Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 110671 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110671 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Kellan turned to Gray next. “I’d like a word with you out in the hall.”
“All right.” He grabbed his key again and let Kellan go first.
When it was just the two of them, Kellan leveled him with a serious stare.
“Your story checks out,” he said. “You seem like a good guy—lotta friends and family and all that—and I know what you went through last year. I read the report—”
“Excuse me?” Anger flared up. “Those records aren’t public.”
Kellan’s mouth twitched. “But they were available.”
To him and his mobster buddies with hacking skills. Fucking great.
“Look.” Kellan’s humor faded again. “Like I said, you seem like a good guy. You might be exactly what Jayden needs—God knows we ain’t. We can’t get the kid to stay in one place for longer than an hour. He’s constantly on the move, and he’s spent the last year going from one place to another while waiting for his brother to come back. He needs a break. He’s been through too much.”
Gray sobered and nodded once.
“That said,” Kellan continued with a pointed look, “we’re not backing off completely. Not by a long shot. For now, we’re your friends. You have our protection, even. I’ll be a call away. But if we find out you’ve harmed a single hair on Jayden’s head, what Alfred Lange put you through will be a post-fuck cuddle in comparison. Are we clear?”
Gray took a step closer, not intimidated—for once in his goddamn life. “Have fun watching me.”
Kellan smiled. “I will.”
Kellan left some twenty minutes later, leaving Gray and Jayden alone in the hotel room.
Jayden was inspecting the iPhone that the Irish mafia of Philadelphia had given him.
Gray had been instructed to stop by the church to let Jayden say goodbye to Father O’Malley before they left the East Coast behind. Other than that…Jayden was officially in Gray’s care.
It was scary, but not in an entirely unpleasant way. He needed things to do. He needed a direction. Helping a child had given him a good one.
“Do you have any friends who aren’t connected to the local mob?” Gray wondered, half amused.
Jayden scrunched his nose, then returned his focus to his phone. “What’s a mob?”
Damn. “Never mind.”
Jayden laughed. “I’m fucking with you. I know what the mob is. But I’m a kid. They’re nice to me.”
Gray stared at him. He had a feeling he had to up his game fast if he wanted to keep up with Jayden. He had street smarts in spades, making him quick on his feet and even quicker with smartass replies.
“Shit.” Jayden dropped his phone on the carpet and bent down to pick it up again. Which gave Gray an idea. They’d buy him a case for his phone tomorrow.
“I have to take a shower,” Gray said. “You wanna get some dinner after?”
“Sure.” Jayden nodded and scratched his nose.
So Gray ducked into the bathroom with a change of clothes, and he spent the following five minutes hoping Jayden hadn’t bailed by the time Gray returned. At this point, he’d realized he had to be ready for anything with that boy.
Thankfully, Jayden was there. Still on the bed, playing with his phone.
Gray righted his T-shirt and buttoned his jeans, then used the towel around his neck to dry his hair a bit.
Jayden glanced over at him briefly.
“Do you wanna shower too?” Gray asked. “Or take a bath?”
Jayden shook his head. “Did that this morning.”
“Okay.” Even so, it was a reminder. Gray had to step up and be the adult; from now on, he had to make sure they both ate, cleaned up, got into bed on time, and…whatever else. Structure was important to children, and chances were Jayden hadn’t experienced much of that. “Let’s go grab some dinner, then.” He tried to sound a bit more upbeat. “You have to tell me if you need anything too. Maybe some new clothes? We could hit up an outlet on the way out tomorrow.”
Jayden shrugged and slid off the bed. “I have an extra T-shirt, underwear, and pants in my backpack.”
The kid should take a look in Gray’s twin brothers’ closets. They shopped more than most girls.
“I need a new toothbrush, I guess,” Jayden said on the way out.
Gray nodded to himself and grabbed his wallet, phone, and a hoodie. There was a burger joint across the street they could go to. Tomorrow, he’d try to find something healthier.
“Shit.” Jayden dropped his phone again, this time right before the carpet ended in the hallway. The floor by the elevator was hardwood and wouldn’t be as kind to the phone, nor would the pavement outside.
Gray pulled his phone from the case and pressed the elevator button. “Here, buddy. I have the same phone. Use my case until we get you a new one.”
“Can you help me put it on?”
“Of course.” Something fell to the floor just as the elevator arrived, so Gray picked it up and ushered Jayden into the car. Then he flipped the little…whatever it was in his hand and frowned. What the fuck? It looked like a microchip for computers, but without the green plastic. Thin wires were stuck to a transparent piece of tape, and it was no larger than a thumbnail. The wires connected at a flat, tiny metal box. Or maybe it couldn’t be called a box when it was essentially as flat as a piece of paper, but he could see the metal threads disappearing into it. Only the center of the metal piece was less flat. Three dots protruded from the surface.