Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 83167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 416(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 416(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
Then he went to his mail.
Flipping through it, he asked, “You down with me getting online for a few minutes so I can pay some bills?”
“I’ve got until next Tuesday,” she murmured, drifting toward the living room area.
When Smithie heard about her meltdown (this he got from Jet), he’d called Lottie to tell her he didn’t want to see her until her first set next Tuesday.
Mo had to go in the next day, but he figured Hawk wouldn’t put him on an assignment that would jam up his weekend because Hawk didn’t do that shit. He’d been on duty twenty-four seven for a week. Hawk would give him his weekend or if he didn’t, he’d lay light duty on him.
Next week, though, Mo would be fair game.
Which, with Lottie in his life, would suck.
But they had that day, all of it. And they’d gotten the worst part out of the way, going to see Mitch and Slim at the station after they’d had breakfast and showered.
Now it was just Mo and his girl.
“Gonna grab my laptop,” he said to Lottie, watching her stretch out on his couch, her eyes to his view. “Want a drink?”
“No, Mo. I’m good.”
He got his laptop from his room, brought it to the island and booted it up as he ripped open envelopes.
“So, sisters, mom, registries, cake tastings, nieces and nephews,” she started, and Mo again looked at her to see her gaze still aimed at his view. “What about your dad?”
Shit, fuck.
He didn’t want to get into that now.
Or ever.
“Can we talk about him later?”
She turned from the view to him. “We can talk about him whenever you want, honey. Though I have a feeling it won’t be any easier then.”
She was probably right about that.
“Think I mentioned he was a dick,” he noted.
“You did,” she confirmed.
“Those weddings my sisters had?”
She nodded.
“They part paid for them. Their future husbands pitched in. Mom pitched in and she did it a lot. Dad, not so much. That was his thing. Being around and being useless.”
Also being a dick.
“Was he invited?” she asked quietly.
Mo nodded. “To one. Signe’s a good girl. Oldest. Responsible. Played a big part of takin’ care of us while Mom worked. She thought it was the right thing to do. Invited him. After that, no.”
“Was he…did he behave—?”
“Like a dick?” he cut her off to ask.
“Yeah.”
“That’s what dicks do, Lottie.”
“Does he drink?” she asked cautiously.
Mo shook his head and turned his attention back to dealing with his mail. “Teetotaler. Doesn’t touch the stuff. Thinks anyone who does is weak. Same about drugs, for certain. Detests smokers. Even has a few things to say about people who drink caffeine.” He looked back at her. “But didn’t have any problem telling his daughters they needed to lose weight. Sharing with his son he thinks he’s a piece of shit. Slapping his wife around until she got shot of him.”
She pushed up to sitting on his couch, eyes locked on him, whispering, “Mo.”
“Made Signe’s day when he joined her at the back of the church to walk her down the aisle. Caught his first sight of his beautiful daughter in her wedding gown, told her she looked plump and she should have gone on a diet before the big day. Added that her dress made her look like she was trying too hard. Standing up front as an usher, took one look at her walking down the aisle and knew he got his teeth into her.”
“Oh my God, Mo,” she breathed.
“Thought Paul, Signe’s man, was gonna march down that fucking aisle and rip his throat out. It ruined it. She was near tears the whole time they stood up there taking their vows, and not the good kind of tears. That’s what you see in the pictures. That and Paul looking like he wanted to murder somebody.”
“Honey,” she whispered.
Christ, he hadn’t talked about this in years.
But now that he was, it seemed like he couldn’t stop.
Which was why he didn’t.
“For him, he has no clue. Says he thinks he’s bein’ helpful. What he’s being is controlling. He had no say in the wedding, even though he tried to horn in, about everything. And that flipped his switch. His choice, he would have planned the whole thing and it would have been an eighties throwback nightmare. But he didn’t pay for shit. Didn’t even offer. Even if he did, it wasn’t his ass getting married. That was his payback.”
“I can’t believe what I’m hearing,” Lottie said.
“I disinvited him before he walked into the reception.”
“How did you do that?” she asked.
“I beat the shit out of him in the parking lot.”
Lottie sat on his couch, staring at him.
Mo stood at his island, staring at her.
Seconds ticked by and through them, he watched her face get hard.
There it was.
He was an asshole, just like his dad, except an out-of-control one, not a control-freak one.