Page 52 of Coerced Kiss
My phone pings in my pocket with the notification tone I use for the man tailing Anya.
I put down my cup and pull my phone from my pocket. As I read the message, I clench my jaw.
“Work trouble?” Livy asks.
“I’m sorry.” I push to my feet. “I’m afraid I have to cut our visit short.”
“Don’t worry about that. You’re a breadwinner. You have priorities.”
Yes, and no priority is more important than this one.
She scrunches up her face. “What exactly do you do for living again?”
“I own a few software companies,” I say with a tight smile as I give her a hand to help her up.
“That’s good. That’s the way of the future.”
“Thanks again for the tea.”
“Thank you for the flowers,” she says with a lady-like nod.
In a few long strides, I’m out of the door, clutching the phone in a death grip as I reread the message.
Anya is at the Supreme Court, and there’s only one reason she’d visit one of the highest powers in the state.
She’s going to tell on me.
Anger drives my steps as I make my way to the car.
“Supreme Court,” I tell Kevin when I get inside. “And step on the gas.”
CHAPTER
FIFTEEN
Anya
My gaze is trained on the floor as I walk through the security check into the lobby of the State Court Building. Absorbed in my troubles, I don’t pay attention to the people or the environment around me. I can’t think about anything else but the problems I’m facing.
What am I going to do?
Frustration wells up inside me, followed by a bout of despondency.
Why must everything be such a battle? How wretched is my life that a couple of bottles of vitamins and a blood test are unobtainable?
Pushing my hair with both hands from my face, I take a deep breath.
Get a grip on yourself, Anya.
I refuse to be pathetic. I’ve always been good at finding solutions to problems. There’s nothing I hate more than to beg. I’ve done enough of that in my life.
No more.
I’ll just have to come up with another idea.
Maybe I should try gambling. If that doesn’t work out, there are always the loan sharks, but I’d never be able to pay back a loan with the high interest they charge, and I don’t want a loan shark to come after me.
I’m so lost in my thoughts that I don’t notice the wall of muscles materializing in front of me until I’m almost on top of the man. Stopping short, I lift my head, and then I part my lips with a gasp that doesn’t escape.