Total pages in book: 189
Estimated words: 181808 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 909(@200wpm)___ 727(@250wpm)___ 606(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 181808 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 909(@200wpm)___ 727(@250wpm)___ 606(@300wpm)
“Got you,” Moon replied, stabbing another tomato.
Viper rose to put his cup in the sink before leaving out the back door.
He glanced at the counter, seeing what he had been waiting for—Lily and Beth were both making their plates. Turning his head back to his plate so they wouldn’t notice him looking, he pretended disinterest when they took chairs at the table. He made sure to continue eating to get them to lower their guard. He had felt their tension when they first sat down.
He had hoped when he got in line and caught their eyes, one of the women would reveal something that would remind him of the woman he had fucked in the dark. The calculated risk had backfired—both women had been staring at him distrustfully.
“Not many here tonight.” He started to try to ease their guard.
“Most of them went to a movie. We’re going to put the leftovers in the oven. Nickel and Puck offered to clean up for us once their game is over,” Beth told him.
Moon looked at his watch. Viper would be back in five minutes.
He placed his fork on his plate. “I haven’t seen much of you girls since the fight at Mick’s. How’s Crazy Bitch’s nose?”
Beth and Lily shared a secretive glance.
“Much better,” Beth said, buttering her biscuit.
“You girls seemed to be having a good time when I came home.”
The sisters shared another glance. This time, Moon caught a glint of fear in their eyes.
“Yes, we did.” Beth laid her butter knife down. “You seemed to have a good time while you were out, too.”
Moon shrugged. “Just so-so. I noticed one of the barstools is fucked up. It’s off kilter. Another one is missing.”
Looking at Lily, Moon saw she was playing with her food, and Beth wasn’t making any headway with hers, either.
“That’s not surprising; they’re pretty old. I’ll mention it to Viper tonight. We wouldn’t want any of the men falling on their asses, would we?”
Moon stiffened as Winter walked into the room. How long had she been listening behind the door?
“No, we wouldn’t,” Moon agreed, picking his fork back up.
“Any food left?” Winter asked, moving behind the counter to get a plate.
“Plenty.” Lily started to rise from the table. “Can I get you something?”
Moon pinned her in place. “Finish eating. Winter is capable of making herself a plate.”
Lily gave him a defiant look. “I’m finished. I need to get home so Ember can come and eat.”
She carried her plate to the sink after she emptied her plate in the trash, then took off out the back door.
Winter set her plate down with a hard thud before getting herself a glass of ice water. “Proud of yourself?” she asked as she took the chair Lily had vacated.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Bullshit, you don’t.” Winter gave him a stern glance, as if he were one of her misbehaving students. “Viper knows we had a party that night, so if you think of trying to blackmail us—”
Moon started laughing. “You’ve been watching too many movies. Blackmail was the furthest thing from my mind.”
The women looked at him disbelievingly.
Moon dropped his fork to the plate. “Damn. Thanks. Show me what you really think of me.”
Winter wasn’t fazed. “Then why all the interest about that night?”
He needed to tread carefully. Wanting to find out who had snuck into his room was his priority, but he didn’t want to out the wife either, indirectly saving his own life if he had fucked one of the brothers’ wives.
“Killyama came barging in the other day after the hours outsiders are allowed. Jade, Stori, and I were having—shall I say a good time? She killed the moment. The point I’m getting at, you wives aren’t allowed upstairs afterhours without your husbands. Did one of you come upstairs?”
Moon felt the hair on his arms stand up at the nervous tension hitting the room.
Winter took a bite, looking at her food. She was no longer meeting his eyes. “What makes you think that?”
“Killyama came upstairs, didn’t she?”
Winter’s gaze flew back to his. “Of course not.”
“I don’t believe you.” Moon narrowed his gaze on Winter. “One of you came upstairs.”
“Fine. You’re right. I went upstairs. Whoopee. Give Moon a star. I went upstairs to use the restroom. You can run and tattle to Viper if you want.”
Moon stared at Winter searchingly. Taking his mind back to that night, he thought about the fact that she did have the right length of hair. Without being obvious, he tried to gauge Winter’s size. He thought the woman he had been with might have been her size, but Beth wasn’t far off from her weight, either. Lily was the slenderer of all the wives.
Winter started talking to Beth, asking her about her day. Moon decided he had pressed his luck enough for the day. He carried the dirty dishes to the sink.