Total pages in book: 178
Estimated words: 170884 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 854(@200wpm)___ 684(@250wpm)___ 570(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 170884 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 854(@200wpm)___ 684(@250wpm)___ 570(@300wpm)
Molly pursed her generous lips. “I’m with Lexi. Having A.J. at school means Ling’s target narrows onto the two of you, and I hate to say it, but my job is to protect that little boy, not his parents.” It stung how heartless her words were, but she was right. “School is probably the safest place for him.”
Luna was nodding. “She’s right. With Molly and the little niño out of the picture, we can focus on the two of you.”
I could see Twitch was caving. He spoke to Molly. “You stay with him. All fuckin’ day. You hear me?”
“I hear you,” she responded earnestly, and I knew Molly would do whatever it took to protect my son, even throw herself in front of a mass of bullets.
Julius pulled out a chair and sat, tugging Ana down onto his lap. “We don’t even know who she’s after.”
Twitch replied positively, “She wants me.” His eyes hooded more than usual as he ran a hand through his hair and spoke low. “It’s always been me.”
A moment of silence passed between us all, and I had a feeling we were all thinking the same thing.
He was right.
It had always been Twitch.
“You packin’?” Thiago asked him.
“Always, bro.”
“What about you?” he asked me. “You know how to use a gun?”
At the very moment I responded, “Yes,” Twitch uttered, “No,” and when he heard my answer, his brows furrowed as he blinked at me in bewilderment.
My brows arched. I spoke to Thiago but kept my gaze locked on Twitch. “Yes, I know how to use a gun.” A moment passed, and then I offered, “You think Julius Carter lived in my house six months, going through what he did, and didn’t teach me to protect my son?”
At that, Tony’s face softened. “You got a gun in the house.” A statement.
“Yes, I do.”
“And you never told me.”
“No, I didn’t.” It seemed we all had some secrets.
He kept his voice light. “You ever plan on using that gun on me?”
“Occasionally.” Damned if there hadn’t been a few times I thought about it.
His eyes grinned, and mine smirked right back at him.
In response to my deception, all he uttered was a soft sounding, “Solid.”
Fuck. I loved this man.
And when Zep spoke, his words were directed to Luna and Luna alone. “You’re coming with me.”
Luna’s brow knitted. “No way,” was her reply, but it sounded like she said, “You’re insane.”
Zep looked her up and down like she was a snack of epic proportions and he was famished. His lip twitched. “I want you on my team, Lulu.”
Lulu?
Wait. They knew each other?
All of a sudden, it dawned on me. It all made sense. Zep knew Twitch was in Cuba. How? Because he probably suggested it. And now that I looked deeper at how Zep was watching Luna, I saw more than I wanted to.
Zep was into her.
Luna blinked at him. “So does everyone else,” she responded, chuckling without sounding at all amused.
Thiago, sick of his sisters’ apparent suitors, snapped, “My sisters stay with me, Falco. Both of them.” He ended on, “We aren’t here for you.” And damned if it sounded like a threat.
But then again, anything coming out of the mouth of Thiago Vega sounded like a threat.
“How we gonna run this?” asked Happy, leaning against the wall.
Molly chimed in with, “I’m sleeping in A.J.’s room until further notice.” She peered over at Luna and Fernanda. “You guys take my bed.”
They nodded in agreement.
“Thiago, you take the sofa,” Twitch suggested.
“It’s not a pull out,” I said, my eyes drifting over his monstrous form then adding an apologetic, “Sorry.”
“Everyone else—” Twitch shrugged lightly. “—I don’t know. Go home, I guess.”
It was the first time I’d ever heard Twitch sound unsure of himself, and it scared the ever-loving shit out of me.
When everyone made their leave and we were alone in bed, we held each other tightly, closely, and I don’t remember falling asleep, only waking up.
And when I finally did wake, it was alone to a cold bed.
Chapter
Thirty-Nine
Twitch
“What are you doing out here?” she asked quietly.
Contemplating doing some stupid ass shit to keep you safe.
“Nothin’.”
But she knew me, this woman. She knew me well enough to know when I got inside my head it was a dangerous thing.
And her whispered words told me just how well she knew the person I was. “Stop it.” When she took the few steps over and knelt beside me, I lifted my tired gaze to her, and those big blue eyes I loved shone with concern. She sat back on her heels and held a hand out to touch me but stilled part way, balling her outstretched hand into a fist. She didn’t speak a while but when she did the words were firm. “Whatever you’re thinking... just stop.”
How could I?
It consumed my mind. Consumed my thoughts. Consumed me whole.