Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 67905 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 226(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67905 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 226(@300wpm)
“But you aren’t.”
I shook my head.
“Scarlett told me about the burglary. If you think it was a setup, all you need to do is some digging. Figure out which guys he uses most often and then get their photos. Show them to Scarlett and see if she recognizes them.”
I gave a shrug. “I’m not going to do that.”
“Why?”
“It’s done,” I said. “I’m done.”
Axel gave a slow nod of acceptance. “You want me to set you up with one of Scarlett’s friends?”
“No.”
“Some of them are pretty boobalicious.”
“Did you just admit you check out your wife’s friends?”
“Actually, she’s the one checking them out.” He smirked. “That’s how she describes them, and you know I’m here for it.”
I smirked back. “I’ll pass. I can get my own women.”
“Can you?” he asked playfully. “Seems like the only women you get are being paid to do so.”
“Shut the fuck up, Axel.”
He chuckled. “Since you’re receptive to a relationship these days—”
“I was never receptive. I’m not sure what would have happened between Astrid and me even if she had picked me.”
“You said you would try. I call that receptive. And if you’re receptive to her, maybe you would be receptive to someone else. All I’m saying is, you aren’t going to meet someone if you’re spending all your time underground like a vampire and fucking whores.”
I was too busy to meet a woman spontaneously. I didn’t go out to a bar often, not when I drank at home or at work. And I sure as fuck wasn’t on a dating app. I’d shoot myself in the head before I did that. “I’m not interested in looking. Too much talking and too much bullshit.”
“You didn’t seem to mind with Astrid.”
“Because she was different.”
“How?”
She had a smile that could light up the room…but an attitude that could set off grenades buried in the earth. “She already knew the game, so that saved a lot of tedious conversation.” Having to explain my job and my world to a woman who had an ordinary life didn’t sound appealing.
“And that was why you liked her?” he asked incredulously.
“No, but it helped.”
“Shayla wasn’t in the game.”
“Yeah, but…” It’d been so long that I had a hard time picturing her from memory. Not that I’d forgotten her, but I didn’t look at her photos. They were all packed up and hidden away because it was just too fucking hard. It was still painful. “A very different circumstance.”
He grabbed his glass and took a drink. “Sorry, man.”
“For what?”
“It still hurts you.”
“If Scarlett died, would it ever stop hurting?”
He looked down into his glass and shook the cubes to dodge the question.
I stared at his shirt and the big stain that still sat there. “You look like shit, by the way.”
He didn’t glance down like he already knew it was there. “I’m so used to it, I don’t even notice.”
“Not gonna lie, that sounds fucking terrible.”
Axel smirked. “Yes, you’ve made it clear how you feel about kids, Theo.”
“I love your kids, for what it’s worth. But I can’t imagine doing it myself.”
“If Shayla puked all over you, would that bother you?”
She had puked all over me. “No.”
“It’s like that. When you take your dog for a walk, you don’t mind picking up his shit. But another dog’s shit, forget about it. There’s this haze that settles over everything and makes even the most mundane things sparkle.”
“I’ll just have to take your word for it.”
Scarlett walked into the room, her eyes tired and her shirt wrinkled. “Glad you two made up.”
Axel patted his thigh for her to sit on his lap.
She eyed his shirt. “I’m not sure whose vomit that is.”
“I don’t remember.” He yanked off his shirt and bundled it up before he tossed it on the table. “Come here, baby.” He patted his thigh again.
“It’s okay,” she said. “I’ll let you boys talk.”
“You’re one of the boys,” I said. “Come on.”
She looked at me, and a slow smile moved on to her lips.
“Now, get over here,” Axel said. “My dick is cold.”
She rolled her eyes like Axel was obnoxious, but there was a smile on her face that she couldn’t hide. She dropped into his lap, and his arms immediately circled her body like vipers, and he pulled her close.
“The babies are asleep?” he asked.
“Yep.”
“Thank god,” he said. “Have a drink.” He handed her his glass.
She took a drink and didn’t make a face when the booze lit up her throat.
I watched them together, remembering my chaotic and tumultuous time with Shayla. By the time I saw her meteor in the sky, she was already crash-landing into the earth and destroying everything in her path—including herself. There was nothing I could do to stop it. We were doomed from the moment our eyes met that night.
I would have been better off if I’d just walked away when I had the chance. She’d known it. I’d fucking known it.