Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 132332 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 662(@200wpm)___ 529(@250wpm)___ 441(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132332 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 662(@200wpm)___ 529(@250wpm)___ 441(@300wpm)
My expression stays the same.
“I’ll be fine,” she assures me. “Go. Before Wrath dreams up some creative punishment for your absence.” She leans up and kisses my cheek. “Thank you for this weekend.”
I capture her in my arms, lifting her just a bit. “We needed it.”
“We did,” she whispers.
“You and me.” I press a kiss to her lips. “We’ll always be okay.”
The corners of her mouth lift. “Team O’Callaghan for life.”
“Yeah, beautiful.” I set her down but keep my hands on her waist.
“Are your hands ever not all over each other?” Marcel groans.
I turn and he’s standing in the hallway, hands on his hips and a flicker of uncertainty in his eyes.
“Can we talk for a sec?” he asks.
A wave of trepidation propels me toward the door. “I can’t. I need to run down to Furious.”
He drops his gaze and firms his jaw. My body tightens in anticipation of a fight. Part of me wants to give in and ease his conscience. The other part of me wants to let him stew for a while. My childish instinct wins as I open the door and he doesn’t stop me from leaving.
Heidi squeezes my hand.
“I gotta go,” I tell her.
She bites her lip but nods. She’d rather I stay and hash all this out with her brother but won’t ask me to do it.
Marcel looks so fucking miserable, I throw him a bone. “We’ll talk later.”
“Okay.”
I hustle out of there before I change my mind.
Why I thought Furious would be a better location for my brooding ass, I don’t know. Wrath’s ready and willing to abuse me the second I walk into the gym.
“Enjoy your little getaway, bro?” he asks from the doorway of his office.
“Thanks for covering for me.” I don’t offer any excuses or explanations.
“You all right?” Wrath’s considerate curiosity sets off my bullshit meter. I can count on one hand how many times he’s shown genuine concern for my feelings about anything.
“I’m fine.” I brush past him but he stops me with a hand on my chest, pushing me back a few steps. “The fuck? Get off me.”
“You want to talk?”
“Jesus Christ. You know too?” How many other people did Rock and Marcel tell before they finally came clean with Heidi and me?
“Rock and I go way back. I can read him pretty well,” Wrath explains. “It didn’t take a lot to figure it out. You know I’ve always busted Teller’s ass for acting like Rock’s mini-me.”
“Yeah, acting like it, not actually—wait, did you know all along?”
“Fuck no. How could I?” He slaps his abdomen. “My intuition is smarter than my brain, I guess.”
That actually pulls a chuckle from me. Wrath rarely pokes fun at himself.
“So where’d you go?” he asks.
I tell him and he shudders with revulsion. “Better you than me, bro. Way too many kids at a joint like that.”
“Fuckin’ A,” I agree.
“How’s Heidi?”
A few years ago, I’m not sure Wrath would’ve given a shit about Heidi’s feelings on any subject. “Better. I left her at Marcel’s. Rock and Hope were there too.”
“You didn’t have to come in.”
“Yeah, I did.” My body tightens with annoyance. “Orders aren’t going to sort themselves.”
“You can’t avoid him forever,” he says with annoying accuracy. Of course he knows exactly why I’m here.
“Not trying to,” I lie.
He cocks his head but doesn’t call me out. “There’s a stack of invoices waiting on your desk for you.”
“Perfect.” I finally manage to move past him.
Once I’m at my desk, I send Heidi a quick text to make sure she’s okay. She answers with thumbs up and heart emojis, which puts me at ease.
I work through the stack of papers, pushing all other thoughts away. I’m halfway through when Jake knocks on my open door.
“Nice of you to show up.” He smirks and saunters into the room, plopping into one of the chairs in front of my desk.
I study him carefully. He and Wrath have been business partners and friends for a long damn time. Would Wrath have shared the reason I took off with Jake? Ultimately, I doubt it. It falls too close to club business for Wrath to discuss with outsiders.
Over the years, Jake’s become my friend too. I still don’t feel like talking about it. What would I even say? “Had some things to take care of.”
“Is Heidi all right?” he asks. “The baby? Everything okay there?”
“Yeah, brother. Thanks for asking. She’s good.”
“Okay.” He slaps the edge of my desk and stands. “If you need something, let me know.”
“Thanks, Jake.”
The rest of the afternoon goes by quickly. Wrath dips out early, leaving me to close the gym.
I lock the doors and step into the back parking lot. A bike I’d recognize anywhere is parked next to my truck. Marcel’s leaning on it, staring at the night sky.
“I should’ve known you wouldn’t leave me alone,” I say as I walk up to him.