Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 122206 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122206 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
“I don’t wanna fuckin’ hear it!” I let out a shout. “From none of you!”
No one answered me. They knew I was close to losing it, so they left me be and got back to work. I threw myself into my job. For the next few hours, I powered through my log until I had nothing left to work on. I helped Edana work through her log and Gavin with his, but when no one else needed my help, I felt like a dark cloud was settling over me. The emotions from my fight with Ina rose to the surface now that I had nothing to distract me from thinking about it.
I sat on the ledge of an empty bay and felt my shoulders slump, defeated. Now that my body was depleted of anger, I felt empty, and it fucking hurt. I knew my brothers were watching me, the others too.
“Why the fuck did she wanna know?” I ran my hands through my hair. “Why? What good would come from knowin’?”
“None.” Harley sat down next to me, his hand clapping onto my shoulder. “But like she said, she thought a high number would have been around twenty or thirty. We know she came from a fucked-up home and has a controllin’ ex. Can ye imagine someone like Ina havin’ casual sex? She’d probably think she was a hoor for even thinkin’ about it.”
“This is just her hurt makin’ her act like this,” JJ said, sitting back on the bonnet of the nearest car. “She knows ye did nothin’ wrong. She’s jealous and upset. It’s why she lashed out. She’s insecure, Date. She said so herself. This is a form of self-torture. She’s goin’ to think about a lot of strange women touchin’ you and wonder if ye told the truth about Alannah. She’s not gonna break up with ye, though, mate.”
I nodded, trying to let the words comfort me.
“I’m scared shitless that when I go home, she won’t be there.”
“She loves ye. This is why she’s so upset.” Harley squeezed my shoulder. “Be honest, would you need some time to process it if Ina had hundreds of dicks in and out of her body and ye had to find out at work in front of everyone?”
The fact that I tensed made him huff with laughter.
“Exactly.” He dropped his arm. “She knows she has no cause to be angry for somethin’ ye did before ye met her. The only thing she can be pissed about is the Alannah thing. Ye should have talked to her about that so she wasn’t blindsided.”
I hung my head. “She’s gonna be comparin’ herself to Lana now. I know she is.”
“Of course she will. She’s down in the dumps, and she’s goin’ to be overanalysin’ everythin’ about your relationship, but when she straightens it all out, she’s goin’ to come to the same conclusion everyone else has. Ye love her, and ye see only her.”
“Agreed,” Ryder commented from behind me. “She’ll apologise and then be embarrassed that she had a meltdown at work for everyone to see, and this will be something you both look back on and laugh about in no time. Trust me.”
I said nothing.
“I’m sorry, Date,” Damien said. “I should have checked that she wasn’t nearby when I approached you, bro.”
“It’s not your fault,” I replied with a wave of my hand. “This would have come to light eventually. I should have told her about Alannah. I let her believe she was the only woman I didn’t have a one-night stand with. This is on me.”
He didn’t respond, and I didn’t expect him to.
“This is horrible,” I grumbled. “Lovin’ her just means I’m always scared of losin’ her.”
“Welcome to the club.” Ryder snorted. “I’m a head member of the 24/7 panic committee.”
“Yeah,” Rían Nolan hollered from across the hangar. “Ye’ll understand ‘happy wife, happy life’ soon enough, brother.”
That made me and the others laugh. Everyone turned their attention back to work since it was nearing seven o’clock, closing time. The garage closed an hour later than usual since we had to spare two hours in the morning sorting through our inventory and stocking a large delivery of new parts and tyres. When I drove the last car I had finished working on out to the customer collection point, I returned to the reception to hand the keys to the waiting customer. When the woman left, my phone rang. I hurriedly checked the caller I.D. and when I saw it was Lilly, disappointment nagged at my gut.
I’d hoped it would be Ina.
“Dante Collins,” she shouted the second I answered the phone. “It’s just gone seven sharp, and Ina O’Shea is nowhere to be found. She can’t back out. She’s a knitter now.”
Right, it was Thursday. Knitter night for Ina.
“I’m still at work, Lilly. She’s at home. Have ye tried her phone?”