Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 67490 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67490 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
“They’re… feral,” he admitted. “They were raised like little hooligans. Allowed to do whatever, whenever. Circus kids are like that. They’re so used to being able to do what they want, when they want, that they don’t know how to interact with society.”
I chuckled. “They’re not that bad.”
“They’re that bad,” Keene disagreed, squeezing my shoulders before letting me go.
I wrapped my arms around myself at the loss.
When I finally saw where he was headed, it was toward my mom.
“May I?” Keene asked my dad.
Dad backed away, allowing my mom to be hugged into Keene’s strong arms.
“I’m sorry for your loss,” he said. “It breaks my heart that you lost your daughter. That they lost their sister.”
Mom sniffled a bit, leaning into Keene’s chest much like I did.
It was only after he shook hands with my brothers and led Shayne and me outside that I remembered about Costas.
Costas was leaning against his car, legs crossed in front of him, staring down the street.
At the sound of the door closing in front of him, he slowly turned to regard us.
Then he was pushing up and off the car in an easy stride directly toward me.
I half-expected Keene to place himself in front of me and refuse Costas access to me, but he surprised me by letting me go and allowing Costas to gather me into a solid bear hug.
Costas was a big dude. Much the same size as Keene.
But he was made of harder angles, sharper lines. He looked very mob-bossy.
I also loved the hell out of him, faults and all.
“Thanks for bringing her,” I said softly.
“Did it for you,” he shared.
“Thank you for coming yourself.” I pulled away and looked up into the same eyes that my best friend shared with him. “You didn’t have to.”
“I did,” he disagreed. “Even if I had to pay my respects out here because your brothers want to kill me.”
I snickered. “They don’t want to kill you. They want to arrest you.”
“Tomato, potato.” He shrugged, using the same line as his sister. “If you need anything, anything at all, let me know.”
I smiled softly at him and patted his arm before stepping away.
“Costas, I’d like you to meet my boyfriend, Keene. Keene, this is Shayne’s brother, Costas.” I introduced the two of them.
Keene held out his hand and said, “Nice to finally meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you from these two.”
“Same,” Costas replied, then dropped his hand as he looked over Keene’s shoulder. “Guess that’s my cue to leave.”
I looked over my shoulder to see all of my brothers, arms crossed over their chests, standing on the steps of the funeral home.
They all looked quite angry, too.
“Yeah.” I sighed. “Bye, Costas.”
Costas left after tugging on his sister’s ponytail.
Shayne watched him go before looking back over her shoulder.
I didn’t have to guess who it was she was looking at.
Quinn.
One day, they’d work out their differences, and when they did, it would be explosive.
Until then…
“I need to tell you everything that happened in the last twenty-four hours,” I murmured. “Come on. Let’s go.”
CHAPTER 25
Dishes, we meet again, you dirty bastards.
-Keene’s secret thoughts
KEENE
The Carter family was boisterous.
Not as boisterous as my own family, but boisterous all the same.
We walked into the Carter family home with the smell of fresh baked bread greeting us.
Nobody met us at the door, and Ande walked right in like that was all she ever did.
Privacy didn’t seem to exist in either family.
Noted.
“You made it early,” Mom said. “All your brothers are out back at the grill. Dad is on his putting green. Go on out there, Keene.”
“You don’t need any help?” I asked, worried.
“I catered everything but the bread.” She smiled. “I know my limits, and right now, cooking a meal for twelve… eleven…” Her eyes went really sad for a long moment. “Isn’t one of my capabilities.”
I gave her arm a squeeze, then gave Ande a kiss on the top of her head before heading out to the back yard.
I found all of the brothers not gathered around the grill, but at the bar that surrounded the grill.
Germaine and Garnett Carter had a huge family home about two miles east of Plano.
It was set in the woods slightly, and there was a very large back yard with quite the set up.
A huge pool, a covered patio with an outdoor kitchen made of dreams.
Then there was the putting green that Germaine was currently trying to get a small golf ball into the hole all the way across the yard.
“Wow,” I said as I took everything in. “This is quite an entertainment area.”
“Dad’s obsessed with making Mom happy. And Mom’s obsessed with entertaining. Their only squabble about this outdoor space was the putting green Dad wanted and Mom didn’t. Mom said that if he got it, he had to use it every single day. And he has, even though he hasn’t really wanted to,” Auden said.