Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 74122 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 371(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74122 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 371(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
“Can we go swimming now?” Lily asked, pulling on her mother’s hand.
“When we get back, yes. We’ll stop and get you a bathing suit and some clothes on the way home. Then after that, later tonight, we need to have a long talk, lady bug. Okay?”
“Yeah, Momma. Is Daddy and Gloria waiting at home?”
Dawg watched as Emma’s face twisted, but she quickly hid her thoughts and took a deep breath. “No, lady bug. It’s just going to be you and me at our new home.”
“Is Daddy going to visit?”
“We’ll talk about that later after your swim. Sound good?”
“Yes! Let’s go swimming!”
The resilience of kids amazed him.
Emma swiped a hand over her red eyes and glanced over at Dawg, who said, “Take her outside to the truck. Gotta talk to D. Can you find your way back out?”
Emma nodded. “Yes. I think so. Come on, lady bug, Dawson has to talk to the men who helped you.”
Dawg grimaced again at Em’s use of his real name. He just needed to give up and accept it.
Like saying fudge instead of fuck. Shoot instead of shit.
He sighed.
Fucking shit was going to change. That was for damn sure.
“Say goodbye to the guys, Lily,” Em encouraged her.
“Bye!” she yelled, waving at Mercy and D.
“Bye, Lily. You were a real trooper,” Mercy answered.
D grunted his goodbye, then looked at Jewel who was still a mess on the floor. “Woman, go with ‘em.”
“Why? I—”
“Got important shit to talk ‘bout.” He tilted his head toward the door and cocked an eyebrow.
“Men shit?” she asked with a frown.
“Yeah.”
“Fsst,” Jewel answered, swiping a hand in his direction, then headed out the door.
“Shut it,” D barked.
Jewel slammed the door shut, but not until thrusting her hand back into the room and giving D the middle finger.
Dawg chuckled. Jewel didn’t take any shit from anyone, especially her ol’ man.
“Fuckin’ woman drives me crazy,” D grumbled.
What the man wouldn’t admit to is how much he loved Jewel. And how she had him wrapped around her little finger. She had tamed the savage beast.
“Don’t know how she puts up with your ass,” Mercy told him, shaking his head, a smirk pulling up one side of his mouth.
“I give good dick,” D muttered, grabbing his crotch and jerking it.
Mercy snorted. He turned his grey eyes to Dawg. “So... Dawson, huh?”
“Keep tellin’ ‘er not to call me that, but she don’t listen,” Dawg answered with a shrug.
“Need to teach ‘er a lesson, then,” D answered, moving around to behind his desk and settling into his chair with a grunt.
“Yeah, all those ‘lessons’ you teach Jewelee knocked ‘er up.”
Diesel lifted his heavy shoulders and let them drop. “She’s mouthy.”
“You wouldn’t want ‘er any other way,” Dawg told him.
“That’s the truth,” Mercy mumbled.
Diesel scowled.
“Gotta thank you for gettin’ Lily home safe,” Dawg started. “Thanks for goin’ above an’ beyond, too.”
“Wasn’t nothin’,” Mercy answered with a shrug. “Easy mission.”
“Easy?” Dawg asked with a frown. Did D’s men think nothing about killing a man? No regrets?
“Yeah. Got the news from Hunter an’ Walker as soon as I landed in Brunei that her husband was takin’ care of.”
“They didn’t wait for you?” Dawg asked Mercy, surprised.
Mercy shook his head. “Didn’t have to. Man fuckin’ crashed his rental car. Fucker’s tire blew out, hit a guide rail, car flipped over that an’ down an embankment. No seatbelt, major head trauma. Problem solved. Couldn’t have been more convenient.”
Right. Pretty fucking convenient. Dawg glanced at D to see if he believed that story.
Of course, D had no expression at all, like normal.
“Wanted to make the fucker suffer like he made that poor woman, but never got the chance. Fuckin’ sucks.”
Dawg eyeballed the man with the scarred face. He certainly could be a scary fucker and he wondered if the man even had a conscience. Maybe with all that he’d seen during his stint with the Special Forces that had chipped away at his humanity.
“Had a little problem with the girlfriend, Gloria, though. Thought she had the right to keep Lily. We told her differently. Convinced her it was in Lily’s best interest, as well as hers, to let the girl go home to her mother. She might be a little loco, but finally got through to her and decided to hand over Lily without a fight.”
“Lily see anything that Emma needs to be worried ‘bout?” Dawg asked carefully.
“Nope. She was outside playin’ when we had our little discussion with Gloria. Lily didn’t hear or see shit. Gloria then went out, got her, introduced us as friends of her father, then off we went. No shit, all shine.”
“Good,” Dawg said, relieved. Lily had been through enough with the kidnapping, she didn’t need to witness any “coercive” discussions.
Mercy nodded his head, pushed off the wall he was leaning against and said, “Done here. Gettin’ outta here, boss.”