Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 68867 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 344(@200wpm)___ 275(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68867 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 344(@200wpm)___ 275(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
He smiled slightly and I knew that by talking to him, that he was able to process and not instantly attack. It was what Becker had meant earlier in the day when he said our strengths complemented each other. They did. I kept him from blowing up, he kept me grounded. The two of us always worked.
Exhaling sharply, he turned to Nicolette. “I apologize. That was stupid. I’m working through something at the moment, and I vented that frustration on you for no good reason. I really am very sorry.”
It was sincere—it was easy to hear in his thick, gravelly voice. It didn’t hurt that his deep brown gaze was locked with hers.
“Of course,” she whispered, and I saw her searching his face. He was a beautiful man, and having every drop of his attention, I knew from experience, was exhilarating.
Lifting his head, he looked down the table to Ashton. “I apologize to you too.”
“That’s unnecessary,” he rushed out, staring at Lang, whom, I was betting, he hadn’t really seen until that exact moment. Sometimes—and I had no idea how, and it didn’t happen often, but every now and then—people missed that he was everything on first glance. “But thank you.”
Lang nodded and turned to me, sliding his drink over. “Tell me if you taste anything but rum in that.”
I took a sip, watching him as he took off his suit jacket and, without a word, slipped it around Talia’s shoulders.
She mumbled a quick thank-you as she shivered.
“Nope,” I croaked out, because the rum nearly burned through the back of my throat. “There ain’t nothin’ else in that.”
He chuckled and slid his chair even closer. “Let’s go outside. I want to talk to you first, then Talia.”
“It’s too hot,” I said firmly. “I refuse to sweat to death for no good reason.”
Quick exhale from him. “Fine, then tell me what happened. You and Talia never hang out, just the two of you.”
“Because you’re normally with us. Are you sure you want everyone listenin’ in?” I motioned at the rest of the table.
He shook his head. “It’s loud in here, plus they’re all talking to each other. They don’t give a crap.”
“We could wait and discuss this—”
“You’re stalling,” he muttered, then cleared his throat, sliding his elbow closer, resting his cheek on his palm. “Speak.”
“Okay, but you can’t be mad that neither of us called you—you were supposed to be on a double date.”
“I can always be mad,” he corrected me. “And usually am.”
“That’s not true. You have the longest fuse of anyone I know.”
“No.”
“Yes. Think about Doyle and then tell me how you’re always mad.”
“Oh, that doesn’t count. Have you ever seen him in a good mood?”
“When he’s eatin’.”
Lang shrugged.
“But to my point, this time, you have to keep an open mind.”
“I’ll try.”
“Try harder,” Talia said, and I hadn’t realized she was out of her chair until she walked around behind her brother to stand next to my chair. I got up, she sat down, and I crouched between them. “I think sometimes you’re so closed off because you worry so much.”
“I don’t worry,” he snapped at her as I took hold of the side of his chair.
“Yes, you do, because you’ve been taking care of me and Mom since Dad left, and sometimes you have to stop and think that it’s not necessary anymore.”
“I—”
She gasped suddenly.
“No,” he groaned.
“Shh,” I hushed him. “She’s havin’ a moment.”
“Oh my God, that’s why you can’t commit to a relationship,” she told him. “You think you have to be there twenty-four seven for me and Mom, and how can you do that if you’re trying to build a life with someone?”
“Is she drunk?” he asked me.
I laughed; I couldn’t help it. Some of it was residual panic leaving my body, but the rest was me. My sense of what was funny tended to skew more twisted than most people’s. When you were punished by being made to sleep outside in the cold and dark when you were five, coping mechanisms could take weird forms.
“I’m not drunk anymore,” she said, and laughed as well.
“The hell happened?”
“Listen,” I began. “Talia got roofied at a party tonight, and before things went sideways, she called me, and not you, because you were on a date.”
He was quiet and calm, which was what I wanted but was also a bit disconcerting.
“This is why mob guys meet in public places. So no one gets murdered,” Talia commented, glancing at me.
“Or yelled at,” I added.
“Or that,” she said, chuckling.
Lang breathed out through his nose. “Some asshole slipped something in your drink? Why would you ever leave your—”
“No,” she rushed out. “He brought it to me like that.”
“I see.”
“And I started feeling weird, so I called Del.”
“Why Del? Why not me?”
“You were on a date,” she reiterated.
“I don’t care what the fuck I’m doing, you call me if you’re in trouble.”