Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 119011 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 595(@200wpm)___ 476(@250wpm)___ 397(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119011 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 595(@200wpm)___ 476(@250wpm)___ 397(@300wpm)
So Zolt smiled at Abby. “I’m here to stay. Leo’s already invited me to Jack’s birthday next week.”
From there, they talked a while longer, but Abby extracted Leo out of Zolt’s hands, undoubtedly needing to have a private conversation with her son. Zolt could already sense the ‘are you gay now?’ coming Leo’s way, and he didn’t envy him, but Leo was a grown man and had to learn to deal with this kind of stuff, even if it was new to him.
Police cars rushed past the compound, their sirens howling loudly enough to pierce through the music and conversation, but alcohol and good company have already become more important than the reason for this party, so nobody cared.
With introductions out of the way, Zolt was happy to join Leo on a small bench tucked close to the garage and watch the scene from the sidelines. He didn’t want to dance like Rain and Mona, nor cry from the sheer spiciness of Kane’s sausages, like Axel, who ate the whole thing with tears streaming down his cheeks, but the fact that his presence was… maybe not welcome but accepted put him at ease as he settled into an easy conversation with Leo.
The presence of other people still made him a bit nervous, but he tried to ignore the heat of stares prodding at him in wonder and think about his future. The future that Leo offered so graciously.
“What do you want to happen to the notebook?” Zolt asked between one sip of whisky and another. Leo’s gaze was somewhat blurry from the liquor when they looked at one another, so Zolt went on. “I know this is a day of big decisions, so we might as well discuss this too. You tell me what’s to happen with it, and I’ll do it.”
A smile pulled at Leo’s mouth, and he leaned closer, rolling his head over Zolt’s shoulder and poking his thigh with one knee. Everyone was watching, but Zolt would not reject Leo’s closeness ever again, and he rubbed his back in appreciation.
“What will it be?”
Leo opened his mouth, lowering his lashes as if he were flirting with Zolt, not making decisions regarding Zolt’s less-than-PG past, but they both froze when a gunshot echoed above the yard.
Zolt thought someone had come up with the genius idea to shoot at bottles as a form of entertainment, but when the music died, shrieks from the other side of the gathering had him rising to his feet. His heart sped up when Mike pushed one of the female guests down before drawing his handgun as soon as he found shelter behind a keg.
The bottle of whisky dropped to the small patch of grass around the bench, and Leo dashed toward his family. Zolt followed without question. Never in his life had he felt so protective of another man. Just the notion of Leo being in unnecessary danger made all the hairs on his body bristle.
He looked toward the gate, where the gunshot originated, and froze.
Buzz Trowley stood there, in all his dirty glory, his eyes wide and full of crazy as he held a gun to the head of Leo’s brother, Shane.
Chapter 28 – Zolt
Trowley was like a grenade thrown into a room full of predators whose sharp teeth and claws offered them little protection from the explosion he might unleash. Shane’s eyes were wide as he looked back at his family, uselessly holding the forearm pressed to his throat. The gun at his temple could go off at any second, smashing through bone, meat, and grinding the pulp out through Shane’s eye sockets.
Nobody moved. Even Kane, the loose cannon of the Smokeys, remained still, wobbly on his feet from all the liquor he’d had. It was as if time had stood still, but when one of the girls who’d come to the party as a potential witness bent over, heaving behind a stack of crates, the sparks in Trowley’s eyes glowed with hate.
He tightened his arm on Shane’s neck, making him gurgle.
“You bastards killed my men!”
“I’m sorry, Dad, I didn’t see him coming,” Shane choked out, his legs shaking.
Hank Heller raised his hands. “Trowley. Be reasonable. We were all here having a party. I know nothing about no killing.”
Trowley snarled, his pupils wide as dimes, and he poked Shane’s head with the steel muzzle. “I bet you know nothing about my cousin’s murder either, huh?”
Zolt stiffened. His gaze passed over Leo’s tense shoulders and down his back, where the hand that had so recently squeezed Zolt’s fingers gravitated close to the holster at Leo’s hip. He instantly remembered just how bad Leo had been at de-escalation.
Leo was loyal, loved his brother, and would never forgive himself if Shane died at Trowley’s hand because of his lie. He’d do something stupid in the next half-a-second, and Zolt couldn’t let him throw his life away for this. For the first time, he knew with absolute certainty that he’d protect someone with his life. He’d stand between Leo and Trowley’s gun if need be, because the pain of losing him would have been so much worse than dying.