Total pages in book: 143
Estimated words: 141464 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 707(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 472(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 141464 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 707(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 472(@300wpm)
Margot pulls her hand away and snuggles closer to me. “What’d you do to provoke him?”
Quill lets out a hearty laugh, hand to his chest like he’s enthralled with my woman. “Clever and beautiful. You hang onto her, Jigsaw.”
“All right.” Rooster claps a hand over Quill’s shoulder, pushing him around us. “Let’s go play darts.”
“I feel like you’re looking for a way to poke sharp instruments in me.” Quill laughs but goes without a fight. Must want to keep his tongue.
Margot tilts her face up, eyes searching mine. “Did I miss something?”
“No, just a guy who needs to learn some manners.”
She frowns. “Was he…making fun of me? Of us?”
I let out a sigh, frustration still simmering. “No. He…clocked you the minute you came in. Saw you talking to Torch.” I grit my teeth because I still haven’t addressed that issue. “He definitely wasn’t making fun of you. But he was trying to piss me off just now.”
Her brows pinch together. “Oh.”
“What’d Torch say to you?” I ask.
She rolls her eyes. “Just said hello and asked me how I was.”
“Want to cash in that rain check for your date?”
She pokes me in the stomach. “No. You can’t seriously still be jealous.”
“Not jealous.” I lean down, nose her hair out of the way, and kiss her neck. “Just want my hands”—I kiss another sensitive spot—“and mouth”—I drag my tongue over her pulse—“all over you.”
She shivers and slides her hands under my T-shirt, soft fingers stroking my sides and lower back.
“Do I need to get the water gun?” Jezzie says.
Groaning, I drag myself away from Margot.
“My goodness.” Jezzie laughs. “Let the woman breathe.” She pushes a short glass of bubbling soda with a lime wedge perched on the rim toward Margot.
“Thank you.” Margot grabs it and takes a long sip.
Shelby joins us, hugging Margot fiercely. “I’m so happy you’re here! Come on, let’s go hang with the girls.”
Margot glances at me.
As much as I want her all to myself, I want her to hang out with the ol’ ladies of my club. Have fun.
But this place is loud, crowded, and crawling with people I don’t trust. She’s just going to have to do it with me standing guard.
I nod. “Yeah, let’s do it.”
Shelby loops her arm through Margot’s and leads her to the end of the bar, already chatting a mile a minute.
I follow a step behind, scanning every face, every movement, every shadow.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Jigsaw
I’ve been swinging by Strike Back most mornings when Margot’s tied up with work. Not to hover. Just to check in on Cain.
So far, he’s holding it down. Making me proud. Not that I’d say those exact words to him. Don’t wanna make it weird.
Kid’s been through enough.
Jezzie’s got finals wrapping up soon. Once that’s over, I think I’ll finally pull the trigger and get them together.
They deserve to know each other.
But I need to be the one who decides when and how that happens. If Jezzie ends up mad about it, I’ll take the hit.
Cain’s wiping down one of the benches when I walk in, sweat darkening the collar of his shirt. He’s got a solid rhythm going—cleaning each piece of equipment with the preciseness you’d find in a medical lab.
And it looks like he’s put on some muscle working here. I make sure his fridge is stocked every week. But this? This is his own doing. He’s been filling out. Building strength. Absorbing tips from Sully and Jake.
“Damn,” I say, nodding at the weights. “Look at you bulking up.”
He glances over, pushing his sweaty hair off his forehead. A grin tugs at the corner of his mouth. “Gotta get ready to humble you in the cage one day.”
He’s got a sense of humor too. “You wish.”
He tosses the towel on the bench. “You come check in on me every day just to talk smack?”
Before I can answer, Sully steps out of his office, arms crossed, expression unreadable. “You harassing my employees, Jigsaw?”
Look at him. All protective over my brother like he’s known him forever.
Shit, I’m glad this is working out.
Even if it means I have to admit Wrath was right.
“Nope.” I clap Cain on the back, the sweat on his shirt seeping into my palm. “Just checking in. Making sure everything’s running smooth.”
I meet Sully at the front desk and lower my voice, leaning in closer to him. “Seriously. Everything good?”
“Yeah.” Sully exhales like I just asked him if gravity’s still a thing. “He’s a hard worker. Was shy at first but he’s warming up to the regulars.” He rolls his eyes. “Especially the ladies.”
I duck my head, laughing under my breath. “Naturally.”
“Follows directions. Doesn’t half-ass anything. Never late.” His gaze shifts to Jake, who’s in front of the mirror knocking out a clean set of Romanian deadlifts—form locked in, shins vertical, face unreadable. “Unlike my own brother.”