AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I want you to stay away from Dan.”
“Dan? Not you?”
His jaw hardened. “You can’t even keep your men straight, can you?”
“Listen, mister, you—”
“Let me reiterate,” he said, cutting her off. “Stay away from Dan Stephens. That means no texting. No calling. No blackmail. Absolutely no fucking. In fact, just forget about him.”
She wanted to tell him the truth, but something told her he probably wouldn’t believe an identical twins scenario. Even she had to admit it sounded like a bad movie plot. Once again, she had to clean up Rebecca’s mess.
“Consider him forgotten,” she said. Her capitulation surprised him so much he straightened, which caused his foot to shift enough so she could slam the door. “Just my luck. All the gorgeous ones are insane.”
****
Reece stared at the door, hands clenched into fists as he tried to get his emotions under control. Rebecca Fox was even more beautiful in person, and his fucking libido decided to throw a Dirty Dancing kind of party. It pissed him off that she acted innocent, like she wasn’t plotting a blackmail scheme. She had so many men she couldn’t even remember them all!
A sense of purpose filled him. He might not be able to walk into the fucking firehouse, but he could certainly make sure this little cock-teasing bitch got what she had coming to her. Sure, Dan was just at fault as she, but Rebecca took it one step further in threatening to tell Anna the truth. What was her purpose? What was the endgame?
He walked back to his truck and sat for a moment behind the wheel, staring at the house. The curtains on the front window moved slightly, letting him know she watched him. Apparently, Rebecca Fox liked to play games. Very well, two could play that game. He hated liars. He also hated beautiful women who had no remorse in breaking up a marriage.
Chapter Three
After the beautiful asshole left, Marnie pulled out her cell to call Rebecca. It rang and rang before she was redirected to voicemail.
“Where are you? I’m at your house and this man came up to warn me against talking to some guy named Dan. Is he another john? Seriously, Bec, I thought you put this aside. I thought you were done with the escort business. Call me back.”
She hung up with a sigh. Although they looked alike, their personalities couldn’t be more different. Rebecca had always craved attention. She’d been the life of the party back in their school years. To pay for college, she’d decided to make money by dating through an escort service, and eventually dropping out altogether because she started making a seven-digit salary. This had snowballed into her own clients, leading to the humongous house Marnie stood in, the Porsche Spyder in the garage, and luxury vacations across the world.
Marnie had thought her sister was retired from that life, but apparently not. She finished cleaning Rebecca’s house before locking up and leaving. As she slipped into her car, the feeling of being watched hit her, and she surreptitiously glanced around, wondering if the crazy man lingered. She didn’t see anyone, though, and decided to head home to her studio apartment to get dressed for her shift. On the weekends she waited tables at a bar. Monday through Friday, during the day, she had the very boring job of inputting data for a textile company. In the evenings, she did medical billing for a small urgent care practice. The jobs were necessary to keep afloat from the massive medical bills trying to pull her under.
Growing up, it had been her, Rebecca, and their mom since their father had disappeared after the twins’ birth. To feed her kids, their mother had worked as much as she could to make ends meet … and sometimes not by legal means. She’d bring home johns when extra cash flow was needed, and sometimes she’d stay out all night hooking up with clients in alleys and in the back of cars. Leaving both girls to fend for themselves.
Then their mother had gotten sick, undiagnosed diabetes, which led to a plethora of health issues, including heart and blood vessel damage. It wasn’t until her stroke, however, that they had learned this. Marnie thought Rebecca would help pay the bills since their mom had to go into a medical care facility, only to find out her sister held a boatload of resentment. It broke her heart when she discovered that one of their mother’s johns had raped Rebecca.
It explained so much.
Marnie wanted to say that Rebecca was too self-centered with a large dose of narcissism. But it wasn’t that black-and-white. Bec was her twin, so what hurt her hurt Marnie, and she balanced on a tightrope trying to find a peace that would bring them back together.
Marnie arrived at The Seaplane a few minutes before her shift was to start. The bar had a nautical/aeronautical theme and her uniform looked like a sluttier version of a pilot. She greeted the bartender and the other servers as she grabbed a plastic tote and went around to clean up used glasses, beer bottles, dirty plates, and whatever crap lay on tables. Some of the regulars greeted her by name, and she smiled back. The night started off slow, delivering drinks, placing orders for the finger foods they served. Cashing people out, bussing tables, and cleaning up was all part of the job.
Toward the end of her shift, her coworker, Hannah, came over and checked on her. “Hey, can I ask a favor?”
“Sure,” Marnie said.
“Can I take your shifts this weekend? I got laid off at my other job and could use a little extra money. With Monday being a holiday tips should be good.”
Marnie didn’t say she needed the extra money, but she couldn’t be a jerk like that. One weekend wasn’t going to hurt her too much.
“Yeah, sure.”
“Thank you! I owe you.”
The rest of the evening passed quickly. Right before her shift was over, a prickling sensation once more washed over her skin and she studied the patrons in the dim interior. Her gaze met the dark glower of the man from earlier, and there wasn’t a doubt in her mind that he had followed her. Fear filled her. Clearly the man was psychotic. He sat in her section, but there was no way she was going over there to engage with him.
“Hey,” she said to Hannah, trying hard to be nonchalant. “See that guy at table twenty-one?”
One eyebrow shot up. “Tall, dark, and handsome?”
