Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 57216 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 286(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57216 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 286(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
A moment later, there was the sound of muffled male voices. Over time, though, there were fewer of them.
Feeling a little less numb, and more mentally focused, I climbed off the bed and made my way around the wall into the living room, finding Junior and his father in the kitchen.
Barry was sitting on the floor just inside the door unpacking boxes from the online shopping I’d done on the way up to the Christmas tree farm.
Suddenly, that felt like ages ago.
“You okay?” Junior asked, making my gaze move back to him. “Do you need something?”
“Coffee,” I said, nodding to the cups in his and his father’s hands. “I think that was a little, I don’t know, shock. I’m not feeling as weird anymore,” I admitted as I slipped the ice pack back into the freezer. “Is this going to be ugly?” I asked, waving at my face.
It wasn’t Junior, but his father, who moved toward me, snagging my chin with a gentleness that didn’t suit his size, and turning my head toward the light.
“It’s gonna darken. But you should be able to cover it with a little makeup. I’m Breaker,” he said as he released me.
“Shale,” I told him, giving him a smile. “I’m sorry we had to meet under these circumstances.”
He shrugged at that. “When this fuck finally got his head out of his ass and got a girl, I expected an uncomfortably awkward dinner conversation that all of us would hate every fucking minute of. I kind of preferred this,” he added with a devilish little smile that reminded me a lot of his son.
Suddenly, I could picture Junior giving me that exact smile twenty or so years down the road.
It also didn’t escape me what Breaker had just said.
That I was Junior’s girl.
Surely, if anyone would know that was the case, it was his father.
“Oh, good. A star!” Barry said, making me look back. “We always had an angel growing up. And I always wanted a star,” he said to our curious glances.
“What’s the deal with that?” Breaker asked, looking from Barry to Junior.
“He’s… a friend,” Junior said, seeming to get slightly more comfortable with that phrase the more he said it.
“Reminds me of a dog that follows you home,” Breaker said, making Junior chuckle, having described it similarly himself. “Your mother is gonna be jealous that I got to meet her first,” he said, jerking his head toward me.
“So, I should expect to have her at the door sometime tonight?” Junior asked.
“Eh, I’ll hold her off until tomorrow for you,” Breaker offered.
“And tell her not to fucking look into Shale,” Junior demanded.
“Bud, I can’t promise fucking miracles. We both know if your mother wants to do something, she’s gonna do it.”
“I have nothing to hide,” I said, shrugging.
“It’s an invasion,” Junior insisted.
“Um, didn’t you threaten to hack into all my socials and figure out everything about me once?” I asked, getting a smirk from his father.
“It’s different.”
“Sure it is,” I said, sharing a look with his father. “So, ah, what did A mean back there? About having figured out who stole from the other cartel? Did he find her?”
“Well, it’s not a woman, first off,” Junior said. “Apparently, just a small man with a wig and makeup.”
“No way,” I said. I mean, I’d seen the video myself. But, then again, the image hadn’t been clear. My mind had likely just filled in effeminate details that hadn’t ever been there.
“Yeah. Apparently, it was some kid. Nineteen only. Just so happened to… put the pieces together and get brave.”
“Nineteen?” I asked, heart squeezing at the idea of his head being blown off too.
“Don’t worry,” Junior said, shaking his head. “A didn’t kill him. He hired him.”
“Wait… what?”
“Yeah. Said that kid with balls of steel like that belonged in his organization. So you don’t have to go imagining a bad fate for him. And you also don’t have to worry about anyone bringing in anything in your coffee anymore. A is seeing to that as well.”
So… it was over.
Like… over over.
No more stressing every single month about the cops finding me with all those drugs, and throwing me in jail for life. Or worries about the cartel moving in on me. Or drive-bys. Or threats on my life.
It was all finally freaking over.
I hadn’t anticipated the wave of relief that moved through me.
The tears were pouring out before I even realized they’d gathered in my eyes.
“Ah, that’s my cue,” Breaker said. “This is all you,” he added, but Junior was already reaching for me.
He pulled me against his chest, his arms going tight around me, keeping me together as I fell apart.
In the end, though, years of fear and stress and uncertainty had been purged.
And I felt something I hadn’t really felt in a long time.
Hope.
For my shop, sure.