Total pages in book: 178
Estimated words: 170884 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 854(@200wpm)___ 684(@250wpm)___ 570(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 170884 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 854(@200wpm)___ 684(@250wpm)___ 570(@300wpm)
I did.
I do! Come back!
Molly walked into the kitchen, pausing when she saw how close we stood staring into each other’s eyes. Her brows arched and she threw a thumb back over her shoulder. “If you need a minute, I can come back.”
“Nah, were good,” uttered Twitch before rounding on the little woman, looking down at her with a knowing look. “I heard some little shit was bothering my boy.” His eyes narrowed on her. “A.J. tells me you brought some of your friends to pick him up one day. Big friends. Tats of their faces kind of friends.” He straightened to full height, folding his arms across his chest, looking more vengeful god than man. “I know you didn’t take members of D.M.S. to my son’s school to beat up on a little girl.”
Molly paled, which was strange, because she was rather dark-skinned. “I didn’t ask them there to beat her up. Shit, she’s five. I just wanted them to scare her a little, not lay into her. They just stood there, I swear.” Her face turned solemn quickly enough. “Besides—” Her lip curled. “—she deserved it.”
But Twitch’s eyes continued to watch her a long moment before his lips lifted in the corners. “Stone-cold bitch.” He laid a crooked smile on her and I was jealous of it. He pointed at her, waving that finger in her direction. “I knew I liked you, Molly.”
As Molly relaxed, I rolled my eyes. “Don’t encourage her. It was an irresponsible move.”
But Twitch moved to stand next to her—in a show of support, I suppose. “No. It was a bold move, and if she cares that much about our son, I can’t fault her. I’d do the same.”
And for the first time since his arrival, Molly blinked up at him in awe.
Shit.
He had won her over.
Great. Just great.
It was getting a little lonely out on my ledge while Twitch continued to invite people inside. I was starting to get the feeling that almost everyone was okay with him being back. I needed to talk to people of a like mind, and luckily, I was meeting them for dinner.
“Hey.” I smiled, walking into the Indian restaurant.
Nikki smiled sadly as she hugged me tightly. “Hey, girl. How are you?”
Dave stood and embraced me, pressing a soft kiss to my head. “We’ve been worried about you but didn’t want to push.” He looked down at me sympathetically. “I know it’s been a struggle.”
A struggle. What an understatement.
With a heavy sigh, I took a seat at the table and waved him off. “Don’t even worry about it. It’s been...” I searched for the word. “...chaotic.” Yes. That would do. But before we began, I took a glass of water from the table and sipped at it. “How are things with you guys?” They looked at each other a moment before dropping their matching gazes of sadness. My gut sank. “How’s Happy?”
Nikki forced a smile. “Things are okay. He’s good.”
“Things are not okay.” Dave couldn’t even look at me. “He moved out.”
“What?” I leaned in, shocked. My mouth gaped. “What happened?”
Nikki shrugged but kept her too wide smile pasted on her face. “I don’t know really.”
Dave sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I asked him to move out.” When he looked at me, his eyes were sad. “I’m not coping well.”
Nikki’s smile fell. She looked devastated as she put her hand to Dave’s arm in support. “It’s been hard on all of us.”
He looked at her dotingly and placed his hand on hers, as he whispered, “I’m sorry.”
She shook her head and a sad smile graced her lips. She spoke just as quietly, “It’s okay.”
My heart was breaking for them. I know what Happy had done was wrong. He’d lied to us, and he’d done it for five years. But they didn’t know the precarious situation Twitch had put him in. They didn’t know the unwritten rules of the underworld. They didn’t understand how important it was for Happy to keep the ruse going. And they likely never would.
They would never understand that the three unlikely brothers would never truly be out of the underground’s fold. It was something you either accepted, or you didn’t. I felt the need to expand on that out loud.
Letting out a dejected sigh, I uttered, “This world they live in, the roots run deep.” When they both looked at me, I picked up my straw and stirred the icy water, speaking on. “It runs deep in their veins. It’s more a part of them than this life, than normal life,” I clarified. “Normal to Twitch, Julius, and Happy is just another setting on the washer.” I laughed humorlessly. My lips turned down into a frown. “It doesn’t exist for them.” I peered up at my best friends, hoping they would fathom what I was saying here. “They’re trying to have a taste of that life, but it’s not going to be easy. They’ll forever have targets on their heads. They’ll occasionally lie for what they deem the greater good. They come with a warning label attached to them. They all do, and if you can’t handle that, you need to break it off.”