Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 59804 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 299(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59804 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 299(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
I took a sip of my coffee and walked up toward the freshman dorms where I first met Trace. I could almost see that car coming down the lane again, her jumping out of it, hugging Frank, and then all her clothes getting scattered in the breeze while the guys and I just watched the train wreck happen.
She’d wrecked me that day in the best way possible. It had always been her. It would always be her for me. Always.
“Reminiscing?” Chase joined me on top of the small hill facing the gates to Eagle Elite, “Or did you maybe bring a flask of Tex’s finest whiskey and leave the group, so you don’t get judged for not drinking wine?”
I rolled my eyes, reached into my back pocket, and handed it to Chase.
“Knew it.” He took a swig. “Ah, it tastes like dirt and money. I like it.”
“You steal my whiskey?” Tex joined us, followed by Phoenix.
Phoenix crossed his arms and snorted. “When do they not steal your whiskey?”
“How do you know these things?” Chase asked. “Like I truly want to know what your secret is. Do you have hidden cameras everywhere? Blink twice if you’re an alien. Zombie.”
Phoenix shoved him away. “You’re an idiot.”
Chase dangled the flask in front of him. Rolling his eyes, Phoenix took a swig and started choking. “What do they put in that?”
“Pure testosterone from bull testicles,” Tex said with a completely straight face.
Phoenix went completely white.
I snorted out a laugh. “Can kill anyone but can’t drink testicles, noted.”
“Should anyone though, be drinking testicles?” Phoenix asked.
“I was joking.” Tex elbowed him, his eyes meeting mine. “It’s been a few years since we’ve all stood here like this.”
Chase cleared his throat. “Yeah.”
“And now wives,” Phoenix said on an exhale.
“Kids,” I added.
“And more coming,” Tex said, looking over at the crowd gathered around the tables. “We can’t protect them all.”
“We’ll try,” I vowed. “We’ll try not to let them make the same mistakes we did. It’s all we can do. Try.”
Nostalgia punched me in the gut when a pristine black Lincoln started driving along the long pathway toward us. It stopped directly in front of the dorm, and out popped Luca and Frank, the men who’d helped us build this empire brick by brick because it was originally built on their backs.
“We have wine!” Luca announced. He held up a box of wine, turned slightly toward us, and inclined his head with a smile before walking toward all the screaming kids who were currently making a beeline for the man who always had candy in his pockets.
Dante, Sergio, Dom, Ax, Andrei, and Vic chose that moment to join us on that small hill. All of us stood in a line.
Frank eyed me, Chase, and so forth until Vic at the very end. He nodded and shoved his hands in his pockets. “I want to say we did good, but you boys did this yourselves. You’ve done your Family proud. You’ve done me proud.” He smirked at me. “Even you, Nixon, even you.”
He wiped his cheeks with his white hanky and looked away. “Now I’m gonna go see a man about some wine.”
“Told you it wasn’t the end,” I said when Andrei came to stand on my other side.
He laughed. “I guess there’s always room for a new generation.”
“We’ll need rules,” Tex added. “So they don’t mess up like we did.”
“They’ll mess up, trust me when I say they’ll mess up,” Chase grumbled.
“We’ll guide them,” Dante added.
Sergio looked straight ahead. “It can’t be worse than killing your own father in cold blood and then dating a girl because she moos in front of the entire school.”
All eyes turned to me.
“He was already sick!” I yelled defensively. “And she mooed to piss me off!”
“So self-absorbed.” Chase rolled his eyes. “You know, she liked me first.”
“TAKE IT BACK!” I roared as I ran toward Chase.
Phoenix rolled his eyes. “Why am I suddenly the mature one.”
Tex burped. “Because you owe us?”
“Fair.” Phoenix chased after me yelling, “Don’t kill him. You’ll make Luc sad!”
We chased Chase while the rest of the guys left, all but Phoenix, Tex, and Chase and me. I was too out of breath to care.
Chase handed me the flask like a peace offering. I took a drink and handed it back. He did the same.
“How, though, really?” I caught my breath. “How do we protect them?”
Tex was the first to answer that time. “Love them hard even through the mistakes they’ll make over and over and try not to strangle them when they talk shit.”
“I bet the one who talks the most shit will be Junior,” I joked. “I guarantee it.”
“Serena literally tried to pull one of his teeth last night so she could earn more money for her piggy bank,” Phoenix added. “So you sure about that?”
“She’s three!”
“Exactly,” Phoenix agreed. “Exactly.”