Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 90919 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 455(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90919 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 455(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
“What happened?” Frankie asked, her normally brash voice lowered to almost a whisper. “Nobody will tell us anything.”
“Sit down, girls,” Tommy said gently. He looked at me and jerked his head toward Myla’s bedroom.
When I stepped into Myla’s room, she was sitting on the bed in nothing but a bra and tank top, and she didn’t try to hide the relief in her eyes when they met mine. Heather sat next to her, holding her hand.
“It was smart to put ice on your throat,” Molly said softly when Myla looked back at her. She brushed a bit of Myla’s hair away from her face. “It kept the swelling down.”
“She need to go to the hospital?” I asked, closing the door behind me.
“They already took photos?” Molly asked.
“Yeah.”
I ground my teeth together, remembering the woman with the camera.
“Then, no, you don’t need to go in,” Molly replied, smiling gently at Myla. “I’m so proud of you, honey.”
“You want to lay down?” Heather asked with a grimace. “It’s been a hell of a night.”
“No, not yet,” Myla replied. She climbed carefully off the bed and grabbed her robe from where she’d thrown it on the dresser that morning.
“I think it’s time you give that back,” Heather said dryly, looking pointedly at me.
“A deal is a deal,” Myla rasped, tying the belt. “You bet me he would call that day, and he didn’t.”
“The spirit of the deal—”
“No takebacks,” Myla said quickly.
“What’s this about a bet?” I asked, looking between them.
“Nothing,” Myla replied, coming toward me.
Molly and Heather stood up as Myla wrapped her arms around me. “Is my dad still out there?”
“He’s talkin’ to your girls.”
“Good.”
“Have a feelin’ he won’t be leavin’ for a while,” I murmured. “He might knock out a wall and start buildin’ himself a bedroom.”
Myla smiled sadly. “I’m okay.”
“I know.”
“I told you I could take care of myself.”
I jolted. “Don’t start with that shit again.”
“I mean, I think I proved it pretty dramatically.”
I looked over her head at Heather. “You hearin’ this shit?”
“She’s her mother’s daughter,” Molly said dryly.
Out in the living room, something was happening. I reached behind me and cracked Myla’s door to hear what was going on. My sister was there.
“Come on,” Myla said, obviously hearing her too.
When we got back into the living room, Tommy and Aoife were facing off.
“I’m sorry, but she’s had a shitty night,” Tommy said. “Don’t think she’s up for any company.”
“I’m here for him,” she replied, pointing at me as our eyes met. “You okay, baby brother?”
Myla sent me a soft look before walking toward the table where Lou and Frankie were sitting, their faces swollen and wet.
“I’m all right, E,” I replied to my sister, catching her as she hurried toward me.
“I’m going to kill him,” she said, resting her chin on my shoulder. “I’m so sorry, Cian.”
“Not your fault.”
“This won’t ever end.”
“It’s over now.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do.” I pulled away so I could look into her eyes. “Gray’s been in touch with ’em. It’s understood that our family is off-limits. Julian Kitz was just a fuckin’ psycho. He wasn’t actin’ on their orders.”
“They’ll keep looking for him,” she argued. “You know they will.”
“As far as anyone is concerned, Richie’s dead,” I countered firmly. “No reason to think he’s not.”
“Not yet.”
I nodded. At some point, they’d know he was alive, but by then they’d also know that he was in the custody of the US Marshals—not with us.
“Richie’s alive?” Myla asked, staring at us wide-eyed.
I hadn’t realized that she’d wandered back in from the kitchen and was watching us.
Instant nausea made my stomach flip.
Aoife winced and glared at me. “You didn’t tell her?”
“I didn’t tell anyone,” I replied, turning toward Myla.
“Richie’s alive,” Myla muttered, her eyes unfocused. “The hits just keep on coming.”
Fuck.
“He couldn’t tell ya,” Tommy said, perched on the back of the couch. “It was need to know.”
“Bullshit,” Myla shot back. “That has to do with club business. This isn’t club business.”
Tommy’s mouth snapped shut. She wasn’t wrong.
“Myla—”
“I think I want to go to bed now,” she said tiredly. She looked at her aunt and uncle. “Thanks for coming.”
“Always,” Molly replied as she pulled Will to his feet. They quickly said their goodbyes and left.
“You sure you don’t want us to stay?” Heather asked Myla, her hands on Myla’s shoulders. “I can take the couch. Your dad can sleep on the floor.”
“I’m not sleepin’ on the floor,” Tommy corrected. “I’m too old for that shit.”
“You’re gonna sleep in the car if you don’t shut it,” Heather replied, not even bothering to look at him.
“I’m good,” Myla said, her lips twitching. “I’ll call you in the morning.”
Soon, the only people left were Aoife and Myla’s best friends.
“I’ll go, too,” Aoife said. “We’re sleeping at Titus and Noel’s tonight.”
“One of you can take my bed.”
“I already put Sean in there,” Aoife replied. “You need to clean that pit.”