Total pages in book: 195
Estimated words: 185573 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 928(@200wpm)___ 742(@250wpm)___ 619(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 185573 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 928(@200wpm)___ 742(@250wpm)___ 619(@300wpm)
“You get any good pussy lately?” he asks.
“Dude, seriously. It’s almost six in the morning. You need to get some sleep.”
“You’d tell me, wouldn’t you?” His voice is almost mocking, and for a second, I get a sick feeling that he knows something.
“Tell you what?” I grimace, not at all wanting to have this conversation right now.
“If you got any good pussy.”
“I’ve been overseas,” I deflect. “You know that.”
“Right.” He sniffs again. “The American fucking hero.”
“What’s your deal, Adam?” I pull Ranger against my chest as he continues to growl.
Adam’s eye twitches as he scowls at my dog. “What the fuck is wrong with that mutt?”
“Nothing,” I bite out. “He just doesn’t know you.”
Truthfully, I don’t know what’s going on with Ranger. I haven’t seen him react this way to anyone else, but I suspect Adam’s behavior is freaking him out.
Adam barks back at Ranger and makes a show of baring his teeth, biting and snarling like a fucking lunatic.
“Stop,” I tell him. “You’re pissing him off.”
“Well, maybe he’s pissing me off.” He stumbles over to the chair beside the bed and collapses into it. “Maybe you are too.”
“What the fuck does that mean?”
“You’re my brother.” He glares at me. “I need to know I can fucking trust you.”
I swallow the truth because now is definitely not the time to tell him. He’s high on something, and he clearly isn’t himself.
“What are you getting at?” I ask him.
He leans forward, wiping the sweat from his brow. “Why don’t you tell me, MJ?”
My heart slows, and I wonder if this is it. Maybe Bianca finally told him. For a second, I’m relieved because I just want to get this over with. This is what I came here for. But I also know he needs to be sober for this conversation, or it won’t end well for either of us.
He studies me, and the silence is so tense I feel like I’m choking on it.
“You’ve got my back, don’t you, brother?” Adam laces that word with bitterness. “You wouldn’t break bro code, right? You military heroes are big on that shit, from what I hear.”
“Adam, let’s talk about this later. You’ve had a long night, and I’m tired—”
“I just want to know whose side you’re on,” he says.
“What do you mean?”
“You wouldn’t run to Bianca and snitch on me, would you?”
“That’s not my place,” I grit out.
He jumps up from his seat again, a sudden burst of anger taking over him as spittle flies from his lips. “I give her everything. I treat her like a goddamn queen. And she doesn’t appreciate any of it.”
“I think you need to get some sleep,” I repeat, hoping he’ll listen this time.
“She wears the best clothes money can buy,” he continues his rant. “She drives a brand-new car. Goes to the salon every week. I drape her in fucking diamonds and gold like she’s royalty, for Christ’s sake. And she has the nerve to act like it’s a motherfucking inconvenience to suck my dick.”
Bile rises in my throat, and I can’t speak. I can barely repress the urge to knock him the fuck out right now. But Adam doesn’t see it. He’s too lost in his own thoughts, spewing them out like lava.
“She’s going to be my wife,” he declares. “But she has this idea she needs to prove something to herself with this bullshit school. As if being married to me isn’t enough. As if she can’t be proud of the life I give to her. I work my ass off, and it’s never enough.”
I reach for my jeans and yank them on while Adam paces.
“Bethany doesn’t mean anything,” he mutters. “But I’m a man, and I deserve some fucking respect. I have needs, and Bianca should be here, happy to get down on her goddamn knees and fulfill them. What more could she possibly want?”
“I don’t know,” I spit out. “I don’t know what she fucking wants, but the two of you need to figure that shit out before you drag her down the aisle. Maybe she wants to be more than a trophy wife or your fuck toy, Adam. Have you ever considered that she deserves more than that? Or that maybe you should stop treating her like she owes you her life because you bought her stuff? And if you aren’t even married yet and you can’t keep your dick in your pants, that’s a problem.”
Adam stops suddenly, his eyes boring into my skull. “Why are you defending her?”
When I don’t answer, he puffs his chest out, slamming his palm against it. “You’re supposed to have my back. My own fucking brother, my blood, or does that even mean anything to you?”
“Look, Adam, I’ve got some shit to handle. I’m gonna head out. I think you need to get some sleep and lay off whatever the fuck you took tonight.”