Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 75248 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 376(@200wpm)___ 301(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75248 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 376(@200wpm)___ 301(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
“So now what?” I asked. “You’re a vigilante?”
“You could say that,” he said. “I’m on medical leave for a gunshot injury that’s being persnickety.” He grinned devilishly. “I have a feeling it’s about to heal up nicely within the next couple of weeks. I’ll be back on the job within the next month.”
“Goddammit,” I growled. “This is so fucked up. I’m still not sure what the fuck I did to warrant him going out of his way to fuck with me.”
“He goes to a lot of trouble to make sure the guys he has working for him won’t leave. Blackmail, finding exactly what it takes to keep them where he wants to be, and he’s got them for good until he no longer needs them,” he grinned. “And you single-handedly took down two out of three of them and with them went the entire Southern half of his merchandise acquisition operation.
I crossed my arms.
“That was his own fucking fault.”
Raphael grinned, but that grin quickly disappeared moments later.
“He was just playing with you,” he said. “He’s been too busy trying to get his operation back up and running. You were a toy for him to play with, but one he definitely planned on taking care of at some point. However, after what you did to him today, as well as what you did to the man we found in the river—luckily alive—it means he’ll be pulling you off the back burner.”
He stood up and stared at me, giving me the full effect of his eyes.
“And I’m here to make sure you have every fucking tool in my arsenal to make sure this fucker pays.” His eyes went to the dog at my feet. “Why isn’t Marky Mark with my sister?”
I raised an eyebrow at him.
“You.”
“Me?”
I nodded in confirmation. “You.”
He sighed.
“He’s fully trained,” Raphael said. “Trained him myself.”
I nodded again. “I figured that. He’s fucking phenomenal.”
Raphael grinned. “I know that.”
“Wait,” Alison asked. “There are so many misunderstandings here. Raven told me you kept giving the dog looks as if you knew the dog’s potential.”
“I did know his potential,” I said. “It’s not hard to understand what he does when I walk into the room and see him clock me the moment I step foot inside. He moves with her, too. She moves left, he moves left with her, positioning himself so that he’s between her and any potential harm.”
Alison’s eyes widened.
“That’s so cool,” she looked down at the dog. “He looks so normal.”
Raphael snorted and whistled.
The dog looked up at him but didn’t move from my feet.
Although Raphael raised him and trained him, he wasn’t his dog anymore. He was Raven’s. Raven had his loyalty and his heart, and by extension through her, so did I. He had more of a connection to me than he did to Raphael anymore.
I grinned and gave a raised eyebrow to the surprised look on Raphael’s face.
“I like that,” he said, knowing instantly what was going on.
“I do too,” I agreed.
“So, where is she?” Griffin asked. “My wife is asking for cheesecake. Fucking pregnancy hormones are practically ripping my money from my wallet as fast as it gets there.”
“You need to give her time to straighten her head out. She’ll come back when she cools down,” Raphael offered his two cents. “I know exactly where she is. She’s safe.”
“Uhh, I hate to say this, but I don’t agree with him,” Alison said. “I agreed that she needed to leave, but I didn’t agree that you shouldn’t follow. She deserves to be chased. She needs someone to go after her, no matter how many times she leaves. She’s never had someone do that for her before.”
Pain flashed across Raphael’s face—there and gone within a few milliseconds.
I decided to ignore him.
I had things to do, and he wasn’t one of them.
Heading to my desk, I pocketed my phone, keys, and wallet.
“Griffin, will you get one of the boys to watch over my kid while I’m gone? And someone watch Mark?” I asked. “I should be back by midafternoon tomorrow.”
Griffin nodded, saluting me half-assed before picking up his phone and making a call, I assumed to the cops that were in the district where Nathan was with his grandmother.
I started across the room but stopped.
Before I left to find my wayward woman, I needed to address something first, which was why I stopped in front of Peek.
“We’re going to have a talk about this,” I hissed.
Peek nodded in understanding.
“It was me…” Peek held his hand up and stopped Alison’s apology.
“You came between one of our members and his woman, Alison. I know you meant well, but this isn’t the time to defend yourself,” Peek said, his Irish brogue thick and brooking no room for argument.
Alison’s lips tightened. “Fine.”
With that, I left, heading straight to my bike, stopping only for a few minutes to give Core a call to make sure I knew where she was headed.