Free Naomi & Bradley, Reality Shows... (Vodka & Vice, the Series Book 3) by Angela Conrad, Kathleen Hesser Skrzypczak Page A

finished, we are moving far away from here.  I don’t care where it is.  We can move to Middle Earth and live with the Hobbits if you want to.”
    “God, I love you,” I say, staring into those ethereal gray eyes, trying to burn them into my retinas so I can see them anytime I need to in the next month.  I kiss her and go off to get dressed. 
    “Let’s have a signal you can do to let me know you’re thinking of me.”
    “A signal?”  I zip up my pants and pull on a vintage Stones t-shirt.
    “Yeah, like Carol Burnett used to have for her grandmother.  She used to pull her ear and that was an ‘I love you’.”
    I grab my crotch like a baseball player.  “How about this?”
    She laughs.  “I love it, but I doubt you can get away with that too much on national TV.
    “I could also pull my ear.”  I try it out.
    “That looks ridiculous.”
    The horn sounds outside.
    “Fine, you think of something.”  I hand her my phone for safekeeping.
    Gus is outside the door again, ringing the buzzer relentlessly.
    “Hmmm…how about you stroke your beard twice?  That looks natural and I’ll know it’s for me.”
    I test it out.  “Works for me.”  I do it again, then take her in my arms and kiss her deeply.  Her scent, freesia and cedar, engulfs me.  I might not shower for a few days, just to keep it around.
    “See you in five weeks.”
    “I love you.”
    “Me too.”
    I leave before it’s too hard to go, brushing past Gus on my way to the elevator.  A giant man is stalking back and forth in the lobby, speaking loudly into a headset.  He glowers at me and points toward the waiting black town car.  I go out the door he holds open and head down the steps.  At the bottom, I notice a familiar figure walking quickly toward the building.
    “Dobrov!” 
    “Viktor?  What are you doing here?”
    “What are YOU doing here?”
    “Long story.  Are you still picking up your stuff?”
    “Ha ha, no, of course not.  Didn’t KuKu tell you, I still live here?  I don’t know why is secret.  Ha ha, maybe she has feelings for Viktor, still.”
    I’m about to punch him in the face when out of nowhere, the linebacker of a chauffeur opens the door to the limo and shoves me inside, slamming the door behind me.  Viktor is still on the sidewalk, looking confused, as though I literally disappeared.  I try the window, but it’s locked and all at once we are pulling away from the curb and into traffic.  Viktor recedes in the rear window and I reach for my phone to call Naomi.  Then reality hits me like a piano out of a fortieth floor window:  I don’t have a phone and it’s going to be five weeks before I can get to the bottom of all this.  Reality sucks.
     



Chapter Nineteen
Five Slotzkys too many
     
     
    NAOMI
    Friday, April 24th--28th
     
     
    I slept through the weekend after Bradley left, just hours of laying in the messy bed, smelling his scent on the sheets, counting the days until he’d be free of that ridiculous contract.  June first.  I could do thirty –one more days. 
    By Monday, my insecurities once more buried, I decide to get busy revamping myself once again.  I return to the gym downstairs for a long strenuous workout.  Front plank jumps, squat jumps, crunches, deadlifts, curls, and shoulder presses, I keep going until my FitBit reads: Calories burned: 466-635.  Good enough.
    I avoid the machines; they remind me of Chase, his whispered lies, and his phony friendship.  I notice he’s called my phone several times in the last few days, but I decide to ignore him.  He broke up my relationship with Bradley for cash.  He’s a disgusting creature, even if he is also my half-brother.
    On Tuesday, I re-dye my hair, keeping it long, and black like a sable cat.  I’ll make myself fit and sexy, a woman a hot stud like Bradley deserves.  I laze away the day imagining us walking red carpets, posing for magazine pictures together, his strong arm holding me tightly against his trim