- Storie by Shary Epic Reads

The Love Of Money - Episode 48
27-07-25 (06:12)

I hugged her back, a little surprised. Phoebe and I'd never really had a relationship that involved hugs... not that either one of us was stand-offish or anything. We'd just never had that kind of relationship. I suspected it was because of her husband, Jim. He was a jealous man who never seemed to like me - or any man. I suspected Phoebe had developed a habit of keeping her distance to keep the peace in her marriage. "No, I'm glad you didn't," said. "If they'd seen you, something might have happened to you. This is just stuff, and I wouldn't want to see you hurt over things that can be replaced." She finally pulled away and looked up at me, her eyes bright with unshed tears. It was easy to imagine she was upset, with such a vicious robbery happening mere feet away from where' her son was. "That's sweet of you. Still, I feel ridiculous that it happened right across the hall while I was home." I shook my head and said, "Don't worry about it. Seriously. You did me a solid by calling me and the cops. I'm grateful." She scrubbed at the corner of one of her eyes and gave me a weak smile. "Of course." As she did so, the sleeve of her shirt fell part of the way down her forearm, exposing her wrist. I noticed several dark splotches on the underside, and when Phoebe caught me looking, she quickly pulled the sleeve up and gave me another weak smile. Neither of us said anything. I'd asked her repeatedly if her husband was abusing her, and she'd always denied it. I considered pulling Detective Reese into the hall so he could take a look, but before I 1 could act, my neighbor decided to move the keep the conversation moving. "I take it you're not staying here tonight?" Phoebe asked. I eyed her for a moment, and she returned my stare with a great poker face. Finally, I sighed and said, "No. I have a room at Solomon's Palace." Her eyebrows arched up at that, "Fancy." "Second time I've heard that in the last hour," snorted. Then I glanced around to make sure there were no nosy neighbors around before continuing, "Yeah. I recently came into a lot of money. Just don't tell anyone, if you don't mind. I'm afraid more stuff like this might happen." "Yeah. Don't worry about it. Your secret is safe with me." She glanced towards my door, "Are... are you planning on moving?" I nodded, "Yeah. Honestly, this mess seems like a sign, and I can afford a better place now." Phoebe's lips compressed and she gave a stiff nod, looking a bit more upset. "Hey," I said as I placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked away from me. "If you need anything anything at all-don't hesitate to ask." Phoebe and I had shared an apartment building for over a year now, and while we got along well, I was a little alarmed at her reaction to the news that I was moving. She was my closest neighbor, but it wasn't like we saw each other every day. For one thing, we didn't have much in common. She was a stay-at-home mom who enjoyed raising her kid, a good romance novel, and a glass of wine. I never really enjoyed kids, I preferred a good TV show, and I hated wine. She was married. I was single. She was forty-one. I was twenty- eight. We didn't exactly run in the same circles. Her husband also hated me, which had discouraged us from getting too friendly. I was surprised when I got this kind of reaction from her. When she didn't look at me or acknowledge what I said, I placed a thumb on her chin and physically directed her to meet my gaze. "Please." Part of me was a little surprised at my insistence. It was a testament to how power can quickly change a man in a matter of days. She bit her lower lip to keep it from trembling and nodded, doing an incredible job of holding back unshed tears. I wondered just how isolated this woman was and how lonely her life must be. I also wondered if those dark marks on her wrist had been from Jim. Finally, she nodded. "I need to go check on Nate," she said. "And get your cat. Are you able to take him with you to your hotel?" My fingers lingered on her chin for a moment longer and then I let them drop. "Yeah, I have a carrier. I'll bring him with me. Thanks again for taking care of him." "No problem," she said with a weak smile. "Good luck. I hope you find the guy who did this." "I need to go check on Nate," she said. "And get your cat. Are you able to take him with you to your hotel?" My fingers lingered on her chin for a moment longer and then I let them drop. "Yeah. I have a carrier. I'll bring him with me. Thanks again for taking care of him." "No problem," she said with a weak smile. "Good luck. I hope you find the guy who did this." And then she crossed over to her apartment, shutting the door behind her. I turned to head back into my apartment to see how everyone was doing inside and to get my cat carrier. I felt bad about moving and made a silent promise to myself to keep an eye on the Lucases, even if I was no longer going to live across from them. Tuesday, 9:09 pm "What a fucking day," I said as I walked through the lobby of Solomon's Palace. I meant it too - I'd woken up to a fantastic blowjob from Bobbi and made a Faustian bargain with her, though in this instance, I felt more like Mephisto to Bobbi's Faust. After that, I'd reserved the room for another week, displacing some honeymooning couple over the weekend, but I made sure they were taken care of on my dime. her with her own set of errands. After sending Bobbi off on her errands which included the morning-after pill, I'd gone to Marduke to meet up with Helen, who had arranged for me to interview three incredibly gorgeous women for the opportunity to be my right hand. All three of them had promised to essentially be my beck-and-call girl, one of them going so far as to blow me. Then Helen and I fucked in my office. We fell asleep on the couch for a couple of hours, I visited Natalie, then met with Ashlee for coffee, paperwork, and seduction. After that, I headed back to the office with coffee for Natalie and nearly fucked her before being rudely interrupted by a call from my neighbor to inform me that someone broke into my apartment. After retrieving Jack from Phoebe, Erin and stayed with Detective Reese until they called it quits an hour later. We stuck around afterward to give our statements, and then we stopped at one of my favorite places to pick up some sushi before heading back to Solomon's palace. "You're not wrong," Erin sald beside me as we made our way to the main elevator.
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The Love Of Money - Episode 48 By shary
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