Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 82842 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82842 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
“There’s no court on the planet that will give you custody of those boys, Marc.”
“You’re wrong about that! I’m married. I have a good job, and I can give them the kind of security you can’t.” I hated to admit it, but his threat worried me a little. It worried me even more when he said, “And Corry was under your watch when he bought dope. Whatcha think the judge would say about that?”
“I’m not having this discussion with you. If you want to take me to court, take me to court, but you are no longer in control of what goes on in my life. I make my own decisions, and they have nothing to do with you. It’s time for you to do the same.”
“Remember what I said. Keep your garbage away from my kids.”
I wasn’t surprised when he hung up. It was what he did when he knew he’d made his point. I tossed my cell phone down on my desk, and it was all I could do to keep myself from screaming. I might’ve been divorced from him, but I would never truly be free of him or his controlling ways—and neither would my boys.
Chapter 9
Widow
“You know, I’m suddenly in the mood for a good ol’ cup of coffee.”
“What?”
Menace and I had just gone by the storage lot to drop off the week’s take from the club. It was a run we’d made many times, and never once had he ever been in the mood for fucking coffee. “Didn’t get much sleep last night. I’m not gonna make it unless I get some caffeine in me.”
“Fine.” I pointed my hand up the street. “Stop at the Tiger Mart up ahead and get you some fucking coffee.”
“Nah, their coffee tastes like ass.” He was playing it all innocent as he announced, “I’m in the mood for some real coffee.”
“And where you planning on getting this real coffee?”
He didn’t answer. Instead, he remained silent until he pulled up in front of Frankie’s coffee shop. “I heard this is a good place.”
“We’re not going in there, brother.”
“Oh, yeah. We are.”
Before I could stop him, he got out of the truck and started towards the front door. Fearing what he might say to Frankie, I got out and followed him inside. As we started up to the counter, I was relieved to see that instead of Frankie, there was a cute redhead. A mischievous grin crossed her face as she said, “Hey, aren’t you the guy who helped my sister out with her tire?”
“Yeah, that’d be me.”
“I thought so.”
I was hoping we could get out of there without seeing Frankie, but as fate would have it, she was already there. When the girl noticed her standing in the hall, she motioned her hand over to us as she told her, “Hey, Frankie! There’s someone here to see you!”
“I see that.” Her eyes were wide with surprise as she made her way behind the counter. “I wasn’t expecting you to stop by.”
“Wasn’t exactly planning on it.”
“Yeah, that’s on me.” Menace patted me on the shoulder as he said, “The name’s Menace. My brother here has been telling me about how great the coffee is here, so I thought I’d check it out for myself.”
“Is that so?”
Menace nodded. “Um-hmm, and I could use a good cup of Joe right about now.”
“Well, I can certainly help you out with that.” Frankie looked skeptical as she glanced over at me and asked, “Was there a particular kind of coffee you had in mind? Maybe a latte or a cappuccino?”
“Just a couple of cups of regular coffee. Black. No sugar.”
Menace looked around the shop as he said, “Nice place you got here.”
“Thank you. I’m pretty proud of it.”
“You should be.” Menace stepped back and let his eyes slowly skirt over the cute redhead, making sure she knew he was checking her out. I gave him a glaring look, warning him to watch his fucking step, but he didn’t listen. The asshole was enjoying himself too much. “You got a name, beautiful?”
“Sydney.” Her cheeks blushed as she told him, “I’m Frankie’s sister.”
“I see good looks run in the family.”
“Thank you. That’s very sweet.”
Frankie stepped over and placed our coffee on the counter. “Here ya go.”
“How much do we owe ya?”
“It’s on the house.” A warm smile crossed her face as she told me, “It’s the least I could do for, you know... everything.”
“Thanks, babe. Much appreciated.” Menace grabbed the two cups from the counter. As he handed me mine, he looked at me like he was expecting me to do or say something. When I didn’t, he shook his head and said, “I guess we best get going.”
“Probably so.” I looked over to Frankie and said, “Good to see ya, Frankie.”
“Good to see you, too. Hope to see you again sometime.”