Total pages in book: 45
Estimated words: 43444 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 217(@200wpm)___ 174(@250wpm)___ 145(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 43444 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 217(@200wpm)___ 174(@250wpm)___ 145(@300wpm)
“Don’t start. My situation is entirely different and you know it.”
“Whatever you say, princess.”
Out of all the new characters to come into her life with her brother Hugo’s marriage, Bronte liked Tasha the best. And not only because she’d helped her accomplish her last minute, top secret excursion without a moment’s hesitation.
Natasha Finn was bold and confident, fearless and unapologetically sexual. As far as Bronte could tell, she hadn’t changed or folded under the scrutiny that came from being a politician’s wife. She’d thrived. She was the sort of woman who could be equally as comfortable in a group of men or women, at a charity function or a kinky nightclub, if the stories were true. There was nothing remotely average about her. Nothing boring.
She was everything Bronte had never dared to be.
Tasha would be the kind of woman to drive off to parts unknown to deliver a second-hand warning to her accidental husband. The one she’d married so he could stay in the country, flying to Niagara Falls on a drunken whim to say I do. The one who was seventeen years her junior.
Tasha didn’t do that. You did.
“Why am I here again?”
“Well you’re definitely not escaping the Irish, if that was your plan. Not if you’re going to meet William at his job. Pat’s Pub is like Finn’s on steroids, according to this Instagram account I’m looking at. And their restaurant, Sunday’s Side? It has a menu that’s making my mouth water. Mark my words; in a few years my brother-in-law is going to regret starting a microbrewery instead of expanding the kitchens at the pub. Food is always trendy.”
“So sayeth the baker,” Bronte quipped. “But he won’t regret a thing as long as he keeps my brother on as his partner. You know Thoreau is a mad genius with big plans for that label. By the time he’s my age, he’ll own the neighborhood and at least one restaurant. Mark my words.”
She wasn’t exaggerating. Just like her sisters, Thoreau had enough creativity and ambition to leave the older Wayne siblings in the dust. Austen had created her own skincare line, Shelley developed apps, and Thoreau was a brewer on his way to a business degree and certain success.
Bronte had always admired their drive but she didn’t envy it. She may look the most like their mother, but her personality was all Foster Wayne. Her father had become a professor simply because he loved to read. Loved it so much he’d named all seven of his children after famous authors. She had a feeling his enthusiasm for the written word was the reason his classes were always packed. But as much as he enjoyed reading about other people’s adventures, he was perfectly content to avoid having any of his own.
“This family is all the excitement I need.”
Bronte, too, would rather observe her siblings from the sidelines, advising and cheering them on as needed. She wasn’t big on taking risks.
If that were true, you’d still be home right now.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to tell Tanaka why you’re visiting William?” Tasha asked hesitantly into the silence. “Ken’s a genius hacker with some serious skills and even better connections, Bronte. I can’t count the number of times he’s saved our asses from unsavory situations. You can trust him.”
Bronte chewed on the lip of her cup, considering. The beefy, tatted thug who’d been waiting for her in the parking lot after work last night had been pretty specific about what she needed to do. For such a big guy, he’d seemed more anxious than threatening, but his appearance made her nervous enough that she’d taken an extra hour to get home, nearly getting lost in an effort to ensure she wasn’t followed.
“The guy said no Finns. I decided to consider you a loophole, since you married in and I needed your help, but I think that’s all I can get away with. If I can’t tell my police chief brother-in-law, I’m not going to tell Mr. Tanaka.”
“He’s more of a loophole than I am, since for some reason that still eludes everyone, he and Brady haven’t set a wedding date yet.”
“Even so, I don’t need a hacker or a bodyguard to talk to William.” Not that seeing him again didn’t have its own element of danger. “With me passing on the message and Younger sending a parade of patrol cars by my parents’ house while I’m away—because you know how he is—I think we’ve got all our bases covered for the moment.”
Solomon “Younger” Finn was a good man. Protective and kind, and worthy of her best friend and favorite brother. It was one of the reasons he’d been the first person she’d gone to after waking up with a hangover and a surprise husband.
And now you’re keeping secrets from him too.