Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 69772 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 279(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69772 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 279(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Well, he did have a point.
“She did, once upon a time,” I said as I walked past, keeping my head down.
No matter how hard I tried to break through her walls this last year, she’d resisted.
I’d called.
I’d stopped by.
I’d sent her gifts.
I’d sent Ande.
I’d sent my brothers.
Hell, I’d even gotten desperate and approached her brother.
That had been a mistake.
Her brother hadn’t given me anything and had, in fact, given me a reason to arrest him.
And arresting her brother hadn’t gotten me into Shayne’s good graces.
In fact, it’d only made things worse.
Yet, instead of walking past, I went around her car to the passenger window and knocked on it.
She rolled down the window, not once looking at me. “You want to meet up tomorrow?”
That was the only thing she’d give me.
Meaningless sex.
We’d meet at my place. She’d fuck me senseless. Then she’d leave.
But, since I was a glutton for punishment, I didn’t fucking care that she left.
I only cared about taking her any way I could get her.
“Sure,” she grumbled.
“Are you…” I started, but before I could finish the rest of my question, she rolled up the window.
“Burn,” Assman snorted.
I narrowed my eyes at him, and he clenched his mouth shut tightly.
“Don’t,” I heard Boseman murmuring. “Not her.”
Nobody said a word until we were at a park thirty minutes later where my mom was setting up the last of the cones for the obstacle course that the PD owned.
“Mamasauce,” I called out to my mom.
She winked at me. “How are you, baby?”
“Not good,” I admitted. “Saw Shayne.”
“And let me guess, she didn’t let you get a word in?” She raised her brow.
“Nope,” I grumbled.
“You deserve it, honey,” she replied.
I hated that she was right.
I’d been paying for my young, dumb, stupid mistake for fuckin’ years now. Would she ever forgive me?
But still, this was my mom. She was supposed to choose me.
I groaned. “Are you sure you’re my mom? Maybe I’m adopted. That has to be why you’re so mean to me.”
My mom gave me a raised brow before totally destroying me in front of my team. “Don’t be stupid. Why would we choose you?”
Assman choked.
Boseman laughed.
Ameer made a weird choking sound.
The rest of the crew wisely stayed quiet.
“Thanks, Mom,” I drawled, causing her to wink at me.
That was the thing with our family.
If you were a sensitive little bitch, you wouldn’t make it. It was the survival of the fittest in the Carter household.
Even worse, if you showed any kind of weakness, they’d jump on it like a bunch of starving dogs that were desperate for their next meal.
“What’s y’all’s plan for today?” she questioned. “Are you having fun, or are you competing?”
I looked at my motley crew, then laughed. “That’s hilarious that you think we’d do anything but compete.”
I mean, my team wasn’t SWAT, but we were just as dedicated. Just as in shape. Just as on call.
Hell, we might as well be the gang division SWAT team.
My mom shook her head, more than used to dealing with all this testosterone, and said, “Isn’t that your brother?”
I looked over my shoulder to see Gable walking toward a group of people standing near the flagpole about half a football field away from us.
For the last year, he’d been undercover. We got to see him, sure, but not in the way that we’d like.
For him to be here, unannounced, meant very bad things.
Generally, he wouldn’t be caught dead in the same park area that the city used to train their police officers. There was always an off chance that a young, dumb officer would see him and inadvertently out him.
“Shit,” I said as I saw him stop near the group.
Our eyes met, and connected, over the span of the park.
Then a nervous flutter started to swell in my belly.
If he was here, that meant that there were others here as well.
I started to look around, my practiced eye trying to find the colors of the gangs in the area.
The Breakers were orange and teal.
Then there were the West Backers, that were neon green and blue.
The gang that Gable had been slowly digging his way into the middle of was orange and teal. Gable, in his orange shirt, black bandana, and teal Air Force Ones, had my belly tensing.
Because the man that he was talking to was also wearing orange and teal.
But across the park…
“Mom,” I murmured urgently. “Get on the horn and call in a code 192.”
My quiet words had my mom moving before I finished speaking.
“Boys,” I said quietly, knowing that they were listening. “Start spreading out.”
Assman, Boseman, and the others dispersed, all going to different points in the park.
Boseman reached the park and started talking quietly to a group of dads.
All of them tensed, but they slowly started to gather their children up without alerting anyone that anything was wrong. The moms, sensing issues, did the same, and started to herd them in the direction of the bathrooms, which were at the farthest point in the park. It also offered the one area in which they could hide behind actual brick walls.