Lost the Handle – Nashville Assassins Next Generation Read Online Toni Aleo

Categories Genre: Alpha Male, Contemporary, Sports Tags Authors:
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Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 83756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
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“I know,” I answer in a small voice. “I offered to pay her inheritance, but she doesn’t want to lose her family. She doesn’t care that I’m in love with Emery. She wants me to keep Emery as a side piece, but you know that’s not happening.”

“Yeah, absolutely not,” Dad says on a chuckle. “Emery would hump you at the wedding in front of everyone.”

“Exactly,” I say with a scoff. “That’s totally something she’d do.”

I close my eyes as I inhale deeply. I’ve gone over my options a million times, and I don’t have many. “Dad.”

“Yeah?”

“Would you still love me if I walked away from medicine?”

I glance over at him, and the stricken look on his face feels like a gut punch to my soul. I look away quickly, trying to breathe. “Quinn, for a prodigy, you are as dumb as a box of rocks sometimes,” he chastises, and I look back at him, my eyes wide. “Nothing or no one will ever keep me from loving you. I just want you to be happy.” He cups the back of my neck, squeezing it. “Do what makes you happy, son. That’s all I want. I don’t care if you’re a doctor or a TikTok guitar singer or whatever you do on that app. I just want you to be happy.” He grips me again, shaking me a bit. “I’ll say this, though. I remember a summer a while back when you and Emery were coding together and the roaring laughter I heard, the insults, the cussing, and then the huge smiles I saw. Quinn, you were happy.”

I feel like I’m suffocating. I’m not sure if it’s from his intense gaze or the reminder of that summer. Emery and I had hacked in to our high school’s database and changed grades for some of her friends who were in summer school. Once we realized what we could do, we were off to the deep, dark web. We had convinced our parents we needed better computers, and we soon built a mega desk, with four monitors and a souped-up desktop. We had so much fun. We learned so much that summer, and I remember I kept thinking how gorgeous she was.

Things were changing.

And now, I want that feeling back.

I want Emery.

My phone rings, and I see Ava’s name.

A knot forms in my gut, but I disregard it. This is no time to ignore her. I know what I have to do. But I can’t even get out a hello before she says, “Quinn, we have a problem.”

Chapter

Thirty-Seven

Emery

I’m at my desk with my legs crisscrossed beneath me when my phone rings. I glance down at it, hoping it’s Quinn or Yvette, but finding it’s Shelli Adler. I groan. If Stella told her that Quinn and I are back together, I am going to beat her up as soon as she has my niece or nephew.

I feel kind of bad for being so excited for my sister’s baby when I already have two nephews and a niece, but it is what it is.

No one ever really expects me to do what’s considered right.

“Hello?” I answer as I pause my current progress on a threat risk detector for one of my companies out in Nantucket.

“Hey there, Emery Brooks,” she sings, and I roll my eyes. I like Shelli just fine; she’s spoiled and likes to get her way, but she makes my brother happy. She’s a damn good mom and a great sister to Quinn. So, she’s okay in my book. She’s not Posey, who I would literally carry a baby for, but that was shut down by my man.

He-he. My man.

“Yes, Shelli Adler-Brooks.”

She giggles softly. “Will you be Brooks-Adler when you marry my brother?”

No, I’ll be Emery Adler, but I don’t tell her that. “Is this why you’re calling, Shelli? I am a very busy woman and don’t have time to be gossip fodder in your group text with our siblings.”

She gasps. “Who told you? Stella! I knew we should have left her out!”

I laugh. “No, I’m a hacker and stalk all of you.”

“What?” she asks, a little bit of fear in her voice. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Not at all.”

“That’s not okay.”

“Well, be nice, or I’ll leak all those texts between you and my brother,” I tease because I’m not stalking any of them.

The only person I stalk is Quinn.

“You wouldn’t!”

I snort. “I’m kidding, but it’s awesome to know you and my brother sext.”

“We are happily married. How do you think we make babies?”

“Oh my God, Shelli, to what do I owe the pleasure of hearing your voice?” I groan loudly.

Her laughter is like kids music, all cheery and sweet. “Mom was telling me that you’ve started doing cybersecurity. I wanted to see if I can schedule a meeting to get you to look at our systems.”



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