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)
“Are ye okay, love?” I asked, frowning. “Why’re ye cryin’?”
The siren beauty stared at me before a sob escaped her throat, and big, fat tears fell from her alluring eyes. I began to panic. I tried to think of what I did when my sister cried, and instinct took over before I knew it. I reached out with my free arm and pulled the woman’s tiny body against my chest, hugging her tightly. I thought she was relaxing, but then Jax used the rattle in his hand as a weapon and decided to beat on the pretty woman’s head with it. She slumped in my arms after the third rapid-fire whack, and fear filled me.
She was unmoving as she leaned against me and the first thought that went through my head was that Jax had killed her. The second was that I was going to go to prison for it because nobody would believe me when I told them an eighteen-month-old baby whacked her to death with a plastic rattle over the head.
Bollocks. Shite. Fuck’s sake.
CHAPTER FOUR
Ina
* * *
“Fuck!” I shouted in despair. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!”
Today was the shittiest of all shitty days, and it seemed like that bitch karma wasn’t through with me yet. I cursed out loud as I binned my broken right hearing aid. That was the second aid in eight months that would need replacing, and it couldn’t have come at a worse time. I kicked my newly purchased plastic bin until I was out of breath, and my foot hurt.
I had just moved into a new apartment, in a new town, in a new bloody county for a fresh start, and so far, things were just so … shitty. After setting aside money for my first month’s rent and a matching security deposit for my new apartment, I barely had enough to tide me over until I found a job. As if that wasn’t bad enough, I would also have to manage without one of my hearing devices.
“Positive thoughts, Ina.” I consoled myself. “Positive feckin’ thoughts.”
It wasn’t the end of the world.
It was doable to live with one aid until I got a job to purchase a new set. Things would just be a little tricky until then. My left ear heard clearly with my working aid, but to be safe, I would just have to focus on people’s mouths when they spoke to read their lips and understand what they were saying. I had done it enough times when I was younger and tried to hide a broken aid from Daddy so he wouldn’t blow a fuse and hurt me when he realised he had to pay for yet another replacement.
I pushed away the loose strands of hair that escaped my bobbin and let my shoulders slump. I took out my left aid and placed it on the kitchen counter. I never liked to wear them at home, which was why I accidentally broke my right one when I placed it on the countertop, then unloaded a bunch of new delph on top of it. The devices mostly weren’t a bother. I honestly forgot I wore them half of the time, but when I was at home, in my own space, I liked taking them out so I could be by myself.
This was the last time that I would get in-the-canal aids.
For me, they were more trouble than they were worth. I’d rather have behind-the-ear devices even though they were visible. I’d deal with that if it meant I wouldn’t break the poxy things because I accidentally stood on them or misplaced them. I pushed my glasses up the bridge of my nose and exhaled a breath. I had tried multiple aids over the years—discreet and not-so-discreet—and I always found that behind-the-ear devices were just for me. The only reason I hadn’t worn them in a long time was because Daddy didn’t like the look of them. He said he didn’t like people knowing I had impaired hearing.
“Pull your hair over your ears, Ina,” Daddy scowled, his fingers biting into the flesh of my arm. “D’ye want folks to know you’re fuckin’ deaf?”
I would get BTE aids in the future now that I didn’t have anyone making my decisions for me.
With my hands on my hips, I looked around the apartment I had just moved into hours before. The apartment complex was called The Peak, and it was made up of four buildings: North Tower, South Tower, East Tower, and West Tower. I lived in the South Tower, and God, it was beautiful. My new home was a spacious one-bedroom with a separate kitchen, sitting room, and utility room. It had hardwood flooring throughout with marble floor tiles and granite counters in the kitchen, bathroom, and utility room.
I could tell from just looking at the place that it screamed quality, which meant it cost a lot of money. It was fully furnished with brand-new furniture that I bloody well knew I’d never be able to afford without an instalment payment plan in place. It had security patrols monitoring the complex 24/7, and secure private parking if you had a car, which I didn’t. Having no vehicle was fine because the building was only a three-minute walk away from the nearest Luas station and a two-minute walk to the closest bus stop.