Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 77415 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77415 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
“Tommy!” I heard Tommy’s wife, Tally, call out in surprise. “Why are you hitting him?”
I rolled over to my back, barely in time to avoid a kick to the ribs, courtesy of Tommy Tom’s booted foot.
“You motherfucker,” Tommy snarled. “You. Mother. Fucker!”
I pushed myself up on my hands and knees, then went up to my knees only and regarded the man that was going to become my brother-in-law.
“Your sister was kicked out of her rental,” I informed him. “You either help me move her shit into my place,” I coughed, wiping away blood from my lip. “Or you don’t. Either way she’s moving in with me.”
“You gutted her, man,” Tommy kept on.
My eyes closed and I looked away, my tongue darting out and licking the line of blood that was still oozing from my split lip.
“I have a lot of reasons for doing what I did,” I told him. “I was in a bad place. My fuckin’ psycho ex, who is still in the picture might I add, wasn’t and isn’t a nice person. She’s a sneaky bitch who lies, manipulates and steals to get what she wants. And when I walked in on your mother telling Ellen that she wasn’t going to pay for medical school for your sister, like she did for you, I knew that, maybe, it was best if I didn’t stay. Maybe it was best that I go and give her that chance she needed to shine bright without the fucked up cloud of my baggage hanging over her head the whole way.”
“But that didn’t work,” Tommy Tom drawled. “And you expect me to believe that, after all this time, all the shit between you both will be erased now that you’re together again?”
I stood up, ignoring the way my knees creaked in resistance, and stared the man right in the eye.
“I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure she’s happy,” I promised him. “If she needs me to shoot my own self in the foot, then I’ll damn well do it just to see her smile.”
“Awww,” Tally cooed. “Tommy, go fucking away. Let’s get her packed up.”
Tally walked around her husband, shoving him in the gut with her shoulder on her way, causing her husband to grunt in annoyance.
All to receive an ‘I’m not going to kill you—not right now but soon’ look from Tommy Tom. The moment I got the clear to proceed, I walked around him and inside, giving him a wide berth as I did.
My jaw was aching, and by tonight, it’d likely be bruised, making it hard to eat. But it’d be worth it. Every single second.
Ellen had a soft spot when it came to her brother, and right now, we needed to work together to get all of her stuff out before the deadline hit us.
Tomorrow, though, when we were done. I knew all bets would be off. He’d hit me with everything he had, and I’d be ready for him.
***
We were three hours into packing Ellen’s house when Ellen finally arrived.
She was staring at the driveway to her house with her mouth hanging wide open.
She had a pitiful amount of five boxes under her arms, and she was staring at the massive stack of boxes ready to be loaded into the boys’ trucks with what amounted to awe.
Big Papa, who was on the phone with someone from his work, was pacing the end of the driveway while he looked around worriedly.
The moment his eyes lit on Ellen, he grinned, waved her past him, and went back to his phone call.
Ellen, on stiff feet, walked toward the group of men who were filling a pickup truck bed full of her things, and came to a halt.
“Jessie…” she breathed. “What the hell?”
I jumped down from the truck and gathered her into me for a quick, hard kiss. “Told you not to worry, babe.”
She blinked.
“You told me not to worry,” she repeated. “Okay.”
The last word was said so sarcastically that I nearly laughed.
“It’ll be okay,” I promised her.
She bit her lip. “I don’t think…”
I pressed another kiss to her lips to silence her. “Go pack your clothes with the boxes you have. We’ll talk once you’re done.”
She bared her teeth at me.
I lifted my hand and dug the tips of my fingers into her ticklish side, causing her to squawk at me. “Ack!”
She dropped her boxes, and I started to laugh.
When I bent down to get them, she pushed my head away with the side of her ass, and then picked them up herself.
The new position put me right in line with her ass cheek, so I did what any sane man would do.
I bit that delectable piece of flesh.
Then took off before she could retaliate.
“Not funny, James!” she called at my retreating back.
I winked at her over my shoulder.