Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 77904 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77904 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
When I got to the address Bones had sent, I parked and charged up to the front door. I knocked, and seconds later, it eased open, and Chad appeared. It was clear from his expression that he was taken aback by my presence, but he tried to appear unbothered as he asked, “Can I help you with something?”
“That depends... Are you Chad?”
“Yeah, that’s me.” He rolled his eyes with disgust. “So, you’re the new boyfriend.”
“The name’s Ronin.” I had to fight the urge to punch that fucking smug look on his face as I said, “Maggie told me all about your little conversation at the salon.”
“That was between us.”
“Well, now it’s between you and me,” I snarled.
Chad tried to put on a brave front but stumbled over words as he replied, “It was nothing. You know Maggie. She exaggerates everything.”
“You coming into her salon and yelling at her isn’t nothing!”
“She can whore around with whomever she wants, but she can’t do it with my kids around!”
The words had barely left his mouth when I was on him. I fisted his collar in my hand, nearly choking him as I pulled him close. “You had your chance with her and fucked it up. You two are done. You made sure of that.”
“She’s my...”
“She’s nothing to you!” I interrupted. “She has her own life now. You have no say in what she does or who she does it with. You got that?”
“Yeah, I got it.”
“And if you have an issue with what’s going on with the kids, handle it like a man, but no more disrespecting her. Because if you do it again, our encounter won’t be so friendly.”
“Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say.”
Fuck. I really wanted to punch this guy, but the thought of it hurting Samantha or Nathan had me releasing his collar. I glared at him a moment longer, turned and headed back for my truck. “Until next time.”
I’d like to say that I felt better when I left Chad’s place, but I didn’t. I was still wound up and struggling to focus. There was only one thing that would set me straight, and that was Maggie. Unfortunately for me, she had her own thing going on, so I was on my own.
Damn.
It was going to be a long night.
Maggie
“I can’t believe he said that!”
“I know. He’s such a narcissistic asshole.” I laid back on the sofa as I told my mother, “He doesn’t even see that what he does is wrong.”
“He’s always been that way, sweetheart.” I could hear the torment in her voice as she said, “I can still remember the day you two were married, and Jeanne and Roger gave him that envelope of money as your wedding gift. He jerked it right out of Roger’s hand and stuck it in his coat pocket. I know you never saw a dime of that money.”
“No, I had no idea they’d given it to us.” It wasn’t the first time I’d heard that story, but like the times before, it added fuel to the fire. “He knew I was writing thank you notes and never even mentioned that they’d give that to us.”
“And when your brother was so sick, and I’d been with him for all those weeks. I finally got to come by to see the kids, and he didn’t even get up from his chair to say hello to me, and he certainly never asked how your brother was doing.”
“I know. That was so rude and thoughtless of him.”
“He never much cared for us, and I had no idea why.”
“He knew he wasn’t treating your daughter right and was ashamed.”
“I don’t know.” Her tone turned to annoyance as she added, “I think he thought he was too good for us.”
“I have no idea why he would ever think that. You and Dad are wonderful and have done very well for yourselves.”
“Well, we aren’t as wealthy as his parents.”
“Money isn’t everything, Mom.”
“You might need to remind him of that.”
“There wouldn’t be a point,” I scoffed. “He thinks he’s right about everything.”
“I’m so glad you don’t have to deal with him anymore.”
“I wish that were true, but as long as the kids are young, I’ll be dealing with him all the time.”
“Yes, but you have to set some boundaries and make him stick to them,” Mom pushed. “He shouldn’t call or expect to talk to you unless it has something to do with the kids. And he certainly has no business coming into your place of work, especially when you are alone.”
“I have a feeling that’s not going to happen again any time soon.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Ronin went to talk to him.”
“He did!” Mom gasped. “What did he say?”
“I have no idea. He hasn’t called to tell me about it yet.” I glanced over at the clock, and my chest tightened when I saw it was almost nine. I’d been so busy helping Samantha with her project that I hadn’t realized that it had gotten so late. It had been at least three hours since I left the shop, and I still hadn’t heard from him. Fearing that something might’ve happened, I told her, “I should probably call and check on him.”