Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 86238 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86238 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
“And you drive like you don’t fear death, so don’t give me that shit.”
He tosses down a twenty for the bartender before twisting to scan the crowd. When he says, “She’s got over a dozen hooked already,” he thinks it will shift my focus off his tardiness.
He is shit out of luck.
“Why the fuck were you so late?” He won’t touch Ana, but something is warning me I should be on the defensive.
Yev scrubs at the nonexistent stubble on his chin before replying, “I ran into some trouble on the—”
He’s interrupted by the last woman I was hoping would attend tonight’s event. “Alek. It’s been so long.” Stace drags her fingernails across my chest, instantly making my jaw spasm and giving Yev an out. “I thought these events were no longer your thing.”
“No.” I remove her hand from my chest a little too forcefully since it gains me the attention of numerous sets of eyes, including Ana’s, which are narrowed into tiny slits. “I said they were no longer Ana’s thing, and since she was no longer interested, neither the fuck was I.” I drop my eyes to the obvious swell of her stomach. “I heard you got a john finally willing to stick by you.” I say my comment loud enough for everyone to hear. If she wants to spread rumors, I’ll share some of my own. “What did you promise him this time? Shares in your daddy’s estate?”
She fights back with the stern bite all neglected kids have. “Come on, Alek. You know I don’t need gimmicks to get a man into my bed.” It is the fight of my life not to the slap the contemptuous gleam from her eyes with a stern backhanded whack when she murmurs, “You took no coaching at all.”
“Don’t fu—”
“It was great seeing you again.” With a victorious grin, she leans in to press her lips onto the edge of my mouth. I don’t need to peer in a mirror to know her smooch left a lipstick mark. Ana’s narrowed squint as she attempts to bluff her way to victory tells me everything I need to know.
While scrubbing Stace’s lipstick from my mouth, I track down Yev, who is still on my radar despite his wish not to be.
“Ouch,” Yev mutters under his breath when Ana’s first opponent sees right through her bluff. He counters her bid before doubling it, leaving Ana no choice but to fold. “Do you think that’s why she’s here? To derail Ana?” When I stare at Yev confused, he nudges his head to Stace. “I haven’t seen her at an event in years. Then suddenly, on the night Ana returns, so does she. I ain’t calling that a coincidence.”
His reply piques my interest. “How often do you usually attend?”
I arch a brow in shock when he replies, “Every fucking week. How the fuck do you think I can afford my ride?”
His chuckles bounce between us when I answer, “I thought you’d hooked up with some rich bitch desperate for an unwrinkled cock.”
“Well…” He shrugs and grins before shifting his focus back to Ana. “She needs to win the next three legit for them to believe her best bluff.”
“She will. She’s got skills. She just needs to concentrate.”
Yev sighs. “Which won’t be easy with her stealing her devotion.”
Stace is chatting with a hostess at the side of the poker table Ana is on. It is women talk none of the men would be interested in, but Ana doesn’t have a heart filled with black goop and a dangly chunk of flesh between her legs that steals her smarts. She’s hanging off Stace’s every word, her anger growing when Stace’s hand drops to her stomach a second before her eyes flick to me.
“What shit is she spewing this time?”
“If I knew how to lip read, I wouldn’t be reading any lips that weren’t between a pair of stellar legs.” I usually appreciate Yev’s humor, but tonight, my heart isn’t into it. Stace forever tried to cause trouble between Ana and me during our three years, but it never worked. It only made us closer when I fucked the jealousy out of Ana before ensuring she knew there wasn’t any other woman I wanted on the planet who wasn’t her.
I can’t do that this time around.
Can I?
“Ah, shit. Come on, Ana.” Yev drags his fingers through his inky dark hair when Ana’s second loss sees half her chips given to the chump seated across from her.
We don’t give a fuck about the money. I outlaid more when I made Polina close shop early today. It is the fact Ana is letting a bitch like Stace rile her. She was always stronger than this, and I fucking hate knowing what caused the drop in her confidence.
She wasn’t the same after she birthed our daughter.