Total pages in book: 168
Estimated words: 164910 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 825(@200wpm)___ 660(@250wpm)___ 550(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 164910 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 825(@200wpm)___ 660(@250wpm)___ 550(@300wpm)
I’ll bet that greasy motherfucker who wants Callum’s ass has a whole luxury penthouse all to himself where he can screw the golden boy in his private rooftop pool without interruption.
I rake my hand through my hair. I don’t even know why I’m pissed. If Callum wasn’t a piece of shit, he’s still not my type. He probably has a fucking skin care routine.
I grab my beer and take a drink. God, I need to take a drive or something. Clear my head.
Fucking curfew.
“Uncle Macon!” some kid cries.
We all look up, Dex peering out of his bedroom window. “Paisleigh won’t keep the night-light on!”
“What the hell are you both still doing up?” Macon barks.
They don’t share a room, but they camp out in his makeshift tent sometimes.
Dex stands there, knowing better than to whine any further.
Macon gestures to one of us with his hand. “Would you give me a break, please?”
Not me. I don’t teach elementary school for a reason.
“I got it,” Iron says, rising from his lounge chair.
He walks off, back through the kitchen, and I set the beer down. I need something stronger if I’m going to wind down and sleep tonight.
Peering over my shoulder, I see the lights of the bar down the road. Liquor, music so loud I can’t think, and warm bodies. If I get laid, I’ll pass out nice and good.
It would certainly get my brain back on track. We’re taking the Ameses down. That’s all that matters. It’s either us or them, and it’s not going to be us.
His body isn’t that great.
I’m about ready to get up when my phone vibrates.
Grabbing my shirt off the bottom of my lounge chair, I find my cell.
I recognize the number, even though I don’t have it saved.
“AK?” I answer.
Two quick intakes of breath hit my ear, then a sniffle. “Dallas?”
I bolt up, her voice unnerving me more than the crying. Normally, it’s light and innocent like sunshine, like she’s speaking through a smile all the time.
Now it’s heavier.
“Where are you?” I demand.
She sucks in short, stuttered breaths. “In…your classroom.”
Jumping up, I grab my T-shirt without a word to Macon and head around the house. “I’m coming to you now,” I assure her.
I pull the phone away from my ear long enough to pull on my shirt and dig my keys out of my pocket.
“What’s wrong?” I ask her.
“I don’t want him to find me.”
“Callum?”
She’s scared of him?
She starts sobbing again. “He’s going to be so mad.”
Striding across the lawn, I round my car. “Keep the light off in my room,” I say, trying to sound calm. “Stay in the nook. I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
“Stay on the line,” she gasps.
I think I heard that she sees a doctor, but I’m not going to try to get their number out of her. She called me for a reason, and it doesn’t escape me that I don’t hesitate. Not like I did with my mom.
I pull open my door just as Iron rushes out of the front of the house. “What are you doing?”
He gapes at me. It’s almost midnight.
But I don’t have time to explain. “Call Army,” I say to him in a low voice. “Tell him to meet me at Marymount.”
I might need a cop on my side.
“But it’s almost curfew,” he bites out.
I ignore him, climbing in the car. She’s alone, she’s terrified, and she called me. No woman has ever called me for help. What am I supposed to do?
Pinching the phone between my ear and shoulder, I start the car, but the passenger door opens. Iron is still shirtless.
“No.” I hold out my hand to stop my brother. “Stay here.”
They would love to get their hands on him.
He leans down, practically glaring at me. He’s worried.
I shake my head. I know, all right? I know.
I shift into reverse. “Call Army.”
He slams the door shut, and I put my phone in the cup holder, hitting the speakerphone.
“Dallas,” Anna-Katherine sobs.
“Did he hurt you?” I ask her.
I don’t know what I hope to hear. If Callum hurt her, I can kill him. There’s something peaceful about that. I have anger to get out, and it’s what he deserves, isn’t it?
But if he hurt her, that would be it between us. A feeling curdles in my stomach.
I can’t even believe I suspended my anger over what he tried to do to Liv long enough to sleep with him again.
She doesn’t reply, just cries. “I don’t like it here,” she rants. “I don’t want to stay here anymore.”
She doesn’t like it at school? She loves my classroom.
“I’m coming to get you,” I assure her, more fucking rain starting to cover my windshield. I flip on the wipers.
“I just want to see snow first,” she murmurs, tears straining her voice. “I can leave after I see snow.”
What? “I don’t understand.”