Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 131888 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 528(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131888 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 528(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
He had no idea what it was about Liyah that drew him. Yes, they had experienced a similar loss but that was the only thing in common between them.
She was rich. He was far from it.
She had children. He had none.
She was white collar. His collar was solid blue.
She was the queen of her own empire. He was only a grunt in the trenches.
He used to be satisfied with his life. He never needed much, only a roof over his head, the love of a good woman, his loyal brothers and a steady income.
He didn’t need a hot sports car, a mansion, designer clothes and a fat bank account.
People and close relationships were more important to him than things. But then, that was the way he’d been raised. Love and family had always been more important to his mother than objects.
Like Liyah, his mother had raised him by herself. She was another loss that made his heart break. His mother had been a hard-working, good woman who unfortunately made bad choices when it came to men.
The same way Liyah had with the father of her youngest son.
Maybe Keenan’s father turned out to be a piece of shit, but at least the man hadn’t caused major emotional or physical damage to Liyah. The last man his mother had a serious relationship with still sat in prison to this day. He would die in prison if Nox had anything to do with it, while his mother rested eternally in the cemetery plot next to Jackie and his daughter.
All because she had put her trust in the wrong man.
That bastard rotting behind bars might not be karma but it was damn close.
He sneered. Kevin was lucky that the police grabbed him before Nox did. The asshole left Nox motherless at eighteen. The whole reason he joined the Army and afterward became a cop.
His career goal became to put away monsters like Kevin. Men who pretended to love and respect women on the surface but at their very core hated them. They were pros at faking it until it was too late.
One day it became too late for his mother.
The difference between losing his mother and losing his wife, was the fact what Kevin did pissed Nox off so badly, he could kill that motherfucker with his bare hands. Jackie’s death was an accident. His mother’s wasn’t.
Thinking about what that motherfucker did was not the path he wanted to be on today. Not after his breakdown in Liyah’s kitchen yesterday morning.
After pulling his bike through, he closed The Plant’s back gate and drove it around to the side lot where he normally parked. He noticed a few other bikes parked there.
Most of the time the task force left their four-wheeled vehicles in the bigger lot directly behind the building, leaving the side lot open for any two-wheeled rides. But being Sunday evening, the only task force members up on the third floor would be anyone assigned to listen to “dirty talk.” That meant some Blue Avengers were hanging out downstairs.
He could go up to his apartment and be anti-social or he could stop in and hang with them. Or at least say hello.
He noticed the more time he spent with Liyah, the less he was tempted to hide.
Once he shut off his bike and covered it for the night, he pulled open the side door and stepped inside the club’s meeting room. As he rounded the conference table—not as long as the one on the third floor—he spotted a piece of trash on the floor. When he paused to pick it up, he heard voices coming from the common area.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Nox straightened after picking the balled-up receipt off the floor and continued toward the open doorway, only to slam on the brakes when he heard Crew ask, “Have you noticed the difference in him?”
Was that about him?
Nox heard Axel Jamison next. “Do you think it has to do with the ultimatum?”
Jesus. They were definitely discussing him. And without him present. Of fucking course.
“What else could it be?” Crew asked.
With a shake of his head, Nox leaned a shoulder against the wall.
“I don’t see him as often as you, Crew,” Cross said, “that makes it easier for me to see the difference. You see him every day.”
“How about you, Prez? You don’t see him as much, either. What do you think?”
“I agree with Cross. It’s seems like he’s improving a little more every week. Something is shifting for the better,” Jamison answered Crew.
“That’s a fucking relief,” the task force leader mumbled.
“Let’s hope it continues in the right direction,” the BAMC president continued. “We thought he was improving before and then finding Sadie derailed him again.”
“Well, we can’t keep him fucking bubble wrapped. He’s not only a cop, he’s a member of my task force team. He’s going to see shit. People are ugly to each other every goddamn day. If he can’t handle it, he needs to get a job at McDonald’s or something.”