Vendetta Nation (Enigma Black Trilogy #2) by Sara Furlong-Burr Read Free Book Online

while he playfully held her back. Her screams and laughter projected both frustration and glee, a conflict of emotions. After putting up a halfhearted fight, she relented to him and, taking his hand, he twirled her around in the rain as they danced on the sidewalk in front of Chase’s apartment building.
    That was it. I couldn’t watch the rest of the scene unfolding on the street any longer as I suspected that what was sure to follow inside the apartment would be even more heartbreaking. At least what I was witnessing now was somewhat bearable. Casting one last glance down at him, I stood up and began running back across the rooftops.
    *****
    “Chase, stop, we’re getting drenched out here. Not to mention it’s freezing,” Paige protested.
    Chase released her from his grasp, laughing. “I suppose we should go inside,” he said, brushing a damp strand of her hair away from her face. Before they could begin the climb up the apartment complex steps, headlights appeared from behind where they stood. “Swell,” Chase groaned when a squad car slowly approached them. The officer stopped the car and rolled the window down.
    “Do you have any idea what time it is?” the uniformed man asked from inside the car, his features barely visible in the light cast by the dashboard.
    Chase could feel Paige’s body stiffen in his arms. “We live right here, officer, and are going in now. We didn’t realize it was so close to curfew.”
    “It’s ten minutes past curfew. I suggest you get inside and be more mindful next time. There are soldiers patrolling around town who won’t be as lenient as I am. If it were up to them, you and the missus here would be spending the night in the county jail. They take curfew violations pretty seriously.”
    “Yes, officer,” Chase responded. “We appreciate your leniency and won’t let it happen again.” The officer nodded, rolled his window back up and returned to his patrol. “That was close. I’ve never seen patrol cars down here before. I didn’t think there were enough people left here for them to care about protecting.”
    “Let’s just get inside, please,” Paige muttered through chattering teeth as she climbed up the steps to the apartment building.
    “This is out of hand,” Chase said when they were safely in the elevator. “Something has to give soon, or else people are going to implode.”
    “Can we not discuss this now, Chase? There’s enough going on around us when we’re outside our apartment, let’s not ruin the peace we have here.”
    The elevator door opened and the pair exited into the hallway. Chase fished for his keys in his pocket. “ Our apartment, huh?” he repeated, unlocking the door.
    “I’m just repeating what you said to the officer.”
    “If I had told him anything different, we’d both be sitting in the back of that squad car right now.”
    “That may be true, but it still sounds…nice.”
    “It has a ring to it,” Chase acknowledged, kissing her forehead.
    “I need to go dry my hair,” she giggled. “I didn’t intend taking another shower today.”
    “Not everything in life is intentional,” he said, watching as she walked down the hallway toward the bathroom. He followed in her wake, turning to enter his bedroom. His dampened t-shirt clung to his skin like Velcro, and he couldn’t stand being in it a moment longer. Opening his dresser drawer, he peeled the t-shirt and his blue jeans away from his body and fished through the drawer until he found a pair of flannel pajama bottoms, a gift from Celaine during the last Christmas they had spent together. He inspected them thoughtfully, feeling the material between his fingertips before finally deciding to wear them.
    He turned to sit down on his bed, but stopped short when he noticed the gleam from the light situated on the top of the building across the street. Something in that light caught his eye, beckoning his attention. Heeding its call, he walked over to the window to gaze upon