Total pages in book: 45
Estimated words: 43444 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 217(@200wpm)___ 174(@250wpm)___ 145(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 43444 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 217(@200wpm)___ 174(@250wpm)___ 145(@300wpm)
She included Tasha in her look and forced herself to smile. “Thanks.”
“We’re sister-cousins, remember? I’m here for you.”
Bronte chuckled. “You have a serious case of only child.”
“I really do. Thank goodness the twins have each other, and people with large families keep marrying Finns.”
Tasha stood up and tugged her close for a tight hug. “Advice time. Are you ready?”
“Hit me.”
“Men are strange creatures that rarely make sense. If he gets weird after you tell him about your visitor, remember that it’s pride. Wounded male pride. And the best thing you can do to stop him from pushing you away when that happens…is to take off your shirt.”
Ken snorted, but he didn’t disagree. “I’d argue with the strange creature bit, but sex is a good subject changer.”
“That is horrible advice. Shame on both of you. You can’t just run around telling people to flash a little skin at their problems. Poor George and Charlotte, that’s all I have to say.”
“I thought their names were Huck and Ned,” Ken teased.
“Oh stop it. And these are pearls of wisdom, princess. The same pearls I heard you gave to Hugo.”
Bronte waved her words away and started walking, looking up the directions to the boxing club on her phone.
It was time to tell William what she knew.
And possibly take her shirt off.
Chapter Eight
William sent another text to Murphy, thanking him for use of the club before unlocking the door and turning on the lights to the gym. The man reminded him of Shawn Finn. A goodhearted, easygoing man who’d given him the kind of friendship and trust he wasn’t sure he deserved.
She thinks you deserve it.
He wanted to believe that, but trust was a luxury item he’d rarely been able to afford. In his experience, friends were of the fair weather variety, and more likely to kick you when you were down than have your back.
That was your old life. Things are different now.
“Anybody home?”
His fists clenched out of instinct. Every time he’d seen James in the last year, there’d been tension between them. “Back here.”
“Nice place. Your sister mentioned you were looking for a gym of your own, and I was imagining Zumba classes. But this? I can see you running a place like this.”
His sister mentioned it? To James? “Don’t tell me you’ve been to a family dinner at last.”
“I was trying new things,” James offered wryly.
Like pleasant conversation? Because this was new too. As soon as he got a good look at his cousin, William frowned in concern. “You look like you got a bad dose. Off the wagon?”
James ran a hand over his beard. “Not today,” he said grimly. “Today I’m paying back a kindness.”
William edged closer, as if approaching a wounded animal. “I appreciate the thought, but you don’t look like you can afford much at the moment.”
“I’ll manage.”
“Is it your Alex?”
If pain had a human face, William thought, it would look like that. Like James.
“Alex is missing.” He glanced around the sparring gym, looking lost. “And you came out here and took too long to deal with your problems. People went looking for you and found your wife instead.”
Bronte?
“Who? When? Why the fuck didn’t you tell me as soon—” He moved toward the door, but James grabbed his arm to stop him.
“It’s why she came to see you. She didn’t mention it?”
He pulled away from James with a scowl. If he’d known she’d needed to talk about this instead of their relationship, he would have damn well forced the issue. “Trust me, she’ll be getting around to it later today.”
James narrowed his eyes. “I’m an idiot. I thought the thing between you two was about staying in the country. That it wasn’t real.”
William rubbed the back of his neck, nerves turning to acid in his stomach.
People went looking for you and found your wife.
“It never was. Not for me. I’ve never given a promise I didn’t mean to keep.”
“You are a Finn, aren’t you? Twice removed or not.” His smile disappeared. “A man showed up at her work. Scared her into coming here and, when she did, had her followed.”
“Cocksuckingsonofa—Mahoney?” It had to be. No one else knew anything about his old job.
James nodded. “Ken and Tasha came at her request, but she doesn’t know about us. Brady’s keeping an eye on the guy who’s been watching your place since she arrived, and I’m here to give you the head’s up, since I know neither one of us appreciates people sticking their nose in our private business.”
William nodded sharply. “You’re right about that. Only one guy?”
“Ken says Mahoney wants to talk. He wouldn’t want you to feel threatened.”
“Then he shouldn’t have gone anywhere near my wife.”
The wife who’d called in Tanaka and Tasha instead of filling him in.
He was more than capable of taking care of this, taking care of his woman. Didn’t she know that? Did none of them know anything about him?