Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 75003 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 375(@200wpm)___ 300(@250wpm)___ 250(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75003 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 375(@200wpm)___ 300(@250wpm)___ 250(@300wpm)
“Then the president decided to move somewhere that they could get a little more bang for his buck. Plus, it has a pool.”
“Ugh. That’s ideal with the heat around here,” she said.
“If you ever want to come swim, you can drop by anytime you want,” I invited.
“To swim naked?” she said, smirking.
“I will never judge you for your choice of bathing attire,” I confirmed, getting a tinkling little laugh out of her.
“I might just have to take you up on that,” she said as she finished up her bagel. “Hey, Levee,” she said, suddenly seeming serious again, her pretty eyes going as haunted as they’d been earlier, “can I ask—“
“Fuck! Oh, fuck fuck fucker!” my uncle’s voice yelled from across the hall, making both of us stiffen.
We were frozen in place for a moment, unsure if my uncle was just being his grouchy self, or if it was something more serious than that.
But then there was a cry for help that had us both turning and running across the hall.
I pushed the door open first, rushing into my uncle’s apartment to find him slumped back against the counter clutching his hand.
It was the blood that sent my adrenaline shooting through my system.
On the butcher’s knife. The cutting board. The countertop. His shirt. Leaking down his arm.
“Oh, God,” Jade gulped, looking a little green. Not great at the sight of blood. That was good to know.
“Let me see,” I demanded, moving forward and reaching for his hand.
“No.”
“You called for help,” I reminded him.
“Not from you.”
“Well, tough shit. You got me,” I said, grabbing his arm and pulling it closer to inspect the wound.
It wasn’t my favorite part of being in the club, but because of my line of work, I’d seen some gnarly wounds before. So while it was a nasty, deep wound, the contents of my stomach stayed where they belonged.
“Fuck,” I said. “Doll, can you hand me a dishcloth?” I asked, gesturing toward the drawer.
“Doll,” my uncle scoffed, trying to keep up his bravado, but he was looking a little pale now that he got a good look at the damage he’d done.
Some part of me wanted to lecture him about using a butcher’s knife to cut a bagel, but it hardly seemed the time. And the last thing I wanted to do was get into a fight when he was still losing so much blood.
I tightly pressed the dishcloth into the wound, then wound it tightly around his hand.
“Clamp down on it with your fingers,” I instructed as Jade moved around to push his wheelchair closer. “We have to go to the clinic,” I told him.
“Not going fucking anywhere with you,” he snarled.
“You need stitches.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“You’re losing a lot of blood,” I insisted, thinking his blood thinner meds must have been the culprit.
“What do you care if I bleed out?”
“If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t be here,” I insisted. Though, at times like this, it was hard to remember why I did.
“William,” Jade tried, voice placating, “we need to go get you checked out, okay? It won’t take long.”
I was already texting Seeley and Amarantha, letting them know I was heading to the clinic with my uncle.
Ama texted back quickly, telling me Seeley was just dropping her off then, and she would keep a room ready for him.
“Fine,” my uncle snarled, glaring at me.
“Seeley is on his way to pick us up.”
“Don’t got your own fucking car, huh, boy?”
Sucking in a deep breath, I bit back my anger, reminding myself he was extra nasty because he was in pain and likely scared, even if he’d never admit that.
“Levee has a motorcycle, remember?” Jade asked, still using that singsong voice, but her face was a little harder since he couldn’t see it. “And as much fun as it might be to hook you up to it and drag you to the clinic, it’s probably safer to take a car.”
“Don’t like being treated like an inv—“
“Like someone who is hurt and needs to get looked at?” Jade interjected, cutting him off before he said something offensive. “Sorry, William, but that’s exactly what you are. Now, do you want me to make vroom-vroom sounds as I push you down the hall?” she teased. “Or are you going to stop being a big baby about it?”
Uncle Will harrumphed at that, but there was a slight twitch to his lips at her words as she started to push him through the apartment.
I went searching for his wallet so we had his insurance cards, then followed behind, catching up to them at the elevator.
We rode the car down in a tense silence, but both Jade and I were looking at how quickly my uncle’s blood was soaking through the white dishcloth.
By the time we made it out front, Seeley was already waiting for us with the passenger side door open.