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 could hear Myla’s voice in the kitchen.
Another older man with a beard stomped through the house, heading toward the kitchen.
And by the front door, Ansel curled against her chest, was Esther.
When our eyes met, everything inside me froze.
Chapter 14
Titus
“You good?” Rumi barked, his arm slashing out to catch me at chest level.
“Where’d they go?” I asked, disbelief still riding me hard when I realized that my dad, Mick, Cian, Uncle Will, and Uncle Casper had taken off, and brought Noel’s bag of shit father-in-law with them.
“Better you don’t know,” Rumi replied, my sweatshirt and cut still gripped in his fist.
“Fuck that, Rum,” I spat. “Where the fuck are they?”
“You think they told me?” he asked, letting go to thump me in the chest. “Use your head, kid.”
I ground my teeth together.
“Wherever they went, they’ll be one less man when they come back, you get me?”
I got him.
Noel’s father-in-law could’ve been an asshole and then went along with his pious churchgoing life if he’d wanted to. He hadn’t. Instead, he’d watched Esther’s house, followed her to Noel, and tried to kidnap my woman and girls. He hadn’t brought his son with him. He hadn’t brought Ephraim with him. He’d known what he was doing was fucked, and so he’d come alone. The man wasn’t just an asshole, he was a batshit crazy asshole, and there was no rehabilitating that. There was also no way to ensure Noel’s and the girls’ safety if he while he was alive.
“You need to bury it,” Rumi said, crossing his arms over his chest. “You need to shove it all down and get back in that fuckin’ house.”
“Did you see them?” I asked, my throat so tight I could barely speak.
“I saw ’em,” he confirmed.
My nose stung. I ignored it.
“They wet themselves, Rumi,” I murmured brokenly, looking over his shoulder at the house. “They were so terrified—” I swallowed hard. “I had to put Noel and Ariel in the shower.”
Rumi made a noise in his throat, dropping his head to pinch the bridge. He stayed like that for a long moment. When he looked back up at me, his gaze was knowing.
“Been where you’re at,” he said softly. “I get it. You need to get back in that house and see to the girls, yeah? That’s where you’re needed. You leave everything else to us.”
“I don’t—”
“That’s what we’re here for, brother,” he reminded me, giving me a little shove. “Go.”
When I got back into the house, it was as if everyone had been waiting on me. As I strode over to where Noel and the girls sat, a few of the people inside followed me and the others drifted out of the room.
“Hey, baby,” I said, crouching in front of Noel. She was staring at me dully, no expression on her face. I reached out and brushed her hair back. “You wanna tell us what happened?”
Her mouth opened and closed, no sound emerging.
Otto came up behind me, putting a hand on my shoulder as he set Flora on her feet next to me. I was pretty sure it was the first time he’d set her down since he grabbed her out of Noel’s car.
Flora ignored me as she climbed onto the couch, fitting herself against Ariel’s back as she curled up against Noel.
I looked up and big fat tears were rolling down Noel’s cheeks as she lifted her hand and ran it down Flora’s back soothingly.
The four of them looked like one of those little abstract statues of a mom and children, the kind that all the little people fit together like pieces of a puzzle.
Esther sat down on the couch to Noel’s right, and I watched my woman’s entire body go tight. She looked back to me and nodded.
“Noel,” Dragon, the Aces president and one of my honorary uncles, said gently. He sat further down the couch with his elbows braced on his knees. “I’m Dragon. Sorry we’re meetin’ under these circumstances, sweetheart.”
Noel nodded.
“This is my son, Leo,” Dragon said, jerking his chin toward Leo. “You know Grease, I’m guessin’.”
“Nice to see you again, doll,” my Gramps said gruffly. He and Noel had only met once when he and Gram stopped by a few days after they’d moved in. Noel had made us all lunch and they’d been fucking delighted by her. Gramps had told me on his way out that if I didn’t pull my head out of my ass, he was going to do it for me.
“That’s my son-in-law, Cam,” Dragon gestured. My uncle Cam was leaning against the wall and dipped his chin in hello.
“Hello,” Noel murmured, looking at each of them.
“You wanna walk us through what happened?” I asked, rubbing my thumb along her knee.
Noel’s nostrils flared and the muscle in her jaw clenched. She was silent for a long moment.