Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 132657 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 663(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132657 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 663(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
“Like a punch card.” Jensen smiled like he appreciated the idea.
“I need to point out again that I work for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and we do track mafia crimes. Including assholes who pay them to hurt people.” Jack sounded like he’d been over this more than once.
Her dad ignored him completely. “So I already took care of Jensen’s mess. Let’s talk about Niall.”
“We don’t have to,” Niall offered.
Harlow waved him off. “Oh, no. I want to hear what shit he’s come up with. Do you have a problem with his honorable military service?”
“He was in the Army.” Her dad shuddered distastefully. “He wasn’t even Special Forces.”
“You snob.” She wasn’t taking that from him. “The Navy is not the only military service worth doing. And what did you expect? That I would let you find a Navy SEAL you could sell me off to? With a dowry? So say it. What honestly bothers you about Niall?”
“He works and lives in a crappy part of town. You’re going to end up getting hurt. He runs a gym. Most private gyms fail. So you’re going to end up living in a rat-infested hell hole in the middle of a criminal warzone working two jobs to support your unemployed boyfriend and driving to the federal prison on the weekends for visitation time with the other asshole.”
He was such a drama llama. “And how have I lost my trust fund in all of this? Or were you planning on taking it away if I don’t do what you want?”
Her dad seemed to deflate. “I would never, never do that to you. I would never leave you alone like that. You think I don’t remember what it was like? One day Ben and I were overly privileged teens and the next our dad told us we were eighteen and the trust fund from our mom’s side of the family didn’t kick in until twenty-six. We went from having everything to having nothing. I would never do that to you.”
She took a deep breath. Her father was acting out of love, and she wasn’t going to get through to him by yelling. “Well, you should talk to Niall. He got kicked out of his house for trying to save his mom from his abusive dad, and he was younger than you. They still don’t acknowledge he’s their son.”
Her dad nodded like she’d made his point. “I did know he has no real relationship with his family. He’s looking for a woman to take care of him.”
“No.” Niall stared her father’s way. “You’re wrong. I’m not looking for Harlow to take care of me. I want to take care of her. Me giving to her, ensuring she has what she wants and needs and that she has a safe space is important to me. I know I don’t come from money, but everything I have is hers.”
“Well, that’s easy to say when you don’t have anything,” her dad said, completely forgetting what he’d talked about.
“Uhm, apparently I have a million dollars,” Jensen pointed out. “Do I get to keep that?”
Jack looked like he was getting a headache. “No, Jensen. You don’t get to keep the obviously criminally attained blood money. Unless you would like to admit to what you did to earn it.”
She shot her cousin a nasty look. “He’s not saying anything at all. He’s getting a lawyer.”
“See, never once when I thought about the man you would marry did I think he would need a lawyer,” her dad righteously announced.
“Every word out of your mouth is pure hypocrisy. I am trying here, Dad,” Harlow pleaded. “You want to tell my guys about how many times you’ve gotten arrested during a case because you went somewhere you weren’t supposed to go? Got mouthy with the cops? Physically assaulted a client?”
“I only assaulted them if they were assholes,” her dad replied. “And the job sometimes requires a certain moral flexibility.”
She gave her dad a smirk. “Yeah, I know. I do it a lot. The moral flexibility part. I learned it from you.”
Her dad’s eyes narrowed. “Then you can unlearn it.”
“Jensen, how about we go inside and make a pot of coffee and talk this thing out?” Jack gestured to the house. “I still have to be back in Dallas for my shift tomorrow night. Hamilton is coming in, and I need to be ready. I would love to arrest the son of a bitch if I can.”
Jensen actually nodded.
And she needed a keeper? “He is not talking to you without an attorney present.”
Jack’s jaw tightened. “Well, call one up then, cousin. Do you expect a lawyer to appear from out of nowhere? Want a knight with a law degree to ride up on his horse and save your boy there?”
That was when she saw the headlights coming down the dusty road that led to the house.