Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 119011 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 595(@200wpm)___ 476(@250wpm)___ 397(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119011 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 595(@200wpm)___ 476(@250wpm)___ 397(@300wpm)
Leo’s grin widened, and he squeezed Zolt’s buttock. “Yeah? You liked it?” Needy as usual. Leo lapped up compliments like a puppy, and Zolt couldn’t help but find it cute.
“The best I’ve had.” So maybe he was a sap, but it wasn’t a lie. There were still things Leo could learn in terms of technique, but that didn’t matter so much when Leo was so there with him whenever they had sex. His mind didn’t seem to drift off to his favorite porn, and his eyes shone with such honest excitement, throwing rules out the window for him was easy. But if Zolt was to survive, he couldn’t rely on emotion alone. “Will they really take me in?”
The smile didn’t drop from Leo’s face, and he nuzzled Zolt’s neck. “I’ll push until it happens. I can be a pushy fucker if I really want something. Wanna know a secret? I wasn’t told to stay with you. I volunteered. I just wanted you too much to let it go.”
Zolt bit his lip, smiling widely as he dove in for a quick kiss. “Playing dirty. That was your plan, wasn’t it? To coerce me into a relationship and make me part of your family?”
Leo snorted. “Yep, now you know. If I could get pregnant, I would have hooked you with a baby— wait. No. That’s a terrible idea. Scrap that. But yes, you will be family in one way or another. Even if it takes them forever to come around, they will.”
The smile died on Zolt’s lips, and he rested his head on Leo’s bicep. “I never had a family like yours. You Hellers really support each other. I might have mocked it, but it was because I was jealous.”
Leo tightened his arms around Zolt, offering his warmth without asking for anything in return. Zolt would stay here, spend the rest of his money to keep Leo safe, and he wouldn’t miss his Caribbean retirement. Any doubts he’d had, were now gone. Being with Leo was better than a hundred rent boys serving Zolt drinks on a beach.
“It’s all yours, babe. Family, prospecting, me. Whatever you need, I will get it for you.”
Zolt wanted to answer, say thank you, or make a joke, but he got so choked up he couldn’t speak, so he just stayed still, with his cheek on Leo’s bicep.
Chapter 27 – Zolt
Zolt watched the money he’d saved throughout the past few years disappear in a seemingly-bottomless duffel bag. He could name where each wad of cash had been hidden away before he and Leo had removed them from walls, the attic, and from under the floor. He liked to splurge once in a while—on a car, or on the Rolex—but he wasn’t a big spender, overall. The money put away for his retirement had given him a sense of security, and that insurance policy was being taken away like a rug pulled from under his feet to reveal a pit with no bottom in sight.
Would he land on rocks and break every bone in his body or fall into lush pillows and roll straight into Leo’s arms? That remained to be seen.
Kane sniggered as soon as the doors closed behind the Exterminators, his spiky hair red as the fire already buzzing in Zolt’s skull in expectation of what the bastard might say.
“What’s so funny?” Jack asked, his voice somber as he looked up from his chair at Hank’s left.
Kane shrugged, biting his lip when he glanced Zolt’s way. “I guess we should all thank Leo for paying our way on his back.”
Zolt half expected at least some of the members to go with the joke, since it trivialized the fact that the MC had chosen to have someone else handle their issues with the Jackals, but even Mike didn’t smile.
“Fuck off, Kane. Go and suck some dick if you don’t know when’s best to keep quiet.”
Kane raised his hands. “I’m not the one doing dick-sucking.”
Axel, the one Heller brother who barely ever spoke and never smiled, gave Kane a level glare. “Grow up.”
Leo shook his head. “If you wanna go and join the Exterminators, go ahead.”
“Sure, Kane, spend some time behind bars. You might come back a changed man,” Rain added, ignoring Kurt, whose face went redder by the second.
“Would you shut up, Kane? Wrong fucking time,” he said and spun around bursting out the door like a bulldozer. “Now let’s go. We have guests waiting.”
Hank briefly met Zolt’s gaze before looking around the table. “We need to be seen while the Exterminators are at work, so make yourselves memorable to outsiders.”
The meeting was over. It was time to charm the locals invited to the party for the sole purpose of creating alibis for everyone.
Zolt gave Leo’s hand a discreet squeeze, and his heart grew when Leo didn’t flinch and returned the gesture. The Exterminators were notorious for their efficiency even if their services cost an arm and a leg, so Zolt hoped the whole mess with the Jackals would end tonight.