Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 72822 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 364(@200wpm)___ 291(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72822 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 364(@200wpm)___ 291(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
But I needed more information.
Marianne hadn’t only gotten a promise about Cobie out of me. She’d also charged me with protecting Mary, and at this point in my life, I’d charge through the gates of hell to make sure she was safe.
She was all I had left, and I was going to make sure that she had everything she needed, that she was safe and happy and healthy.
Anything she needed, she was going to get.
I’d make sure of it.
“My name is Dante.” I got out of the truck and held out my hand.
The man took it, shook it, and dropped it without giving his name.
I felt a grin tug at the corner of my lips.
“I’m here to see someone,” I said. “Sam Mackenzie.”
The man’s eyes narrowed.
“What do you want to see him for?”
I admired his hesitancy.
“The mother of my daughter, Marianne Garwood, died six months ago. She told me that her daughter would always be in danger from her ex-husband and that if I ever felt that things were getting out of hand, to find y’all.”
Cobie inhaled behind me.
I’d left that part out. Oops.
The man’s eyes narrowed on the woman who was standing practically all the way behind me, and then flicked back to me.
“I’m Sam,” he said, his shoulders slumping slightly. “Get in the car and drive around to the big gray building. Follow the drive until you get to it. I’ll be there in a minute.”
I nodded, then gestured for Cobie, who’d followed my lead, to get into the truck.
“You didn’t tell me you had her daughter.”
“My daughter, too,” I muttered. “And you didn’t ask.”
She didn’t have anything to say to that, and I didn’t bother to explain myself. She’d learn everything along with the rest of them in just a few minutes anyway.
***
Twenty minutes later we were in a conference room. Cobie was sitting next to me, and we were waiting for the men to arrive.
Rafe, a man who—among other things—worked with my brother, was sitting across the table from us, watching with unconcealed interest.
I ignored him. When I’d left Hostel earlier in the day, he’d been working.
Now he was here.
He needed to be fired.
“Why is Drake living in your house?”
She grimaced.
“Apparently, Drake had to sell his house to help pay for Marianne’s cancer treatments. I felt bad, so I let them use the house that I was living in before my grandfather left me this place.”
“He pay rent?”
She nodded. “He insisted, actually. A thousand a month.”
I grunted.
“Thousand a month is pretty steep. What part of town?”
That came from Rafe.
“Wildwood.”
He blinked. “You moved out of Wildwood, to a house in the historical district, and you’re letting someone live in it for a thousand a month?”
It was obvious that he didn’t agree with her decision.
“She was my best friend, and he was her husband. What did you want me to do, let them live on the streets while she battled cancer?”
Rafe shrugged.
The door to the office slammed, and soon three men were making their way into the conference room, taking various chairs around the table and sitting.
All of them were big.
They were all Army.
I could tell by the tattoos that each one of them had on their arm.
Huh, go figure.
“This is Jack,” Sam, who’d taken a seat directly across from me, pointed to his left.
I nodded my head at Jack, taking in his dark eyes and even darker hair. “Nice to meet you.”
Jack didn’t reply.
“This is Max,” Sam gestured to his right. “They both worked on Marianne’s case.”
I didn’t bother offering a hello to Max. He was scowling at me like I’d done something wrong.
“And I think you know Rafe.”
I nodded. “I do.”
“Tell us what’s going on.”
I looked over at Cobie before turning back to Sam.
“It’s easier to start from the beginning,” I muttered.
“Please do,” Rafe said sarcastically.
I narrowed my eyes at him.
“Why am I giving you a paycheck when you’re not even doing your job?”
Rafe’s lips tipped up. “I am doing my job. Right now, in fact.”
My brows rose, and I pulled out my phone, looking at the log of calls and pick-ups we were supposed to be filling right now. “You are? Because right now, I show that there are four outstanding recoveries that need to be made. You’re on the clock, am I correct?”
I might not have put in the hours that I should have over the last couple of years, but that didn’t mean that I didn’t keep tabs on my business. Not to mention that before Lily had passed, we’d created an app that literally showed us all impending pick-ups when they were entered into the computer—and still did, to that fact.
Rafe grinned. “Sure.”
I growled under my breath and turned to Sam, who showed no surprise at either Rafe being there when he shouldn’t be, or me knowing that Rafe shouldn’t be there.
“I had a one-night stand with Marianne when she lived across the street from my brother. After leaving that night, she disappeared, then showed back up with a baby she said was mine. She told me that she couldn’t take care of her any longer and that it was my turn.”