Hooked #4 (The Hooked Romance Series - Book 4) Read Online Free Page A

kitchen, back toward the foyer. For
a moment, I thought surely that he was going to make me leave, that our fun was
over.
    But instead, he began leading me upstairs. I
followed him slowly, looking around me, trying to assess what could be done to
make this house what it could be. I placed my hand on my hair, feeling a bit
self-conscious. Was I the only person who’d ever seen this crumbling place
before? Did I really mean so much to him?
    He led me to the second of four floors. The long
hallway stretched before us, showing us ten small hotel rooms. He began rushing
down the hallway, opening each of the doors. “It’s all mine, can you believe
it?” he called back, laughing.
    I laughed too, walking behind his rushing form. I
peered into each room. They all had such a musty smell. I was certain they
hadn’t been used in many months. Even the bedspreads stayed on the bed, each
with a strange, flower-filled pattern.
    We reached the end of the hallway and then we spun
around, gazing down the path.
    “What could I do with this
floor, do you think?” he asked, scratching at his chin.
    I thought for a moment. “Would you
want this to be sort of like—the family room? We knock out all the
rooms, of course. And we have a fireplace that connects to the one downstairs.
We have grand couches, big televisions. For the games, or whatever.” I could see it forming in my head: this grand space with shining
wooden floors. “You could have a smaller, separate kitchen up here. One for different occasions. More microwaves,” I murmured,
tapping my nose.
    He laughed and tried to imagine it, closing his
eyes. “The sporting room. The game
room. The guy room.” He nodded and smiled at
me. “I love it. Let’s do more.”
    He rounded the corner to the staircase. We zoomed up
to the third floor and discovered that part of the floor had actually been used
as a small library. I suggested we expand the library, make it grand. “It could
be your study room—the room you drink coffee and read the paper in. The room
with the best view, certainly.” I peered out the window at the rushing streets
below, one of the books from the library in my hand. I loved this beautiful
place; it already felt sort of like a hiding spot from the rest of the world.
    “One more floor, Molly.” He led me up the steps to
the final floor. “I’ve already knocked out much of the rooms on this floor. I
want this to be my bedroom.” He opened the door and revealed the top floor.
Great, stretching windows flew over the bedspread, allowing us full view of the
stunning Chicago skyline. I caught my breath, sighing at the wonder of it.
    I walked toward the lights, placing my hand on the
window. “How gorgeous,” I murmured.
    Behind me was the bedroom he was building up, bit by
bit. The large bed was directly beneath the center of the skylight. It was
wrapped in a great, white comforter. It looked like it was perfectly made every
morning. I wondered if Drew was human.
    Next to the bed was a small little station, with a
large couch and a television. Drew tapped a button, and a movie came on the
screen. The Godfather. My heart leapt in my chest, and
I smiled at him. “I love this movie.”
    “Who doesn’t love this movie? Look. They’re in Italy
in this scene.”
    “Don’t you just love her dress,” I asked, walking
toward him. I sat on the couch, my mind lost in thought. I felt so comfortable,
so at peace, even with the Chicago world abuzz around me. I grabbed Drew’s hand
and led him to sit next to me. I gave him that secretive, pretty smile. He gave
in, of course, and collapsed next to me, wrapping his arm around me. We sipped
wine in silence, watching Michael Corleone walk through the Italian countryside
and fall in love: perhaps the only sweet and truly beautiful part of the whole
story.
    When the murders started once more, Drew and I
brought our eyes back together. We didn’t want to live in that world any more.
We wanted to be on the couch, there in