Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 83772 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83772 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Axel stared down at his glass for a while. “That’s shitty.”
“Why?”
“If you’re there to kill him, she’ll probably get in the way. If he’s not there, you’re going to…force her cooperation. Neither of those are good options for you.”
The only women I dealt with at work were whores and bartenders. I’d never struck a woman or forced her to do anything. I was lucky that men were the only recipients of my rage. “I don’t have a choice. He’s gotta go.”
Axel nodded in understanding. “I get it. Do what you gotta do.”
“What about you? Ever killed a woman?”
“No.”
“Ever done anything else?”
He stirred his glass again. “Nope. I’ve choked Scarlett a couple times, but she liked it.”
My eyes narrowed. “Axel.”
“Come on, we both know I’m a big pussy when it comes to women. I’d rather let a woman beat me bloody than retaliate. As a distributor, I really didn’t have any of those kinds of issues. Never had to threaten someone’s wife or daughter or anything like that.”
I didn’t either. I was in a men’s club, and I liked it that way. But if Bolton was shacked up with this woman, then she would probably be a problem. “If this woman was in a relationship with Bolton for years, then it was probably serious. If she was upset when he broke things off, then she probably loves him.”
“And she might be willing to die for him.”
“Exactly what I’m worried about.” She was probably just a stupid girl who’d fallen for the lies of a smooth-talking prick, but I’d kill her if I had to.
“Do what you gotta do,” he said. “Your life isn’t worth risking. Astrid’s life isn’t either.”
“Yeah.” I suspected if I told Astrid the truth, she’d make me promise to spare the woman. A lesser woman would want the other woman to be dead, but not her. She would say they were the same person, both fooled by the same asshole. “It was nice of Scarlett to take Astrid out.”
“I noticed she’s more maternal toward others ever since becoming a mom.”
“Yeah.”
“She puts up with my bullshit a lot better too.”
I smirked. “Woman deserves a medal.”
“Trust me, she’s well rewarded.” He grinned like a high school boy.
Our conversation had been so serious a moment ago, but the second his wife was mentioned, he perked up like he was on vacation. “Did Astrid say anything about me?”
“What do you mean?” He took a drink.
“Did Scarlett say anything when she came home?”
“About you?” he asked incredulously. “My wife isn’t in high school, man.”
My eyes narrowed.
“No, she didn’t say anything. Not saying that means Astrid didn’t talk about you, but my baby isn’t a snitch.”
I grabbed my glass and took a drink.
“If there’s something you want to know, you could ask Astrid yourself.”
My fingers rested on the top of the glass, and I swirled it, watching the ice cubes shake and tap against the inside.
“Something you want to know?”
“Not in particular.”
“How are you guys doing?”
Once I stopped trying to sabotage our every move, things had gotten better, headed in a direction I didn’t want them to go. “Better.”
“They were bad before?”
“I was a dick to her.”
“You’re always a dick. To everyone.”
“Well, I was an exceptionally big dick to her.”
“Why?”
I took another drink and watched him stare me down. “It became too real, too fast. I was fucking a married woman, and then I found myself…in a relationship. Once I became aware of that fact, I tried to tear it down. Like I always do.”
“Like you did with me,” he teased.
“Yeah, pretty much.”
“And now that you aren’t being an exceptionally big dick, are you happy?”
“Happy.” I uttered the word like it was the first time I’d ever said it. Like it was in a language I didn’t understand. “That’s too harsh a word.”
“Hate is too harsh a word.”
“Not for me. It’s in my everyday vocabulary.”
“So, are you happy or not?”
I’d never been happy my whole life. Even when I was married, I was miserable because I knew how it was going to end, with me as a widower. Even when I smoked and exchanged laughs with my brother, that wasn’t happiness. It was just a brief respite from the grind and hustle of my misery. Even my best moments with Axel weren’t happy ones. “No.”
He cocked his head slightly.
“Are you?”
He continued to stare at me like he didn’t understand the question. “You really need to ask?”
“No…I guess I don’t.” He grinned every time Scarlett was mentioned. Smirked whenever she walked into the room. Lit up like the sun whenever he talked about his kids. He was a different man from the one he’d been when he’d had to dump Scarlett and pretend it was for someone else. He was the lowest he’d ever been, low like I was now.
“You got the woman you want, Theo.”