Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 155798 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 779(@200wpm)___ 623(@250wpm)___ 519(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 155798 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 779(@200wpm)___ 623(@250wpm)___ 519(@300wpm)
“Nothing. What’s up?”
“Uh… Okay. An update for you. The judge granted Shannon visitation.”
Brett’s mouth tightened. “Supervised?”
“Unsupervised.”
“Shit! How?”
“Because we can only prove neglect. No abuse.”
Brett’s hands tightened around the steering wheel. “You told them about Sammy’s protocol?”
“We did, and while the judge said he was also alarmed by that, there was no proof anything of that sort had happened.”
“What the fuck does that mean?”
“They asked Sammy if a man had ever come into her room at night, and she said no. She said it was just a caution, course she pronounced it as a cahdish.”
Brett shook his head, a slight grin showing before it was gone again. “When does that start?”
“Immediately. Judge said there’s no reason to wait. Shannon’s been acting like a good little parent. You know how she is.”
“She’s thinking of this as a long con.”
“Yeah, but I’m also calling on behalf of Stevie. You guys play the Orcas in three weeks?”
“At San Diego, yeah.”
“They want to come. Stevie, Georgie, Sammy. And they want my family to come with them.”
“No Shannon.”
“Of course not,” the guy scoffed. “Georgie and Sammy might want their mom there, but Stevie has refused to have anything to do with her.”
“Good girl.”
The guy—who I was assuming was the half-brother—bit out an abrupt laugh. He wasn’t sounding happy. “She’s smart. I could see Stevie growing up with the mission of destroying her mother when she’s older, and she’s got the means to do so. And if Shannon does ever change and become a good person, Stevie may still move forward with her plan of destruction, just out of spite.”
Brett shook his head. “She’s got good reason. She’s endured Shannon more than we ever had to.”
“You going to tell me what you’re talking about with the news? Is there something going on I should know about?”
“Nope.” Brett raised his voice. “I’ll have someone from the team reach out with tickets, and we’ll figure out travel—”
“No. We’ll cover travel expenses. We’ll be bringing them. The tickets will help. It’s almost impossible to get tickets to your games.”
Brett’s eyes narrowed. “You’re going to stay and see me afterwards.”
There was silence on the other end.
Brett let out a savage growl. “You’re not fucking coming to my game, bringing my nieces and nephews, and not seeing me afterwards. You try that shit, Will, and I’ll rip your head off.”
“That went violent fast.”
Brett growled again, his hands tightening over the wheel once more.
A sigh came over the line. “Yes,” he agreed but sounding peeved. “We’ll stay so you can see everyone.”
“We’re doing a meal.”
Silence again.
“Goddammit, Will!”
“Fine. A meal. But we’ll have to get a hotel room then.”
“Even better. You can get a room at the same hotel the team uses. I’ll have someone reach out to you with all the details.”
“You don’t need to do that.”
“I don’t care. It’s done. Do not make other arrangements. We’ll talk later in the week about the tickets and shit.” Brett ended the call, rolling his eyes. “That was my half-brother. He’s moving forward with trying to get custody of them so she doesn’t keep fucking them up.”
“She’s out of prison, I take it?”
“She was in county, and yeah, she’s out and raising holy hell. Will seems to be handling her.”
We were almost to the exit for his neighborhood. The closer we got, the more relaxed I became. I rested my head against the headrest and turned his way. “You’ve not said much about this to me.”
His eyebrows pinched down. “I haven’t thought about it, to be honest. I’m just used to shouldering my shit and moving forward.” He glanced my way. “You want me to share this stuff with you more?”
“I want to know everything about you.”
His eyes were warm when he looked over at me again. I smiled back, feeling the sunshine again.
“I need to get some gas,” he said, hitting the turn signal as we were nearing a gas station. “This place is lit up. There’s usually cops hanging out there. Don’t know why since I know they’re usually busy. If they’re not, would you feel okay stopping? Or I can take you to the house, come back myself. It’s just easier for me to fill up at night than in the mornings.”
I could see a squad car parked to the side. “We can stop now. We’ve deviated from our schedule, so I’m sure it’s okay, even if he’s watching us.”
He. The killer.
At the reminder, Brett’s face turned to stone. “Where I go, you go. You stick like glue.”
I nodded. He made my heart flutter.
36
BILLIE
Other vehicles were filling up when we pulled in.
As Brett got out, I went around to where he was and leaned against the side of his truck, watching as he fit the nozzle in the right place. He glanced over, the corner of his mouth lifting.
I mirrored his half-grin.
Would it always be like this? Where the world melted away? Where I felt lighter the second I saw him, like I could fly when he touched me, like I was off the planet when he kissed me?