Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 121755 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121755 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Well, at least that was good.
“Bottom line, Willow, even if they didn’t take out what was left of that crew, even if someone is still out there and looking for vengeance, Dimitri Alexeyev made it clear the Angels are untouchable.”
“But you guys and Titus already did that.”
“Yeah, and that would have done it. Alexeyev’s gig is overkill. But can’t say that a man lying naked by his bed with two holes in the back of his head isn’t a bigger statement.”
Good God.
“Do we need to be worried about this?” I asked.
Gabe gave my neck a reassuring squeeze. “Hopefully, you won’t need to cross paths with Alexeyev again, and he can admire your work from afar.”
Hopefully.
“Babe,” he called.
I focused on him again.
“You played that smart. It worked out for who it should. My concern is a man is dead. It isn’t at your hand, and it isn’t your responsibility. But I gotta know you understand that and you’re okay.”
Ah.
My Gabe.
I nestled closer to him. “I don’t condone violence in any form, though the caveat to that is if Ariana ever gets anywhere near my sphere. If that happens, I’ll say now I might not be responsible for my actions.”
His eyes lit with humor.
As always, I’d take it.
I finished so he wouldn’t worry about my state of mind.
“So, even though I’m not thrilled Dimitri took it there, I’m not going to lose sleep that William Dexter is no longer among us.”
His eyebrows went up. “Dimitri?”
“That’s how we were introduced to him.”
“Jesus. First name basis with a mob boss.”
I patted his chest. “Don’t worry, baby. It’s all good.”
Gabe sighed again.
After he did that, he asked, “Are there more cupcakes?”
I was offended.
“You think I’d bake cupcakes and not have spares for you?”
“Good,” he said, and I shrieked, because he got up and tossed me over his shoulder when he did. “Time to fuck. We can have cupcakes after.”
That was a plan.
And once we accomplished it, let me tell you, it was a smashing success.
Oh, and Gabe picked the chocolate/salted caramel cupcake.
So obviously, I made special note of that.
You know, for future reference.
TWENTY-EIGHT
IT
In the time before IT happens …
Cheeseburgers with the girls was not going according to protocol.
This was partially because Duane was there.
Who invited him, I didn’t know.
It wasn’t that we didn’t make it clear he was one of ours so that seal had been broken.
It was that he was ruining fantastic greasy diner cheeseburgers and thick shakes with an argument with Lotus over paint chips.
Uh, yeah.
Color me stunned, but the dude was actually going to paint his house.
And he was going to use the extra money to put in a new IKEA kitchen.
I was happy that he was seeing that he was someone who deserved nice things, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to be around when the kitchen discussion came up, considering what was happening right now.
“You have to give it some zing,” Lotus snapped. “A yellow door. Or a red door. Or a blue door.”
“You already made me do two colors,” Duane complained.
“You can’t paint an entire house one color,” Lotus shot back. “You have to have a complementary trim color.”
“So I’ll just paint the door that trim color,” Duane returned.
“That doesn’t offer any zing!” Lotus spat.
“This is boring,” Persia interjected into their argument and turned to Jinx. “So let’s talk about what’s got your panties in a twist.”
And that was the second part of how cheeseburgers and shakes weren’t going according to protocol.
Jinx was sulking.
“Noah and I are fighting,” Jinx said.
There was a collective eye roll because Noah and Jinx were always fighting. This usually was about Jinx being stubborn, protecting her corner when she hadn’t been pushed into one, eventually realizing that, then they’d have a sex-a-thon to make up.
No, they hadn’t been officially together for very long.
Yes, this was still the rhythm that had become their lives.
“What’s it about this time?” Gemma asked.
“He says he’s gonna pay my tuition for college,” Jinx answered (oh yeah, another update: she was sending in applications—yippee!). “I said, since I rented my house, I could pay for my own damned college.”
Another yeah: she had fully moved in with Noah in his mansion with a pool and a view of the mountains.
Her place was cute, but I wasn’t surprised she jumped feet first into that.
I further wasn’t surprised to learn Noah liked Jinx making toast in his kitchen with “ratty hair.” I knew this because she shared during another cheeseburger extravaganza that Noah did her on the kitchen floor the first time he walked in on her doing that.
Also, other times besides.
Btw: her house was the one she’d grown up in. It was paid off. It was one of the only things she had left of memories of good times with her family, before her dad got sick and the rest of it went off the rails. So she said she was keeping it forever.