Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 132031 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 660(@200wpm)___ 528(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132031 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 660(@200wpm)___ 528(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
Shanna’s cell phone vibrated on the table. Cash saw her mother’s name on the screen. “Answer it.”
She lifted a finger to her lips, urging them to silence. “Hey, Mom.”
Shanna’s gaze lowered to the floor. Her normal serious expression turned severe. “Yeah. I can take them home with me until he gets off or they can stay the night with me. I’m out of school this week. I can help.”
Her gaze shifted to Cash. Her eyes lit up, and she nodded at whatever her mother said. “I’ll call Dev, or should I just go over there?”
She didn’t say goodbye when she ended the call. “Dev’s ex-wife dropped the kids off this morning to say she’s done. She’s moving away. Dev has them at the tattoo parlor. She asked me to go get the girls. Dev’s schedule is full all day.”
“So that’s what happened this morning,” Joe said. He snapped his fingers and began typing on his laptop.
Cash couldn’t help but feel sorry for the guy, but judging by the reaction in this room, they saw this as the break they needed. Energy surged in the air as Shanna stood, pocketing her phone. “I’ll be in touch as soon as I know something more.”
She gave a smile to Emma and a quick over the table high five, then left the room.
“That family’s seriously no good,” Joe murmured, distracted. “Whatever you’re doing here needs to happen. I’ve watched her suffer for too long.”
He had his team, and there was no doubt in Joe’s words, he just wasn’t sure how quickly he could make it happen.
Chapter 17
Dev entered the security code to the building he shared with his parents, having no idea of the actual time of day. It was dark, so he assumed it was late. His last appointment began around seven o’clock. The fucking day had only grown more tedious and delayed with each passing hour.
The deserted parking lot and ominous cloud cover made it hard to know the hour based on the moon’s position. The air was warmish again. The insane shifting weather patterns made it hard to know what the fuck to wear. If everyone wasn’t sick by Thanksgiving… And he stopped the thought right there.
If one of the girls got sick on top of everything else, well, he’d be dead in the water.
He’d never be able to catch up.
Like he was ever going to catch up.
What the fuck was he going to do now?
Sell the house in Sunnyvale and send the girls back to their private school.
He could convert the downstairs apartment into a multi-level place for them all to live. He’d still need to hire a caregiver to be there most of the time.
They’d have to be careful being alone in the neighborhood.
It was just the same kind of neighborhood where his old man had found his teenage mother walking down the street alone.
That made his stomach twist. He had seriously loved the idea of Abi and Mae having a safe place to play in Sunnyvale.
Fuck no, he couldn’t move the girls back to this area of South Dallas. His club was riding on a line. His old man was too arrogant to see the true threats facing the club. The best way to hurt Dev was through his children…
He’d put Fort Knox level security on them for a reason.
Stop.
He recognized his racing thoughts and reached for his cell phone with one hand and dug his fingers into his front pocket with the other. He looked down at the lock screen as he drew his car keys out. Ten o’clock. Of course it was. The phone unlocked with face recognition. He searched for Shanna’s number as he pushed the key inside the door’s lock. He really liked the way Keyes’s new truck had all those lock and unlock features. He probably needed to upgrade his ride if he ever got ahead of all the money flying out of his pockets.
Dev dropped down into the driver’s seat, letting out a jaw-cracking yawn. Fatigue descended over him like a blanket of defeat. Images of the sexy Cash, and the night they shared, resurfaced. In retrospect, maybe it hadn’t been the best choice to stay up all night, but man, he’d had a really nice time.
He liked the way Cash edged off his worry. Put it at a distance and kept it there. Dev unwound and relaxed with that well put together man. Being buried balls deep in that heart-shaped ass had meant something more to him than it should. It still did.
Whether the pretty boy liked to slum it, or just took advantage of what was offered, sex and emotion melded for Dev. He hadn’t known that shit was real.
Maybe the universe was speaking to him.
Cash living in the building meant he could sneak over after the girls went to sleep which would help relieve Dev’s stresses of the day. He found he wanted to help the pretty boy relieve his struggles too.