Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 38439 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 192(@200wpm)___ 154(@250wpm)___ 128(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 38439 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 192(@200wpm)___ 154(@250wpm)___ 128(@300wpm)
“Well, bully for her. She finally got it.” I knew I was belligerent, and Hope didn’t seem like a girl who could take me in this kind of mood, but I couldn’t seem to stop myself from pushing her. “I want to go back to the part where she left me to you in her will.”
“I realize that sounds a bit unusual, but it was her wish that I find you and see to it you had a woman in your life to make you happy.” She tried to give me a small smile that seemed a little too close to tears of anger, instead of like she was as happy about it as she’d been when she first entered the clubhouse.
“The very last thing in need in my life right now is another woman. Do you want to know what happened to my last ol’ lady?”
“That’ll do, Warlock.” El Diablo’s voice commanded obedience. He stood on the second-story landing above the common room, his woman, Jezebel, at his side. Both looked disapproving. Straight at me.
“There’s no reason to be a complete bastard.” Jezebel aimed an indignant sniff in my direction. “Besides, you have no idea what might have prompted this gesture on the part of your mother.”
“And, of course, you do, Jezebel.” I didn’t make it a question, and it was more of a mocking tone than El Diablo would allow and I knew it.
“Watch your tone with my wife, Warlock. That’s your only warning.” The look in the president’s eyes was the look of the man I expected to find the first time I’d set foot into Black Reign’s territory. He was a straight-up killer. Which was fine by me. I was too.
“I have no idea what would prompt a mother to give her son to someone in her will. But I imagine it was for the good of those she loved. Especially since she seems to have forced the issue by marrying the two of you,” Jezebel continued as if neither I nor El Diablo had spoken.
Touché.
El Diablo and Jezebel came down the stairs and into the crowd that had formed around me and Hope. Jezebel left his side to go to Hope, taking her hands. “Do you know why Mrs. Wagner would do this, Hope?”
The girl looked down, her shoulders slumping. I got the impression she was trying like hell not to lose control, but this simple question was pushing her to her limit. “I do.”
When she didn’t offer anything else, Jezebel prompted gently. “And?”
“She wanted me to have something of my own. Mrs. Wagner didn’t have anything to give me other than her son. So, she gave him to me.”
“Why not give you a puppy dog. Or a fuckin’ cat?” Yeah, I was an asshole, but my mother and her highhandedness always put me in a bad fucking mood.
“Because she didn’t have anything. Or anyone.” Hope looked up at me, anger and grief on her lovely face. “No one but me.”
“Why not leave you the house or her bank account or any number of things? What the fuck are you playing at?”
“She had nothing!” Hope’s voice wavered, but I got the feeling this was still as much anger as it was because she was sad or grieving and struggling not to cry. “She was sick. Couldn’t take care of herself. When she got sick, she ended up in the hospital. Once she was better, she couldn’t go home because she was too weak to walk. So she went to a nursing home. Medicare only pays for about a hundred days of skilled nursing care. Once that ran out, she had to pay for it on her own.” Hope dashed away a tear that had overflowed and run down her cheek. “She was there for five years before I met her. I volunteered after school and met her there. She said that she’d always intended to die in her home, so hadn’t bothered to get other health insurance. It cost her everything.”
“I find it hard to believe my mother would go to all this trouble to repay you for a friendship you forged while she was in a nursing home. You spent, what? A couple hours through the week with her?”
“I was there every afternoon after school until visitation hours were over and all day on the weekends! She had me read my homework to her, and she helped me with it. Her body was weak, but she had as sharp a mind as I’ve ever known. She was so smart and wanted to see me do well in school. I wanted to have something to offer when I met the right man. She said a keen mind and a kind heart were the best things anyone had to offer a prospective mate.”
“Still not buying it.” I was missing something. Or, rather, Hope was keeping something from me.