Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 56628 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 283(@200wpm)___ 227(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56628 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 283(@200wpm)___ 227(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
“What in the hell are you doing here?” Jesup snarled at her.
“Ooh, drama,” Joey said as he grinned at the scene in front of him. I glowered at him. He only shrugged. “What? I’ve been getting the shit beat out of me for the past few days. Cut me some slack,” he grunted.
“J—” Zyla started, but I cut her off.
“Jesup, let’s go talk,” I told him as I slid off of the barstool.
Joey got off his stool, too. “I’m going to go check on Adelaide. Where is she?” he asked me.
“My room. Can’t miss it. It has ‘president’ on the door.” I pointed a finger at him. “Don’t disturb her,” I ordered.
He rolled his eyes. “I’m not a fucking idiot,” he smarted off before he strode toward the hall. I glowered at his back. Joey always ran by his own book, and he never gave a fuck whose toes he stepped on in the process.
These next few years were going to be fucking exhausting and a real damn test of my patience.
“How the fuck are you even alive right now?” Jesup demanded as Joey walked past him.
Joey shook his head at Jesup. “I did die, but they were able to revive me. I told them not to tell anyone I was alive because I’ve known for a while that Charles has been plotting against me.” He clenched his jaw, looking over at his sister. “And he’s been working with Vin this whole fucking time,” he quietly snarled, not letting his voice trail beyond us three.
“Fucking hell,” I swore. If Vin had been working with Charles, then that only meant that the entire time Joey had been trying to protect her, Vin had been one step ahead, and he might still be depending on where Charles was.
Joey nodded. “It’s why my sister looks like she does. Charles and Vin have been selling her out.”
With that, he walked down the hallway to go check on Adelaide.
I stared after Joey for a moment, trying to make sense of what might be going through his head, but I knew it was useless. Joey was unpredictable and dangerous.
I looked over at Jesup. “Come on,” I told him, pushing open the chapel doors. I knew this was going to be a tense conversation. Jesup had loved—hell, still did even if he wanted to deny it—Zyla with every fiber of his being. She had cut him deep when she took off with Rodney.
“Why is she back here?” Jesup demanded to know as soon as the doors were closed back behind us.
“She came to me last night. Showed up during the party. She’s lost everything, Jesup. She just needs a place to stay until she can get back on her feet,” I told him.
Jesup shook his head. “Not here, Grim,” Jesup snarled. “She fucking left. She demanded the divorce. She can figure her shit out on her own.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Jesup, it’s just for a little while, alright?” I told him. Zyla hadn’t told me what happened, but the look in her eyes as she begged me for help? She was looking for safety, too. Something had happened, and I wouldn’t turn her away if she needed help. “You don’t even have to converse with her.”
Jesup clenched his jaw. “I don’t even want to see her fucking face, Grim.” When it was clear I was standing my ground, he growled. “She’s got one fucking month. That’s it. If she isn’t on her feet in a month, I want her gone,” he snapped.
With that, he strode out of the room, not giving me a chance to respond.
Chapter Eighteen
Adelaide
Islowly opened my eyes, locking them on Joey’s darker ones. He was kneeling beside the bed in front of me, his eyes running over my face. “Hey, pretty girl,” he quietly greeted me as he reached up to run the tips of his fingers over my face.
“Hi,” I whispered. I swallowed thickly, tears burning in my eyes. “I missed you,” I croaked. “It hurt so fucking much to think that you were gone—”
“Easy,” he soothed as he cupped my cheek, brushing his thumb over my cheekbone. “You know I’ll never leave you. That has always been my one promise to you. Always remember that promise, pretty girl.”
I sniffled as a tear ran down my cheek. “You’re my rock, Joey. I can’t ever lose you. It’ll fucking kill me.”
He gave me a tender smile, one that warmed my heart and melted my soul. “I’ll be your rock for as long as you need me to be,” he promised. I smiled at him—a broken smile. He was the only man I’d ever let see just how shattered I was inside. “Always so fucking pretty,” he breathed. Leaning forward, he smoothed his lips over mine. I softly sighed into the kiss, reaching up to clutch his shirt in my fist, holding him with me.