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)
“I’m ready when you are.”
“Then, let’s get moving.”
As we started out to the parking lot, I asked, “You thinking this might have something to do with us bringing in Grant?”
“Hard to believe it’s just a coincidence.”
“Yeah, I was thinking the same damn thing.”
“You never know though. Danny and Badger might’ve come across some hot chicks and decided to get a little side action.”
“Doubt it, brother. Danny’s made too much headway to fuck it up over some pussy.”
“You got a point there.”
“I’ll go check with some of the girls and see if they’ve seen them. You head over to Stilettoes. Check around there and see what you can find. If you see or hear anything, let me know.”
“Will do.”
I was relieved to see that Zeek, one of our prospects, was pulling in with my bike. I thanked him, then got on and started over to Candy’s place. She was one of the club’s strippers who was known to have a thing for prospects. As I drove over, my mind was all over the place. It was utterly gut-wrenching to know that two of our own were missing, and we had no idea why. It didn’t help matters that every time it looked like Shotgun was going to break Grant, he’d break down and go into fucking shock again, making it impossible for him to continue. We were on the losing side of a waiting game, and there was nothing we could do about it.
I spent the entire afternoon checking in with all the girls, and none of them had seen or heard from Badger or Danny. I called to check in with the others, and none of them had had any luck either. I was at my wits end. I had no doubt that we were about to face some real trouble. With that in mind, I decided to stop by Frankie’s place and let her know I might be out of pocket for a while. I’d barely made it up into her driveway when Corry opened the front door and shouted, “Hey, Sean! Widow’s here.”
I’d just gotten off my bike when both Corry and Sean came racing towards me. “Hey, you two, how’s it going?”
“Good.” Sean glanced over at his brother. “At least it is for me. Corry’s still grounded until the end of time.”
“Shut your pie hole, ass-face. I’m only grounded for two more weeks.”
“You were already grounded for a month!”
Corry’s face grew red like he was about to blow, so I quickly intervened by asking Sean, “No basketball practice today?”
“Nah. Coach had something going on, so he called it off.”
“Good deal.” I motioned my head towards the house as I asked, “Your mom home?”
“She’s inside making burgers for dinner, but I’m pretty sure she burned them up.” Corry rolled his eyes and sighed. “It’s pretty smoky in there, and she’s slamming all the cabinets shut...She does that when she gets mad.”
“So, you’re thinking the burgers are a no go?”
“Definitely.”
“How does pizza sound?”
A smile crossed Sean’s face as he replied, “A lot better than burnt hamburgers.”
“Good deal.” As I started towards the front steps, I told them, “I’ll see if your mom agrees.”
“Awesome!”
I tapped on the door, then eased it open. As I stepped inside, I was hit with the smell of burnt grease. Seemed the boys were right about their dinner. I didn’t want to startle her like the last time I’d come by, so I stood in the doorway as I shouted, “Frankie?”
“Roman?” She popped her head out of the kitchen as she asked, “What are you doing here?”
“I needed to talk to you.” I could tell by the smoke billowing overhead it wasn’t a good time to talk. She was dealing with her own shit, and I wanted to do what I could to make things better for her—at least for a little while, so I smiled and said, “Looks like I probably should’ve called first.”
“Maybe, but then, you would’ve missed out on my famous charcoal burgers.”
“About that.” I walked over and slipped my arms around her waist. “The boys and I were thinking pizza might be good.”
“Is that so?”
“Um-hmm.” I lowered my mouth to her neck, kissing her softly. “My treat.”
“Okay. You win.” Her body melted into mine as she whispered, “Pizza it is.”
“Good.” I gave her a light smack on her ass, then pulled out my phone as I told her, “I’ll call it in, then we’ll dispose of those famous charcoal burgers of yours.”
“They really aren’t that bad.”
“Um-hmm.” I started dialing one of the local pizza places as I asked, “What do y’all like on your pizza?”
“Anything is fine.”
Hoping for a more definite answer, I asked, “Anchovies? Jalapenos?”
“Umm, no. Definitely not.”
“Then, what do you guys want?”
“Pepperoni and sausage for the boys, and cheese for me.”
“See. That wasn’t so hard, now was it?”
I gave her a wink, then I dialed the number to the pizza place. After I put in our order, I helped Frankie clean up the mess in the kitchen. Just as we were finishing up, Sean came barreling into the kitchen and asked, “Are we gettin’ pizza?”