Total pages in book: 38
Estimated words: 34955 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 175(@200wpm)___ 140(@250wpm)___ 117(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34955 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 175(@200wpm)___ 140(@250wpm)___ 117(@300wpm)
Facing the family seemed to be more than I could handle tonight.
“I would rather just be with you,” I told him.
“That’s what I wanted to hear,” he replied. “Let’s go home.”
• Fourteen •
“My hope is she fucks her way through the southeast. Tries a wide variety of dick.”
Thatcher
She had whimpered and said random words like carrot, hay, and water. But it was the other words she’d muttered in her sleep. The ones that had been said when she was restless that I had struggled with. Holding her close to me and soothing her while the words dad and mom had fallen from her lips. The talking had been bad last night too. I tightened my hold on Capri and pressed my lips close to her ear.
“I have you, little doll. You’re safe,” I whispered several times.
My name, a whisper on her lips as she slept, helped calm the storm building inside me.
Her father would pay for this. Every selfish decision he had made, not once thinking about his daughter, he’d pay. And Charlene Jewel would have her revenge while living life as a wealthy woman. She may not see it now, but she would be happier because of the turn of events. Eventually.
It was just after five in the evening when I unlocked Clark Jewel’s apartment and walked inside. The place was clean, not luxurious, but on the nicer end of the scale. Chinese takeout and an open MacBook were on the coffee table.
“Hey babe,” Clark called from behind a closed door. “Your sesame chicken is on the table!”
I walked over, picked up a carton, and opened it—white rice. I sat it down and then picked up another kung pao chicken. Taking a pair of chopsticks, I helped myself before walking over to see what he’d been looking at on the MacBook.
Resorts in Fiji. Chewing the food in my mouth, I looked up his history to find that it was one of the many tropical locations he had been searching for.
When the door opened, I didn’t glance up to see him, but his sharp inhale told me he saw me.
“This Chinese is shit,” I told him, putting the carton down, then picking up the MacBook and throwing it against the wall hard enough to make it break and the screen shatter. “Terrible location choices too.”
“How did you get in here?” he asked, inching closer to another door.
I turned my head to look directly at him. His hair was damp, and only a towel was wrapped around his waist. “I’m not supposed to kill you, Clark, but we both know I don’t follow rules. Come sit. Don’t test me.”
I took another carton and found the sesame chicken. Deciding I’d eat that one, I leaned back, stuck the chopsticks inside, and got some while waiting for Clark to make a move.
“At least let me get dressed.”
“And grab a gun that will get you killed?” I asked him.
My eyes narrowed, and he began to move toward me, holding his towel tightly in his left hand. “Look, I know Capri is upset. But this has nothing to do with her.”
I chuckled, chewing the chicken I had put in my mouth. “That’s not the Jewel woman I’m here for,” I replied, enjoying the way his eyes widened. “Sit, minister,” I drew out the title with a sarcastic drawl.
He sat down slowly on the edge of a tacky blue chair that matched the sofa. “You can’t mean Charlene. She’d never send you to find me. She hates you.”
I laughed while taking another bite. That was fucking funny. Rubbing the back of my hand over my mouth, I continued grinning while swallowing. “Not as much as she does you.”
The wariness in his gaze as he glanced at the door.
“Oh, she’s not coming,” I told him. “I’m afraid Maelee’s been arrested for possession.” I tsked and shook my head. “I reckon five hundred grams of cocaine will get you locked up for a while. You should be more careful of the company you keep.”
His gaze swung back to me, anger and concern on his face that pissed me the fuck off. He sure as hell hadn’t been worried about his daughter. It was a shame I couldn’t slowly kill him. Watch him beg, cry, and bleed.
“What have you done?” he asked, his tone accusing. “Maelee doesn’t use cocaine. She wouldn’t even know where to get any!”
“Me?” I pointed at myself. “That hurts my feelings. You think so little of me. I’m a Marlboro man myself. Blow has never been my thing.”
He pointed a finger at me, and it trembled as he did. “You! What did you do?” So, fucking scared for the bitch but not giving a rat’s ass about Capri in all this.
I shrugged. “Well, I’ve done a lot, Clark. A whole fucking lot.”
“This isn’t your business. It’s not Capri’s. She is an adult. What I have chosen is not her concern.”