Total pages in book: 171
Estimated words: 167204 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 836(@200wpm)___ 669(@250wpm)___ 557(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 167204 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 836(@200wpm)___ 669(@250wpm)___ 557(@300wpm)
“Free him up?”
“Using whatever means necessary.”
I swallow. “That sounds potentially… sketchy.”
“It’s potentially very sketchy. Especially if Daddy’s little princess is used to getting what she wants, and he’s willing to help her get it. Then your normie girlfriend is kind of fucked, because the number one rule is Blue Bloods can’t go against each other.”
“But wouldn’t it be kind of an attack on a Blue Blood if you killed his girlfriend?”
“Yeah, but if she’s just his girlfriend, there are ways around it. Guy could claim he didn’t know it was that serious. He’d have to make reparations, but you can’t make someone undead, so… if you were serious about her and you wanted to make sure she was safe, you should have married her.”
“Wow. That is ruthless.”
“Yeah. We’re all aware of the threat with Vanessa, so it’s unlikely Aubrey is in any real danger. We keep an ear to the ground to make sure she doesn’t get any ideas, and if she did, we’d do what we could to keep Aubrey safe because Dare is one of us and that’s what he wants, but the fact that we need to do that should be evidence enough for you that your little Zeta friends aren’t all as innocent as you think they are.”
I look back at him. “Is Addison’s dad a Blue Blood?”
He shakes his head. “No. Addison’s dad has connections to the mafia, though, so that’s similar. She might be more desensitized to situational violence and dynamics the outside world would view as extremely dysfunctional, but I’m not sure. I never looked that far into her. My hunch is she’d have no problem hanging with a Blue Blood, I just don’t think she wants to.”
“Not unless Ryan Gosling is a Blue Blood,” I joke.
Killian smirks. “Yeah, he’s not.”
“I like Ryan Gosling. He makes good movies. We should have Addison and Ryan over to watch one soon. Have you seen Crazy Stupid Love?”
“I have not.”
I nod. “That’s the one, then. Let’s set it up.”
He tightens his arm around me to pull me closer. “We can do that. Maybe make it a double feature. I liked The Place Beyond the Pines. Have you seen that one?”
“I haven’t, and I’m so down. I love this idea.”
“Good,” he murmurs. “I have some Blue Blood business to take care of tomorrow, so I’ll be at the Zeta house anyway. I can grab your things from Addison while I’m there.”
“And invite her to Double Ryan night?”
He smirks. “And invite her to Double Ryan night.”
“Okay,” I agree. We fall quiet for a peaceful moment, but with everything he said racing through my mind, there’s one thing in particular my brain hyperfocused on, and I want to address it. “Hey, Killian?”
“Yeah?”
I swallow. “Would you rather have a more Blue Blood friendly girlfriend? Some Zeta who… you know, was bred for it, who approves of everything you do and gives you celebratory shoulder rubs when you…?”
“No,” he says seriously, then he grabs my jaw and turns it so he can steal a kiss. “I’d rather have you.”
Chapter Thirty-five
Killian
When I get out of class on Monday, instead of staying on campus like I planned to, I head to the Zeta sorority house.
I massaged the truth a little when I told Brynn I’d grab her things while I was there. I do have Zeta business today, but I didn’t have to stop at the house in order to accomplish it.
Since I know Sloane isn’t home, I stop there first so I can get Brynn’s stuff. I head up to the second floor and knock on the door to Addison’s room.
While I wait for her to answer, I take a look at the dry erase board hanging up on the wall next to her door. All the rooms have them outside above a little compartment I would guess is for mail or notes if the girl isn’t in her room. There’s a line down the middle so each girl has her own half of the board to decorate and write her name on. Since Addison lives alone right now, only her dry erase doodles are present. I cock my head at the one that says, “brookies = life.”
She opens the door with a vaguely annoyed expression on her face, her dark hair piled in a messy bun atop her head, a cell phone pressed against her ear.
Annoyance increasing at the very sight of me, she raises her dark eyebrows expectantly.
I imagine she wants to know why I’m here, but since she doesn’t bother putting her question into words, I say, “What’s a brookie?”
Sighing heavily, she says into the phone, “Mom, I’ve gotta go. There’s a man at my door asking stupid questions and I have to make him go away.”
As she ends her call and reaches back to put her phone on her desk, I say, “Man, you really know how to make a guy feel welcome.”