Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 82715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
“Babysit your ex, you mean,” Otto grumbled.
“Just do it, yeah?”
“Not like I have a choice,” he replied, throwing his arms in the air.
“You really don’t,” Rumi mused, punching him lightly in the stomach.
“Thanks, turbo,” I said to Otto as he walked backward toward the clubhouse.
“Jesus, are you ever gonna stop callin’ me that?” he spat, not waiting on an answer as he spun around.
“You told us to call you Turbo,” Rumi reminded him.
“I was five,” Otto yelled over his shoulder, flipping us off.
“You think that’s a good idea?” Rumi asked me as we got into his truck. “Sendin’ Otto to hang with Em?”
“Better than no one,” I murmured, swiping my hair back from my face. “I’m guessin’ that fuckwad is on his way back to Arizona by now, but I’d rather someone was with them at the house in case he’s feelin’ squirrely.”
“Coulda asked Dad.”
“Dad woulda just brought them to his house,” I said with a sigh as I tried to keep my knee from bouncing. “And I’m guessin’ Emilia’s gonna need some downtime after that shit show we just witnessed.”
“Can’t believe our little Em stole money from the safe in a strip club,” Rumi replied with a chuckle. “Didn’t think she had it in her.”
“Fuckin’ stupid,” I mumbled. “Have a feelin’ if he’d caught her in the act, he wouldn’t have called the police.”
“Lucky she came straight home, huh?” Rumi said, glancing at me.
“Yeah, real lucky. Too bad she didn’t say shit to me about it.”
“Feelin’ out of the loop, big brother?”
“I’m feelin’ like I shoulda known that she’d stolen money from some asshole who was just enough of a fuck to drive a thousand miles to get that shit back,” I countered. “He coulda caught up to her at any point.”
“He didn’t.”
“He could’ve.”
“Where you at with Emilia?” Rumi asked after a long pause. “You two back together?”
“No.”
“Sure looked like it back at the club.”
“We’re not back together.”
“Livin’ together.”
“Strictly hands off.”
“That ain’t gonna last long.”
“Why are you so interested?”
“Because I’m waitin’ for you to figure it out.” He paused. “Plus there’s a pool—”
“You’re betting on us,” I replied flatly.
“In more ways than one.” He chuckled. “I figured you’d pull your head out within twenty-four hours. I’m actually kind of impressed by how long you’ve held out.”
“We can’t just pick up where we left off, Rum,” I said quietly. “Doesn’t work that way.”
“Don’t see why not. You love her, she loves you, you both love Rhett. Boom. Instant family.”
“I’ll probably always love her—”
“She’s easy to love,” he said simply.
“But she took off, man,” I reminded him. “Not sure that’s forgivable, yeah?”
“Okay,” Rumi said seriously. “So, what’s the plan then?”
“No idea. Break shit, I guess.” I leaned my head back against the seat and closed my eyes, counting backward from one hundred.
Chapter 11
Emilia
I sat next to Callie, surprisingly numb. After worrying for the last week and a half that Parker would find us, I’d somehow pushed it to the back of my mind once we were safely ensconced in Michael’s house. I’d gotten overconfident.
I should’ve known that the minute I let my guard down, something would happen. The fact that he’d actually come to the club surprised me though. For some reason, I’d thought that just my association with the club would be enough to deter him from bothering us.
Five thousand dollars. What a lying sack of shit. I’d taken what he owed me and not a penny more. What bothered me about the whole thing wasn’t even that he’d lied or followed us up here. It had been the look in his eyes when he’d seen my nervousness. Parker didn’t need the money I’d taken. It was mine, and we both knew it. He was pissed that he hadn’t won. That he’d made a pass, and I’d turned him down and then when he’d tried to force the situation, I’d taken off and there was nothing he could do about it. We’d gotten away, and I’d gotten paid, and that killed him. It made him furious, and I was beginning to see that it made him unpredictable, too.
“Hey, Emilia?” Nova said, coming up behind me. “Micky asked me to give you these.” She set Michael’s keys on the table.
“What?” I asked blankly. “Where is he?”
Nova shrugged. “He left with Rumi.”
“He left the property?” I asked in disbelief as I got to my feet. “Are you sure?”
“Pretty sure,” she answered uncomfortably.
“Where the hell would he go?” I looked at Callie, but she was talking to someone at the table behind her.
Nova shrugged.
I stuffed the keys in my pocket and headed toward the center of the room where Rhett was playing with Lincoln Logs on the floor. He was surrounded by other kids, and if I’d taken a minute to look at them, I’d probably be able to tell who they belonged to, but I didn’t have the time. I scooped Rhett up and tickled him to keep him from screaming as I walked toward the front door. As soon as we were outside, I marched toward the parking lot, coming to a stop at the edge when I realized I had no idea what Rumi drove.