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Chapters (64)
  1. Book Description
  2. About Kennedy Ryan
  3. Also from Kennedy Ryan
  4. Acknowledgments from the Author
  5. Book Description
  6. Dedication
  7. Prologue
  8. Part One
  9. Chapter One
  10. Chapter Two
  11. Chapter Three
  12. Chapter Four
  13. Chapter Five
  14. Chapter Six
  15. Chapter Seven
  16. Part Two
  17. Chapter Eight
  18. Chapter Nine
  19. Chapter Ten
  20. Chapter Eleven
  21. Chapter Twelve
  22. Chapter Thirteen
  23. Chapter Fourteen
  24. Chapter Fifteen
  25. Chapter Sixteen
  26. Chapter Seventeen
  27. Chapter Eighteen
  28. Chapter Nineteen
  29. Chapter Twenty
  30. Chapter Twenty-One
  31. Chapter Twenty-Two
  32. Chapter Twenty-Three
  33. Chapter Twenty-Four
  34. Chapter Twenty-Five
  35. Chapter Twenty-Six
  36. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  37. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  38. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  39. Chapter Thirty
  40. Chapter Thirty-One
  41. Chapter Thirty-Two
  42. Chapter Thirty-Three
  43. Chapter Thirty-Four
  44. Chapter Thirty-Five
  45. Chapter Thirty-Six
  46. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  47. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  48. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  49. Chapter Forty
  50. Chapter Forty-One
  51. Chapter Forty-Two
  52. Chapter Forty-Three
  53. Chapter Forty-Four
  54. Chapter Forty-Five
  55. Chapter Forty-Six
  56. Chapter Forty-Seven
  57. Chapter Forty-Eight
  58. Chapter Forty-Nine
  59. Epilogue
  60. Author’s Note
  61. An excerpt from The Kingmaker by Kennedy Ryan
  62. Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection Seven
  63. Discover the World of 1001 Dark Nights
  64. Special Thanks

“He probably will by the time it’s over.” Mona laughs. “You’ve gotta play Monopoly with this kid, Kimba. Ruthless kingpin.”

Her comment falls into the vat of silence accumulating between Ezra and me. We watch each other warily, furtively.

“So, no gummies,” Mona says, grabbing an unopened bottle of wine from the coffee table. “Wine? Join the party.”

“I think I’ll go actually,” he says, his voice deep and graveled. “I just wanted to let you know I was home early in case you needed anything.”

“Like a good neighbor,” Mona says. “Oooooh, what if I lived next door to the State Farm guy? He’s so fine on those commercials. I’d be borrowing sugar every day.”

“Yeah, well,” he says, his words clipped, controlled. “I’m gonna go.”

When he leaves, Mona looks at me and shakes her head. “Be careful, girl. If I were you, I wouldn’t.”

But she’s not me, and looking at the empty place where Ezra just stood, I already know I probably will.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Ezra

“Damn sprinklers.”

I crush the dried leaves of Noah’s tomatoes in my fist. The system has been unreliable for weeks. The timer’s been temperamental. It looks like the garden wasn’t watered at all while I was in New York.

“I need to get someone out here to check it,” I mutter, walking to the collard greens in the rear of the garden.

I do realize midnight is an odd time to perform such a thorough inspection of our vegetables, but it seems like as good a way as any to distract from the fact that Kimba is next door in Mona’s living room.

Her legs were flung carelessly over the side of the couch. Long and toned and the color of burnt honey. The bodice of her strapless dress barely contained her breasts. She probably didn’t realize the top of one nipple, like a drop of chocolate, was barely visible from just the right angle.

I stood at just the right angle.

Hell.

I drop to my haunches and check the soil the sprinklers would only reach when they oscillate. Looks like it hasn’t seen a drop of water.

A noise brings me to my feet. Kimba stands at the fence dividing my yard from Mona’s. She aims a tentative smile over a row of corn stalks. “Can I come in?”