Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 160684 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 803(@200wpm)___ 643(@250wpm)___ 536(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 160684 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 803(@200wpm)___ 643(@250wpm)___ 536(@300wpm)
“What?” she asked as he picked her up and carried her over to where Grady was sitting, watching them closely.
Steele sat and settled her on his lap so she was straddling him. “You need to get this right now, Effie. We have your back. Maybe you’ve been doing it alone for a long time, but that stopped the moment you became ours. That means that if someone comes at you, bothers you, upsets you, we take care of it. Even better, we fucking stop it before it can get that far. So no, you do not get some fucker saying shit like that to you without us doing something about it. Now. Do. You. Get. Me?”
“I get you,” she whispered.
And this time, he thought she did. About time.
Wrapping his hand around the back of her head, he brought her in for a kiss. A kiss he should have had a while ago, if he hadn’t been busy fucking throwing some asshole out.
Grady tried to move and Steele grabbed his arm. “Where do you think you’re going?” He was not in the mood for anyone to push him right now.
“Just going to check that guy is gone.”
“You are not chasing him down.”
“Chasing him down?” Effie looked at Grady in surprise.
“No jumping anyone in a dark alley,” Steele warned.
“What?” she whispered.
“No, Grady,” he repeated as the other man narrowed his gaze at him.
“You don’t get to tell me no.”
“Our girl is here in a shit-hot dress, looking like a dream. That guy is an idiot and a prick, but he’s gone. And we both know if you want to track him down and ruin him, you can do that later. Right now, are you really choosing fucking him up over being with our baby?”
Grady looked down at Effie and his face softened. “I was promised a blow job. And there’s the gifts we have for her.”
“We better get on with giving her those, then.”
“I don’t need gifts,” she said. But her tension had eased and she looked curious.
“That’s tough, baby girl,” he told her. “Because you’re getting them.”
A knock and the sound of Trev calling out his name made him groan. “Christ.”
“That’s what you get when you’re The Boss,” Grady said.
Fuck. Him.
“What is it, Trev?” he barked, setting Effie down next to him.
Trev walked in, giving him a nervous glance. “There’s a guy here to see you. Said his name is Wolfe.”
Motherfucking bastard.
“Fucking Wolfe. I’m over his fucking shit. Where is he?”
“Downstairs in the foyer.”
“Take him to Grady’s office,” Steele ordered. “Stay there with him. I’ll be there in a minute to make shit very clear.”
Trev’s eyes widened. “Uh, sure. Okay.” Trev turned and took off.
“Damon, I think you intimidate him.”
He glanced over at his girl as she stared at him worriedly. “Good. That’s what I was aiming for.”
She wiggled a finger at him. “It’s not nice to intimidate people, especially if you’re their boss. What if Trev has a problem? He won’t think he can come to you.”
“He better not come to me,” he grumbled. “He starts coming to me with his fucking problems just shoot me in the fucking head. I am not here for them to off-load their problems onto me. I have enough of my own.”
“Oh no, what’s wrong? Is there something I can do?”
He stared down at her for a long moment. Then his eyes filled with heat. “Fuck, my girl. So damn sweet. You were right, Grady.”
“I usually am,” Grady drawled, making her giggle. “But what was I right about this time?”
“When you find sweet, you hold on tight, and you don’t let it go.”
“You need to learn to listen to me more,” Grady said. “I’m as smart as I am handsome. Which means I’m really fucking smart.”
She giggled again.
Christ. He loved listening to her giggle. And he also loved the carefree look on Grady’s face. He didn’t know when the man had grown so serious. Maybe it had been happening slowly over the past few years.
But Effie was bringing the old Grady back. And Steele wanted that with a hunger that surprised him.
“I’ll be back soon.”
“Hurry,” she whispered. “I miss you already.”
So fucking sweet.
Fucking Wolfe.
He hoped he got the message now. Steele wasn’t calling his guys back. Wolfe should’ve had a better hold on his men in the first place, then they wouldn’t have caused Steele a headache, coming into Pinkies and upsetting his girls.
And he wouldn’t be looking to teach them a lesson.
He stomped up the stairs after talking to Wolfe. And thought he’d died and gone to fucking heaven. Grady was sitting back on the sofa with his arms along the back while Effie was on her knees between his legs, sucking his fat cock into her mouth.
“Fuck me. How long did I take?”
“Too long,” Grady replied. “I had to start giving Effie her gifts.”