Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 131330 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 657(@200wpm)___ 525(@250wpm)___ 438(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131330 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 657(@200wpm)___ 525(@250wpm)___ 438(@300wpm)
“Yo, you done it yet?” Austin’s voice booms through the phone, sending a wave of horror blasting through my chest, and out of sheer fear for what he would do to me, I tear my greedy stare away from the screen.
“Working on it now,” I say, needing to clear my throat.
“Oh. So you’re—”
“Currently watching footage of your sister in my club,” I confirm, not bothering to sugarcoat it. After all, he was the one who asked me to do this. Surely he had to have known what it entailed.
“Fuck,” he grunts before pausing, and I can imagine the way he would have sat on the edge of his couch and dragged his hand down his face. “Who was she . . . umm . . . you know?”
“You’re fucking kidding me, right?” I almost laugh. “I’m not telling you that shit.”
“The fuck? Why the hell not? I need to know which bastard put his fucking hands on my sister.”
“You know damn well how it works at Vixen, and besides, no one put their hands on her without her consent.”
“Izaac,” he groans, his tone hitching higher with a clear warning not to fuck with him right now, but he’s got another thing coming if he thinks I’m about to betray her privacy like that.
“You really want to know?” I ask him.
“Of course I don’t want to know,” he spits back. “I never wanted any of this. If I could somehow go back and make sure she never stepped foot in that club, I would. But she’s left me no fucking choice, and now I need to do damage control and make sure—”
“Austin,” I say, cutting him off. “Respectfully, the only thing you need to do is shut the fuck up. I’m here deleting any footage of her. This is all the damage control that needs to be done. Nothing more. Like she said at Pulse, she’s a fucking adult, and if she wanted your input on her sex life, she would have asked for it.”
“Whose fucking side are you on here?”
“Are you hearing yourself? So what she went to Vixen. She sat at the bar and had a drink with her friend. She had a good time. You should be happy she’s not doing this shit with random assholes in back alleys. She was in a clean, controlled environment with security.”
Austin scoffs, clearly not happy, and I can’t help but shift my gaze back to the paused screen, my tongue involuntarily rolling over my bottom lip. “Do you have any idea how fucking messed up that is? This is Aspen, Izaac. Are you not getting that?”
“Oh, I’m fucking getting it, but from where I’m standing, you’re the one who’s not getting it,” I throw back at him. “Get off her fucking back about it. She did nothing wrong, and from what I’ve seen in this footage, you have nothing to worry about anyway. She’s not whoring herself out. She’s not getting drunk and letting assholes take advantage of her. She knows her fucking limits and is being respectful of herself. But if you really need to know what she’s doing, then I’ll tell you, right after I call her and tell her in explicit detail every fucking vile thing you’ve done within the walls of my club. Is that what you want? Because I’m not violating her privacy without violating yours. So, what’ll it be?”
“FUCK!” Austin roars. “I really fucking hate you right now.”
“Yeah, I can live with that,” I say. “But can you live with yourself if you were to destroy your relationship with your sister? Because let me tell you, you’re already heading down that road, and you’re not just walking down it, you’re going a hundred miles per hour. I know Aspen is forgiving when it comes to the stupid shit you do, but there are some things that not even she could forgive.”
I’m met with a long silence, the only tell that he’s still on the line is the sharp intake of breath as he tries to calm himself. “Just . . . Just delete the fucking footage and make sure she’s turned away if she shows up there again.”
“You know I will.”
He lets out a barely audible huff before the line goes dead, and I pull my phone away, tossing it onto the table before letting out a heavy sigh. I hate getting into it with Austin like that, especially when it comes to Aspen. Nine times out of ten, I’m on his side, but the times when his over-protective brotherly bullshit comes into play, I have to call him on it, and it rarely goes well. But we’ll be good in a matter of days. He just needs time to cool off. I just wish this shit wasn’t coming at the same time as his restaurant nightmare, but it’ll pass. He’s got a good team, and I’ve made sure my architect is heading out there at the end of the week to offer his help.