Total pages in book: 212
Estimated words: 207966 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1040(@200wpm)___ 832(@250wpm)___ 693(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 207966 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1040(@200wpm)___ 832(@250wpm)___ 693(@300wpm)
“Yeah, I am,” I replied, evenly.
And at her finally throwing full-on sass at me, my dick was now fully hard for some fucking reason. “Sharing my bed with you, for fuck sakes, I’ll probably be an asshole tomorrow, too. So be prepared for that and do your best to not get on my fuckin’ nerves.”
She didn’t answer me, but the energy in the room was such I knew she was steaming. And I did not give a fuck. Hopefully, this shit wouldn’t last long; I didn’t have the patience for it.
She made this room feel like a cage. Feel as small as it did when I shared a cell with three other inmates for seven hundred and twenty-nine days.
It took ten minutes for my cock to finally go soft, for fuck’s sake, and as I started to finally drift, I heard a sniffle in the dark. And then a shuddering breath.
She was crying.
Fucking great.
3
“Goin’ all right with Gia?” Deke asked when he phoned at eight o’clock in the morning.
“It’s goin’,” I replied.
“Problems?” he pressed.
“She slept all day yesterday, so I told her she needed to be cuffed to the bed while I slept so she couldn’t go wandering and she was antsy about it, talked to you and agreed, then when it came down to it, had some triggered childhood trauma panic attack, so yeah… bit ‘o drama.”
“Shit.”
“Went through her shit and her phone was clean, maybe too clean. The only thing I wasn’t clear on is a couple journals she’s got. I’ll go through ‘em today.”
“Probably don’t need to do that,” he put in.
“No?” I asked.
“Unless she gives you a reason, don’t bother. My experience, most women’ll go apeshit when you dig into their private shit. Got a teenage daughter, believe me, I know. No point upsetting her unless you got belief she’s hidin’ something related to this war.”
“Whatever you say,” I replied, but knew I injected doubt into my reply.
“She’s never given us reason to think she’s not trustworthy. Checked with my boys and the only one concerned is Ride. Though, Ride was the one most affected by the shit that Kailey gash pulled. Spency’s of the mind Gia’s on the up n’ up and of my boys, seems like he knows her best. But watch. I trust your judgement.”
“Thanks, Prez. Will do.”
“Right, Jess… gotta run here, but thanks again for keepin’ an eye.”
“No problem. Later.”
I was in the parking lot, having just finished another patrol of all three buildings and the construction zone out back. After hanging up, I got back upstairs and put the gun into the cabinet behind the bar and locked it. With the shit those fuckers had been pulling, I was taking no chances being out in the open in the parking lot. Way too much wide-open space for comfort and no way would I want to leave a gun in my room where my hostage could find it.
She was coming down the hall wrapped in just a towel. She looked panicked when she spotted me.
“I waited for half an hour, and I had to pee,” she defended. “And then I took a shower. I left you a note.”
I leaned against the wall in the mouth of the hall and replied, “You don’t have to get my permission to use the can.”
Her shoulders relaxed.
“Don’t give me any reason to take that freedom away. You’re in the bathroom, then back in my room. Nowhere else.”
“Okay,” she nodded. “Can I get coffee?”
I jutted my chin toward the kitchen.
She took two steps in that direction.
“Correction: go put some clothes on.” My eyes traveled the length of her of their own volition. “I’m grabbin’ coffee for myself, so I’ll bring you one. Need food?”
“Oh, thanks. Can you maybe… uh…” she let that hang, looking nervous.
“What?” I pushed.
“Maybe make me some more scrambled eggs? Whatever you did last night… those were the best eggs I ever tasted.” She smiled. “I don’t normally go for scrambled eggs, but those made my toes curl.”
“They were just eggs,” I replied flatly, willing my brain to not think about what else might make her toes curl. “Just threw some cheese and salsa in.”
“They were good. I could eat them every day.”
I walked to the fridge, ending the conversation.
***
“Do you have a problem with me?” she asked when I walked into my room with eggs and her coffee.
“Why would I have a problem with you?” I asked, setting them on the dresser and resisting the urge to look at the girl’s tits, which were barely covered by her green crop top. Her matching shorts weren’t much better. Skintight, barely covering her ass. Her hair was wet and tied into a long braid, draped over her chest, a strip of leather wrapped around the end.
“I dunno,” she shrugged and toyed with her braid, “You’ve been pretty miserable. Thought I might’ve done or said something or…” She shrugged again.