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I felt like I’d been beaten up when I got back tomy car parked out front

“Oh, please please please,” I begged, going to the door to plug in hed, finding -dead phone in the hidden compartment by the spare tire

I needed an hour-long shower, so made of fake cheese and cheap carbs, and a couple of solid hours of sleep in ain

Unfortunately, though, I only got two out of three

Because it was a workday

And I’d been absent for long enough that so out a search party by now

So I downed three cups of coffee—and did not think about Bellamy’s fancy machine and even fancier beans—after e

Then I jumped in my car and pushed the speed limit on the way to work

“I oa police report!” Nasir, my cousin, said as soon as I pushed open the back door of the building of Saeed Jewels, the fa, but

Fancy-ass, expensive-as-sin jewelry

That people like Bellaifts for his many female conquests

That thought did not make my stomach turn and my spit taste sour

Nope

Because that would make absolutely no sense at all

“Did your parents notice I was gone?” I asked, wincing at the idea of the about me The man worried if the forecast called for a sprinkle He was just on the high-strung side

I was related to Nasir on ured hite judging by the differences between my features and Nasir’s and my aunt and uncle

Nasir was tall and lean with darker skin than me and brown eyes, but had the same silky black hair that he kept pushed back from his face Where my face ider, rounder, his was thin and chiseled He was objectively handsoance that cas to payon convincing hirow in full and thick like his father’s And with his otherwise good looks, he would easily find himself a woman who could hopefully help him relax a little