Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 69794 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 279(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69794 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 279(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
I narrowed my eyes at him, feeling bold all of a sudden. “I would die before I’d give you a multi-million-dollar policy for my sister’s death.”
He sighed, as if I exasperated him. “What did I ever do to you?”
That had me stiffening so fast that Beau’s arm wrapped around my waist to hold me still, as if he feared that I would launch myself at the man in front of me.
I might have, had I not had Iris to think about.
She changed everything.
“I think it’s time for you to leave,” I ordered.
Iris called out from the car in that next moment, and Beau let me go to open her door.
He, thankfully, didn’t pull her out of the car.
If he didn’t see her, Cain wouldn’t see the resemblance.
There would be no denying that Iris looked nothing like Beau.
There was too much Japanese in Iris’s features to deny her heritage.
That, and the color of her eyes were exactly like the asshole staring at me.
It wouldn’t take too much for Cain to make the connection.
Cain pointed at me. “I’m going to just take this to the lawyers.”
“You do that.” I crossed my arms.
After he left, Beau pulled Iris from the car and walked together with me to the front door of my place.
While I gave Iris a bath, Beau used my room to take a shower of his own.
“Who was that man?” Iris signed to me.
“That was your Aunt Rose’s ex-fiancé,” I answered.
One day, I would have to tell her who Rose was to her, but that time wouldn’t come for a while yet. Iris needed to be able to keep the secret, and she was way too young for that yet.
It was an hour later, as I lay against Beau’s naked chest in the middle of my bed, that I asked, “What do I do about him? That won’t be the last time I see him.” I hesitated. “Should I just sign that money over to him?”
He was quiet for so long that I thought he’d fallen asleep before he said, “Do you want to give that money to him?”
“I’d rather die than let him get a cent,” I snapped.
He threaded his fingers through my hair when he said, “So don’t let him have it. We’ll figure this out, Magnolia.”
I relaxed into him.
He was right. With him, I could definitely figure this out. Cain would never know that he had a kid. We’d hidden it well.
Only, maybe I shouldn’t have been so confident.
It only took pissing off my ex the next day to realize that I was wrong.
SEVENTEEN
Finding out your man is a bitch is the worst gender reveal ever.
—Beau to Denver
BEAU
My nerves were shot.
This game was brutal.
There was pushing. Shoving. Hair pulling.
“It looks like the WWE out there.” Court shook his head. “The refs aren’t calling anything.”
“They’re too afraid to fuck it up,” Boone mused.
“I don’t think that’s it,” I admitted. “We aren’t trying to get away with dirty hits. We’re playing good soccer. The other team is playing like brawlers, and the refs are turning a blind eye to every single foul they witness against us. Then they’re forced to call the retaliation calls when we get tired of getting elbows to our kidneys.”
“How exactly are you going to allow this to happen and not call it? This is the game that decides whether y’all make it to the finals or not,” Boone grumbled. “Someone is going to get hurt.”
I agreed.
“That center ref is a fucking joke,” Court growled.
“Isn’t that the ref that Magnolia used to date?” Charleigh asked.
I narrowed my eyes at the man. “Is it?”
“One would think that’d be a conflict of interest,” Court grumbled. “He should’ve recused himself from this game knowing that someone that he used to date would be playing in it.”
“Agreed,” I muttered.
Now that Charleigh had mentioned the connection, I saw the way he watched her, as if he couldn’t help himself.
He watched more of Magnolia than he did the game.
It was more than obvious that he still felt something for her.
Which only proved that he really shouldn’t be reffing this game.
The opposing team’s goalie caught a crossed ball that went a little wide and booted it to the opposite side of the field.
Magnolia received the ball and was just getting ready to distribute the ball to her midfield when a player came running at her like a linebacker.
She passed the ball and relaxed, thinking that was the end of the interaction.
Only, the player on the other team had other ideas, slamming into Magnolia so hard that you could hear the impact of their two bodies all the way up in our seats.
I watched as she was knocked to the ground so hard that her head whipped backward.
Her hands went back to catch her fall, which was when she broke her arm as the woman landed on top of her.