Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 94997 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94997 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
“What the fuck?” I snap.
“Well, come on. It’s obvious that I’m holding up the team here.” He’s so smug I punch him in the arm.
“You’re such an ass,” I say, throwing his arm off the back of my chair and then piercing a piece of my pasta. It’s only then that I glance back up and see Hope and Braxton are watching us. Hope has a big-ass grin on her face. “What? We’re just working on this stuff together. He fucking wishes we were together.”
“See how she treats me?” Hawke says dramatically.
I roll my eyes. “Last time I checked, I treat you pretty well,” I bite back.
“Only when that pretty little mouth of yours is being obedient.”
“Please. My defiant mouth is the thing you like about me most.” I glare at him and can’t help but smile at his arrogant smirk and the way his gaze devours me. Fifty bucks says if I grabbed his cock right now, it’d be hard.
Braxton clears his throat. “Hawke, do you mind if I speak with you outside for a moment?”
Hawke’s playful expression drops, and Braxton doesn’t even wait for his answer before he’s standing and pressing a kiss to Hope’s forehead, promising he’ll be back shortly. We watch as they leave, taking a palpable tension with them.
“I hope they don’t kill each other,” I say, wondering what that’s all about.
Hope nonchalantly shrugs. “I think they’ll end up friends.”
“Really?” I ask, surprised she’d think that.
“Let’s be real. They’re both smartasses who like to push everyone’s buttons.” I think about that, concluding that’s most likely why my father can’t stand him.
“You sure everything’s okay, though? You seem different lately. I just want to make sure you’re all right. And if my cousin is becoming overbearing, let me know, and I can shackle him in a basement for a week.”
I laugh at that. Hope surprises me with some of the things she says. But it’s reassuring to see this side of her slowly come to the surface. That she’s comfortable enough with us to reveal all of herself instead of just parts. I feel almost guilty for keeping some of my own secrets, but I know I’ll eventually talk about them. Right now doesn’t feel like the right time as I hyper-fixate on getting to the bottom of Makayla’s murder and whatever is happening behind it.
“I’m okay,” I reassure her as I place my hand on hers over the table. I don’t have the heart to tell her that I don’t even think a chain and ball could keep Hawke down for a week. “Now, let’s figure out what I should text Jared to bring him back to New York like a good little boy.”
She chuckles. “From you, ‘Hi’ should be enough.”
I smirk, validated by her confidence in me. Then again, catching a man’s attention has never been difficult for me. It’s the one who keeps showing up at my house uninvited that I’m unsure how to deal with.
CHAPTER 28
Hawke
Ifollow Braxton outside, positioning myself so I can still watch Ivy. I see her throw her head back, laughing at something Hope says.
“This doesn’t count as the favor you owe me. I’m saving that for something special,” Braxton says, which immediately pisses me off.
“This was her idea. Don’t worry. I’ll still owe you a favor when the time comes.”
Braxton nods. “Good. Is she okay? I know Hope’s been worried about her lately. It’s hard for me to keep secrets from my woman, so holding on to the knowledge of what happened that night gets more difficult by the day.”
My jaw tics, and I look back at Ivy. I was hoping she would’ve spoken to somebody by now about what happened to her. It’s not anyone else’s business, but I know Hope, Billie, and Ivy are close, and I think there’s been a small part of her she’s been holding back since that day. Sure, she might think I’m hovering around to look after her, but it’s entirely selfish because I don’t want to spend any of my waking time with anyone else but her.
“She’ll get through it,” I say without a doubt. Ivy is one of the most resilient women I know, and she’ll open up in her own time.
“Good.” Braxton clears his throat. “Good luck with the not killing him part.”
“You’re an ass,” I say as he smirks and shoves his hands in his pockets. He then walks back into the restaurant.
I take out my phone and call Eli. He answers on the third ring.
“Update?” he demands.
“Everything’s in motion. We’re going to bait him back to Manhattan so we can try and find a lead through him.”
Eli clicks his tongue, and I can tell he’s impatient with how slowly the pieces are moving. I’m not the brains behind most operations, and even now, this might be an unrelated lead, but we’re grasping at straws. We’ve only been able to track down petty drug dealers. They’re not the root of the problem of the recent distribution of date-rape drugs.