Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 81694 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 408(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81694 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 408(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
“Hmm,” Huck replied, then took another pull from his cigarette.
“If there is an issue with her being here, I can find someone else. It might take a few days. I need to make some calls. It’s the trust factor, of course. I trust Shiloh completely. Finding someone else that I trust with this situation will be a little harder.”
Huck looked back at the other man for a moment. It was as if they were having a silent conversation. Finally, he turned back to Uncle Neil.
“She can stay until you find someone else,” he replied.
My stomach sank. I wanted this job. The urge to argue my case was strong, but Uncle Neil would be angry if I said anything.
“Very well. I will start working on a replacement right away,” he replied. Then turned to me. “I’ll be back at six to check on the patient and take you home.”
I felt a lump in my throat but refused to let any of them see that this affected me. “Okay.”
The sympathy in his gaze didn’t help the disappointment. He looked like he wanted to hug me, but he didn’t. I watched him give the men a nod before he turned to leave. I started to follow him. I needed to go check on the patient, and I also wanted to get away from the other two men. At least the one upstairs, although he didn’t like me either, was injured and needed my help.
“Stay.” Huck’s command startled me.
Slowly, I turned back around to face him.
“I need to go see if he’s awake now and talk to him before you go back up there,” he told me.
What I should do was say okay or just nod. Instead, “He knew me?” came out of my mouth.
Huck’s cold glare returned. “Unfortunately,” he replied, then walked away, leaving me alone with the other man.
My eyes met the man sitting at the table as he studied me. He didn’t appear as angry, but he wasn’t giving me a welcoming feeling either.
“Since you don’t remember, I’m Levi,” he said, “and shit around here is about to get real fucking interesting,”
Four
Gage
My eyes opened just as Huck walked in the room.
He closed the door, then turned to me. “You still fucking high?” he asked.
How the hell was I supposed to know? He wasn’t Shiloh Ellis, so that was a good sign that I wasn’t tripping anymore.
“Not sure,” I muttered.
“Do you remember Shiloh Ellis coming in here with the doc?”
Fuck.
“Yeah, I’m still high,” I confirmed. “Because you wouldn’t be talking about fucking Shiloh.”
Huck muttered a string of curse words. “You’re not fucking high. Shiloh is in the damn kitchen. But I told Carmichael to get someone else. He said to give him a couple days. He needs to find someone he trusts and who’s willing to come into this house and work.”
I groaned. “Sure. Whatever,” I mumbled and closed my eyes. Once the fucking morphine wore off, I wasn’t taking any more of that shit. Hallucinating was supposed to be fun.
“Fuck, Gage. Will you listen to me? She’s going to bring her ass up here to check on you in a few minutes. She was in a car accident two years ago and now has fucking amnesia and doesn’t remember shit. At least nothing before the accident. Carmichael called it retro … fuck, I can’t remember.”
I opened my eyes and turned my head to look at him. “What the fuck are you talking about? My fucking subconscious is not this creative.”
He scowled. “Carmichael explained it in more detail. He picked up that we fucking hate her and of course had no idea we knew her. She didn’t say anything because she doesn’t remember shit.”
Amnesia? I had to process this. That girl had fucked with my head. No, she’d fucking ripped out my heart. After her, I’d never given anyone else the chance to get close enough to matter. My life was good. I’d gotten what I’d wanted. The Hugheses trusted me and let me in the family. This was what I was meant to do, and for a moment, I had almost let that bitch take it away from me. I didn’t love her—that emotion was bullshit. She had been an obsession I couldn’t shake, even when she fucked me over. It had taken me too long to get her out of my head.
“Question is, can you handle her staying? You need someone who can take care of you during the day, and for now, she’s all we’ve got.”
Could I handle seeing her? She didn’t mean shit to me anymore. Whatever I’d felt for her had been dead for years. If she didn’t remember anything, then what the fuck did it matter if she was here?
“I don’t give a fuck. I just need to get this shit healed so I can get out of this fucking bed and go kill the fuckers who put me here.”