Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 86126 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86126 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
I’d get a pretty penny if I decided to sell.
My stomach twisted at the thought so I took another sip of my whiskey. So fucking stupid.
I was sure my family suspected why I’d bought my monstrosity of a house, but not a single one of them had broached the topic. It was too ludicrous to say out loud. Of course I hadn’t bought a house for the girl I’d been obsessed with as a teenager—the one I hadn’t seen or spoke to in six years. I hadn’t been planning for the family that we’d never have four years after I’d lost contact with her. That would be so fucking idiotic, none of them would ever accuse me of it.
I finished my whiskey and strode to the bottle to refill.
Most days, I could pretend that I hadn’t been so delusional that I’d seen this house and pictured her inside it. That I’d known instantly that this was the one I’d wanted because it had enough bedrooms for all the kids she’d wanted when she was fifteen. That I hadn’t planted those raspberries because they were her favorite.
It had been six fucking years. I’d gone to college, started a career, fucked more women than I could remember. I was a full ass adult. I paid taxes when I had to. I did my own laundry, woke up to an alarm and dragged my ass to work, took care of my shit. Who the fuck knew what Noel had been doing all those years? By now she probably had a bunch of kids with some other schmuck. My brother Otto was married to Noel’s older sister and they hadn’t heard from her either. Not a word in six years. She probably didn’t even remember the kid she’d snuck around with for a few months before everything had gone to shit.
Setting my glass down on the nightstand, I climbed into bed as laughter roared downstairs. Usually, I could pretend that I hadn’t bought the house for her, but as I laid in bed looking at the ceiling I realized for some reason, it was inescapable that night.
Four hours later, when my phone rang, I was instantly awake.
My heart pounded as I answered it.
“Otto?”
“Hey little brother, get your ass up.”
“What’s goin’ on?”
“She called,” he said, his voice grim. He didn’t have to tell me who she was. “Leavin’ my place in half an hour. Get here quick, we’re not waitin’ on you.”
Fifteen minutes later, I was climbing off my bike outside Otto’s old farmhouse.
“It’s a family matter,” my dad said into his phone nodding at me as I strode up the porch steps. The house was well lit as I stepped inside, Bas and Cian following behind me.
“Hey, keep it down,” my sister-in-law Esther told us as she met us in the living room. “Flora’s still sleeping.”
“Noel called you?” I asked, pulling her into a hug.
Her arms wrapped around my waist and squeezed. “About an hour ago,” she confirmed, pulling away with a worried frown. “I’m not sure what’s happening, she was pretty worked up. I have an address, though.”
“You ready?” Otto asked, leading my other brothers into the room.
I let out a noise somewhere between a scoff and a snort. Otto shook his head as Rumi laughed quietly. Was I ready? Jesus Christ. I’d gone to bed calling myself every kind of idiot for still thinking about Noel and woke up to news of her for the first time since I was seventeen. We’d been waiting for Esther’s little sister to call for my entire adult life. Even if I hadn’t been head over heels in love with her back when we were kids, she was still Esther’s baby sister and I would’ve done anything for Esther no questions asked. She was one of my favorite people in the entire world.
“Not sure what we’re walkin’ into,” Otto said as we huddled up in the living room. My mom came in from the kitchen as he spoke, wrapping her arms around my waist as I listened. “We’re gonna pick her up, bring her back here. Not gonna cause problems up there if we can help it. Noel’s an adult. She wants to leave, that’s her prerogative, and even if they call the cops they can’t stop her.”
“Those idiots won’t call the cops,” Rumi muttered, his hand sliding under his cut like he was reassuring himself that he’d remembered to put on his holster.
“Not goin’ up to start shit,” Otto said firmly, looking over at Esther. “Just gettin’ Noel and getting the fuck back here.”
“How are we gettin’ her back here?” Bas asked quietly. “If she’s got shit, can’t bring her on one of the bikes.”
“I’ll follow you up,” my mom said instantly, glancing down at Esther’s round belly.
“You’re not gettin’ near any of those motherfuckers,” my dad shut her down almost as instantly. “Wait with Esther.”