill but managing to catch herself just in time. “Excuse me?”
“University,” Anton clarified, keeping his head down. “You were studying law, but it was going to take you a good seven years at least to get there and a hell of a lot of study time in between. What with your father being sick like he is and his retirement not paying out as good as it should, you were stuck. He needed you, and you wanted to continue school. With the credits you already had, education was the quickest endgame. I bet you would have made one hell of a good D.A. God knows they could use a few more opinionated bitches like you on their docket.”
That seemed to have its desired effect. Vanessa reached up with a shaky hand to hit the off button on her machine before attempting to step off. Anton didn’t let her. In a flash of movement, he was off his treadmill and beside hers. His hand grasped her wrist with a pressure he knew would have been painful to a man of his size, let alone a woman of hers.
Finally, he tilted his head up to regard her blatantly, unbothered by the wide, frightened green eyes that stared back. To anyone else, it might have looked like he was approaching the
“Tell that to your pretty wife when you have a heart attack, old friend.”
Sure enough, that did it. Erik turned on his heel and walked away, grumbling. Anton disregarded him as he slid the iPod out of his pocket, and put the ear buds in before turning on the device. The loud, harsh bang of heavy metal thrummed in his eardrums as he continued jogging. Less than five minutes later, a female form joined the pace on the machine next to his. Anton smirked under the cloak of his hood, but said nothing while Vanessa Macey began her workout.
As per his information, the girl lived four blocks away from the gym. Working a part-time job in a bar across the street as a waitress, she showed up to the gym three times a week before her work shifts. She attended Long Island University full time, intent on getting her degree in Education. Born and raised in Long Island, New York, she likely had the usual expectations and naive understanding of the crime world that revolved around her home state.
With a sick father at home and no mother, Vanessa had yet to move out on her own and took on a great deal of her diabetic father’s care by herself. Add that in to everything else she had going on, and she was a busy woman.
For all purposes, she was a good girl. One who seemed nice enough on the outside, and probably was just as sweet on the inside. But, she’d also hurt his wife—the only thing on the earth Anton would move heaven and hell for. It didn’t make much of a difference that Viviana moved on from the situation, determined to brush the girl’s comments and opinions off. Anton couldn’t let it go.
After all, he hadn’t promised his wife a thing when it came to Vanessa.
That didn’t mean he had to tell Viviana, of course.
Ten minutes into Vanessa’s run, Anton pulled a single ear bud out of his ear. Letting the wire dangle freely, the loud music hummed from the tiny speaker, drawing in the girl’s attention. Watching her from the corners of his eyes, Anton said nothing as she reached out to hit the speed button on her machine. Just as quickly, he stopped his altogether.
Placing both of his hands to the treadmill’s top, he rolled his shoulders and took a breath. With his face still covered by the hood of his sweater, Anton knew Vanessa didn’t have a fucking clue of just who was beside her or how close to death she had come two nights before when his wife had cried herself to sleep.
There were things Anton knew he and Viviana couldn’t ever get away from—judgment from others for one, but that didn’t mean he had to turn cheek, either.
“I suppose you switched from law to education because it wouldn’t take as long to get your degree, huh?”
The girl missed a step on her run, nearly slipping off the treadmill but managing to catch herself just in time. “Excuse me?”
“University,” Anton clarified, keeping his head down. “You were studying law, but it was going to take you a good seven years at least to get there and a hell of a lot of study time in between. What with your father being sick like he is and his retirement not paying out as good as it should, you were stuck. He needed you, and you wanted to continue school. With the credits you already had, education was the quickest endgame. I bet you would have made one hell of a good D.A. God knows they could use a few more opinionated bitches like you on their docket.”
That seemed to have its desired effect. Vanessa reached up with a shaky hand to hit the off button on her machine before attempting to step off. Anton didn’t let her. In a flash of movement, he was off his treadmill and beside hers. His hand grasped her wrist with a pressure he knew would have been painful to a man of his size, let alone a woman of hers.
Finally, he tilted his head up to regard her blatantly, unbothered by the wide, frightened green eyes that stared back. To anyone else, it might have looked like he was approaching the
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