Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 82036 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82036 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
No one answers.
“Explain this to me like I'm a fucking five-year-old. Exactly what's going on and how this is going to make my life a fucking mess, because looking at you guys, I'm pretty damn sure it's going to.” He glowers. Even after all these years, his one, milky white eye makes his cold glare even more disconcerting.
I give him the story. The guys chime in to fill in gaps when they think of it. Alessa huddles close to Bear and Snark with Izzy in her arms, watching everyone cautiously. I don’t blame her for being nervous. This is not a welcoming environment.
Eagle-eye listens right up to the point where her full name comes out. “Wait. Back the fuck up. Giordano? She's a fucking Giordano? Are you fuckheads stupid?”
“We didn't know at the time,” says Bear, an arm protectively around Alessa's shoulder.
“And she didn't fucking tell us until we found her again,” adds Hawk, a touch of acidic accusation in his voice. Alessa winces at that, but doesn't say anything.
“That you found out she was in the mob and still fucking went looking is bad enough. But why bring her here? I’m trying to prevent more bloodshed, not kick off a whole new fucking war!” He raises his voice so high even Jupiter shies away. He trots quickly with his tail low over to Emily, who welcomes him up in her lap. Other than us and Eagle-eye, the common room is silent. “So let me get this straight. You fuckknuckles knocked up a mob girl, she's got a crazy-ass stalker who already tried to kill us once, they know you're with her and now you've brought her here? Did I get that right? Anything else I need to know before we go into full on turtle mode? Because they're not going to fucking take this sitting down.”
“They don't know about Isabella,” says Alessa, breaking in for the first time. “Well, my Dad and my roommate do, but no one else.”
“Does it fucking matter, if they think we've kidnapped you? Jesus, if it's not the fucking police, it's the fucking mob. Enough fucking kidnapping!”
This time, everyone glances over at Emily and the guys around her, at least for a moment, before the attention is back on us.
“No,” Alessa replies sadly. “Dario's coming either way.”
“Does he know we're here?”
“He recognized us as Screaming Eagles, so he's probably figured it out,” says Snark.
Fuck, what a shit show we've turned this into, but we need to be able to count on the club. “Regardless of what happened before, we're going to protect her. None of this shit was planned, but shit happens. You can argue that looking her up after the meeting was a mistake, but then we never would've known about our daughter, so yeah, I don't fucking regret that either. You have a little girl. How would you have felt if you hadn't known her growing up?”
Eagle-eye wipes a hand down his face, looking ten years older in a matter of seconds. “I read you. And done is done. But we have to figure out how to fucking deal with this. Who here thinks I should take their cuts and boot the four of them out of here, so we have plausible deniability? Show that we're looking to cooperate.”
“Fuck that shit,” yells Wild Child. Not everyone looks happy, but nobody raises their hands.
Snark steps up. “I know my head's on the chopping block, but yeah, fuck that shit. We all fuck up sometimes, but the club holds together. We cover each other’s asses, and when everything goes to shit, we all show up with shovels to dig ourselves the fuck out again. We've done it often enough for others. Like when we raided Mayor Hawthorne's house.”
Eagle-eye nods. “Good. I'm not kicking out anyone. You're all blooded members, and I'm not taking your cuts. I just want you to understand what a shit position you've put every one of these guys in. What if we return the girl? Her family won't hurt her and it shows goodwill. Chalk it up to a fucking misunderstanding.”
“Not happening,” rumbles Bear like an incoming avalanche. “Dario will come for her baby. He'll never stop coming for us. And we're not fucking abandoning our child.”
Eagle-eye draws a long sigh, then nods. “I figured as much. Fuck. Get the water cannons ready. Double the guards at the gate, and no one walks around unarmed. They're going to come, and it's going to take some really fancy talking to salvage anything out of this situation, if we can salvage any of it at all.”
“I don't want to start a war,” says Hawk in a dark voice, “but if any of those fuckers come close to Isabella, the truce can go fuck itself. I won't be held responsible for my actions.”
“Well, we'll hope it doesn't fucking come to that, then. I'm leaving her protection up to you guys. I've apparently got more than fucking enough to deal with already.”