Total pages in book: 50
Estimated words: 46751 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 234(@200wpm)___ 187(@250wpm)___ 156(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46751 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 234(@200wpm)___ 187(@250wpm)___ 156(@300wpm)
Chapter Eight
Kenna
"You've lost your fucking mind if you think you're firing him by yourself, Sparrow," Gideon growls, glaring at me from the driver's seat of his truck. "Not happening."
"Gideon, it's my responsibility. It's my career." I tuck pieces of hair behind my ears, trying to talk sense into him. As soon as I mentioned firing John, he got cranky. He thinks he should be there when I do it. I think that'd just be adding fuel to the fire. This is a business decision. It needs to stay that way. "I know you want to protect me, but you can't do this for me. I have to put on my big girl undies and do it myself."
"Just because he isn't the one responsible for all of this shit doesn't mean he isn't dangerous."
"You think he's dangerous?"
"A lot of men don't handle rejection well, Kenna," he says gently. "Especially predatory assholes. If he's one of them, you don't need to be alone with him when you fire him."
"I didn't think about that," I admit, dropping my head back against the seat with a heavy sigh. "When did life get so complicated?"
"Right about the time you grew boobs. Men and boys are idiots."
I snort laughter. He's not wrong. That is about the time life got complicated. "Are you saying you're an idiot, Marine?"
"Who me? Never." He smirks. "But you haven't met my brothers. There aren't two bigger idiots on the face of this planet than those two."
I laugh again, truly amused. "I bet they're just like you."
"Hell, no they aren't. Zayne's a fucking crazy person," he swears. "And Zion's a control freak."
"You are definitely just like them then. You're a crazy person and a control freak."
"Am not," he mutters.
"You are."
He growls at me, but I see the humor in his gaze. He knows darn well he's just like his brothers. "I bet you guys drove your mom crazy. Two more boys just like you?" I whistle, shaking my head. "Lord have mercy, Marine. She must be a saint."
"Ha!" He throws his head back, booming laughter. "Ma is batshit crazy. We're all terrified of her."
"I want to meet her."
"Yeah?" He turns to look at me, his eyes bright. "You do?"
"I do." I smile at him. "She sounds awesome."
"I'll take you." He grimaces. "But not yet, Sparrow. I don't want her scaring you off until you've got my ring on your finger."
"Gideon," I groan.
"I'm serious. She knows all the terrible shit I did as a kid. I can't have her divulging that dirt until you're in love with me."
"You couldn't have been that bad."
"I tried to donate Zayne's body to science."
"What?" I laugh abruptly.
"The local medical school was going to take him too. Ma nearly had a heart attack when the hospital called to find out what funeral home he was at. He was spending the night with a buddy. She was mad as hell when she realized what I did." He grimaces. "I didn't know they only took dead bodies. I just wanted to get rid of him so I could have my own room."
"That's terrible!" I cry, wiping tears. "Your poor mom."
"Poor Ma? I couldn't sit down for a fucking week after Dad got ahold of me, Sparrow. He was so mad I made her cry. It was the last time I did that shit until I joined the Marines."
"She cried when you enlisted?"
"Yeah," he says quietly. "She didn't want any of her babies going to war."
"She sounds amazing."
"She is." He reaches for my hand, drawing it up to his lips. "She's going to love you."
"I can't wait to meet her."
"You going to let me meet your mom?"
"You want to meet my mom?" I ask, a little surprised. Aren't guys supposed to be terrified to meet the family?
"Hell, yeah. I want to know where you came from, Sparrow. I bet she's as sweet as you are."
"She is sweet." I smile. "She's a little crazy too."
"I mean, so are you and your brother, so it only stands to reason."
"We are not crazy," I gasp.
"Uh, have you met you?" He cuts his eyes at me, smirking. "You and Kane argue damn near as much as me and my brothers. And you're sassy as shit, Sparrow."
"Am not," I lie. I'm totally sassy. But that's Kane's fault. He's the one who taught me to stand up for myself and never accept less than I deserve. When you have a brother willing to go to war for you, you learn to go to war for yourself, too. And I kind of have to be sassy to put up with Kane. He's a stubborn pain in the butt. If I weren't sassy, he'd run roughshod over me.
"You are," Gideon says, kissing my fingers again as he pulls up in front of the studio. "But I fucking love all that sass. It's sexy as hell, Kenna." He throws the truck in park before turning to me. "Wait here while I go make sure everything is okay inside."