Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 115186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 576(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 576(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
She wrinkled her nose. “The floor’s dirty.”
“Right. Get the fuck upstairs, then.”
When she reached the third step, he slapped her ass hard, making her lurch forward and her heart do a somersault in her chest. She clung to the wooden banister by her nails. “Rome, don’t! I don’t want to fall.”
“You do, gonna catch you.”
“What if I knock you backwards and we both end up in a crumpled heap?”
“I’ll break your fall.”
“And I might break your bones.”
“Then hurry the fuck up.”
“Who designed these?” The steps were crazy steep. It would only take one misstep…
“Want me to research that, or do you wanna get fucked?”
“It was actually a rhetorical question.”
“Yeah? So was mine. Keep goin’.”
She pursed her lips and turned her attention back to the top. She was not fond of heights. At least the loft had a cable railing that would keep her from falling off the edge and to her early and tragic death.
As she worked her way up, the heat at her back told her that he was following closely behind her, but she wasn’t turning around to confirm.
She breathed easier when she reached the top and both of her feet were finally planted on a floor. Then, more panic ensued when she realized the loft didn’t have a bathroom. She’d have to climb back down if she needed to go.
“Do you sleep up here when you’re drunk?”
“Never drunk.”
A peel of laughter escaped her. “What? Now, I know that’s a damn lie.”
He grinned. “Couch is pretty fuckin’ comfortable.”
“If I lived here, I’d buy one with a pull-out bed.”
She glanced around. She thought the loft only held a bed. She was wrong. Personal photos decorated the opposite wall.
She immediately went over to a framed photo of a woman holding the hand of a child. She leaned closer and squinted as if that would help her recognize the people in the picture.
But the kid…
“Is that kid yours?” Was Romeo a father?
She heard a snort behind her. “The kid’s me.”
She glanced over her shoulder. “That’s you? But you look so sweet and innocent.”
“At ten, probably was.”
“But at eleven you turned into a badass gangster?”
When he huffed, “A gangster?” she giggled.
“The woman’s your mother?”
“Aunt.”
She found it interesting that he pronounced aunt differently than she did. He said it like “awnt,” while her whole life she always said it like “ant.” Huh.
She quickly scanned the rest of the framed photos. One posed shot included him and a bunch of other Knights. Next to it was a candid shot of Romeo. The smile he wore in the picture was blinding.
Jesus, he looked so damn young. And the cut he wore… “Prospect?”
“Yeah, was just handed my cut.”
“Beginning of the end, right?” she teased.
“As soon as I put that motherfucker on, my end goal was prez.”
She turned. “You go after what you want.”
“Don’t you?”
“And you get it.”
“Don’t you?” he repeated with a cocked eyebrow. “Wanted me and here the fuck you are.”
Of course he’d say that. She smothered a grin and turned to face him. “So… your aunt, huh?”
“Woman raised me.”
That was it? That was all he had to say? “What happened to your mother?”
His grin disappeared. “Story for another day.”
A day she doubted would ever come. They wouldn’t be best friends after this.
He grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the wall of photos. “Got better things to do than jawin’ ‘bout nothin’.”
She doubted it was nothing. She had seen the way his expression changed when she asked about his mother. After that, she certainly wasn’t asking about his father.
“We doin’ this or what?”
“I didn’t climb those neck-breaking stairs for nothing,” she informed him. She needed a reward for taking that risk.
She took in his king-sized bed. It was a mess. Like he woke up and simply rolled out. “When was the last time your sheets were washed?”
He glanced over at this bed. “Gotta ask Tink.”
“Tink?”
When he opened his mouth, she gave him “the palm” to stop him from answering. “Never mind. I can figure it out.”
He tugged on his beard. “Got a problem with sweet butts?”
“Not as long as they don’t have a problem with me.”
“Used to them, right?”
“I guess so. But I’ve never…” She was about to say that she never shared a man with them before. But then, Romeo was the only true biker she ever had sex with. And she could guarantee he slept with plenty of them. She didn’t even have to ask.
Some of the single Fury members showed interest in her but they thought twice about it when it came to dealing with Shade afterward. Not that Maddie would’ve turned that interest, or even their innocent flirting, into anything more. She didn’t want to deal with the crap that went along with alpha-holes.
She stepped closer and tipped her face up to his. “Promise me you won’t tell anyone about this.”