Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 94313 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 472(@200wpm)___ 377(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94313 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 472(@200wpm)___ 377(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
“Someone’s gonna have to switch with me,” he croaked, coughing. “I need a minute.”
Otto left me with his uncle as he ran around the house to take Rumi’s place.
A few minutes later, Heather arrived.
“Jesus Christ,” she snapped, jogging toward me. “What happened to your face?”
“Guessin’ you saw the Mustang in the ditch?” Will asked with a grunt.
“You crashed the Mustang?”
“Yeah.” I couldn’t even pretend like I cared. Not when two men had come to hurt us and my husband of a week had killed them and now our house was burning down. After all that I’d been through in the last four months, I would’ve thought that I’d be ready for anything, but the sad reality was that I felt like I was drowning.
“How did you get here when your rig’s—” Will pointed to where Heather’s SUV had been moved into the grass.
“Titus drove me,” Heather replied.
That’s when I saw Otto’s little brother, hanging back from the group, absolutely devastated.
“Hey Titus,” I called. I wanted to smile at him, but I was pretty sure that it came out like more of a grimace. He walked toward me, his steps dragging through the gravel.
“This is my fault, isn’t it?” he rasped, close to tears. “I fucked up.”
“You didn’t throw a bomb through the window,” I pointed out reasonably as I grabbed his hand.
“I brought Noel here,” he replied, watching as smoke billowed out the front window.
“They could’ve found us a different way,” I argued, squeezing his hand.
“I don’t think so.” There was something in his voice that made my insides clench as if expecting a blow.
“Why?”
Titus looked at the ground like he couldn’t meet my eyes. “Noel didn’t come to school today,” he whispered.
“Fuck,” Will barked, making Titus and I jerk in surprise. “We gotta go!”
“No.” I looked around for Heather but she was already moving toward us.
“Fire’s almost out!” Micky yelled back. “Ten more minutes!”
“Can’t wait,” Will yelled back, jogging toward him. “Meet us back at the club. Everyone, understand? Full lockdown.”
The men who’d been moving around the house, running here and there helping where they could suddenly headed for their motorcycles.
“Mom,” Micky yelled.
“I’m calling Emilia now!” she yelled back, pulling out her phone as she reached us.
“I’ll have Nova pick Myla up when she goes to get Bird,” Rumi said from where he was sitting in the grass.
“What’s a lockdown?” I asked Titus quietly.
“Everyone goes to the club,” he explained. “Even the families.”
“But why?”
“To keep us safe.”
The motorcycles fired up, one by one, and within a few minutes, the only people left at the house were Otto’s mom and brothers.
“It’s out,” Otto rasped, shaking his head as he came out the front door. “Thank Christ.”
I dropped Titus’s hand and headed toward him, but he stopped me as I got to the edge of the porch steps.
“It’s a fuckin’ mess in there, sugar,” he warned. “Don’t want you walkin’ around, just in case.”
“Good chance you’ll end up in the basement,” Micky huffed.
“Don’t worry,” Otto said as he met me in the gravel. “We can fix it.”
“Bishop can fix it,” Rumi called tiredly. “But, same shit, really.”
I couldn’t even cry. There was still smoke everywhere, and it stunk, and I had no idea when we’d be able to live in our house again, but I couldn’t focus on any of it. I leaned against Otto and let him support my weight.
“How’s your mouth?” he asked as we moved toward his family.
“It’s fine.”
“You’ve got a hell of a fat lip.”
“Lockdown starts now,” his mom announced when we reached them. “Everyone’s heading straight for the club.”
“You got any idea what’s goin’ on?” Otto asked.
“No clue,” she replied dryly. “Could have something to do with your house nearly burning down?”
“You got a hold of Emilia?” Micky asked.
“She was grabbing their bags and headed over,” Heather confirmed. “She’ll probably beat us there.”
“Let’s go,” Rumi said, pushing himself up with a groan. “Nova’s on her way as soon as she grabs Myla and Bird.”
Titus was quiet as he strode back toward his car and left. It was as if he was trying his hardest to stay out of Otto’s eyeline.
“I’m gonna grab the bike outta the garage,” Otto told me, tossing his mom her keys. “You ride with Mom, and we’ll follow you guys over.”
“What about the Mustang?” I asked apologetically.
“I’m guessin’ Uncle Will already called a prospect to bring the tow truck over and get it. Don’t worry about it.”
He helped me into the passenger seat, kissed me, and closed the door between us.
“Jesus, you two can’t catch a break, can you?” Heather asked sympathetically as she reversed onto the driveway.
“I’m really tired,” I replied, watching in the side mirror as Otto came out of the garage on his motorcycle.
Heather chuckled. “I bet. I’m tired and I’m not even pregnant. How’s my grandchild doing?”
“Fine, I think,” I murmured as we left the house behind. I reached down and put my hand on my belly. I couldn’t feel the baby moving yet, but nothing felt wrong. I winced as we drove past the wrecked Mustang. “It’s probably good I wasn’t wearing a seat belt.”