Total pages in book: 184
Estimated words: 188108 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 941(@200wpm)___ 752(@250wpm)___ 627(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 188108 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 941(@200wpm)___ 752(@250wpm)___ 627(@300wpm)
“She gives me any sass and it’ll be two months,” he promised.
“I can almost guarantee she’s going to sass you,” Roman said as Salem parked the car and jumped out.
He walked over to them, his face filling with understanding.
“Fuck.”
“Yep, this whole thing is a big fucking fuck-up!” Alexei said. He threw his arms up in the air. “How did we not know she lived here? How?”
Salem just shook his head, looking as glum as Alexei had ever seen him look.
“Like I said, it’s my fault,” Roman whispered.
“No. If anything, it’s mine,” Salem said.
Salem was always quick to take everything on his shoulders. He liked being the leader, the thinker. Alexei preferred to be the brawn and Roman was the brains. But they needed to do better than this.
Alexei needed to do better. Take more responsibility.
“We can all do better,” he grumbled.
Salem shot him a surprised look, then nodded.
“How are we going to find her, though?” Roman asked. He peered around Alexei. “Are those guys doing a drug deal right out in the open?”
“Shit,” Salem said, looking even more stressed. The guy was going to give himself a heart attack. He’d been more relaxed the last week while their girl was with them. He hadn’t been working nearly as much. He’d been smiling. Having fun.
They were all different.
Roman came out of his room. And he was certainly showing a more dominant, forceful side.
And him? Well . . . he had become detached from the world. He hadn’t much cared about anything or anyone anymore.
Until her.
His girl.
His girl who had been living in this fucking slum.
Not. Acceptable.
“I guess we knock on every door until she answers or we find someone who knows her,” he said.
“In this neighborhood they’re not going to be very likely to tell us if they do know her,” Salem said.
“Money speaks,” Alexei said. He waited for Salem to protest. To tell him that they couldn’t bribe people to tell them what was going on.
Mr. Always-Do-The-Right-Thing surprised him by nodding without argument. His protectiveness had increased around Tamsyn.
And that was a good thing in Alexei’s mind.
“I shouldn’t have left for that meeting. I should have stayed with her. What kind of boyfriend am I? This is why I’d make a terrible Daddy Dom,” Roman said. “I just knew that.”
Alexei shared a look with Salem. This could set him back.
Roman’s family had done a real fucking number on him. Something else he thought Tamsyn could help with.
Fuck. She’d become so fucking important to them in such a short time.
“Actually the fact that you’re thinking and worrying about it tells me you’d make a better Daddy Dom than most,” Salem said mildly.
“And the way you fuss and worry over her,” Alexei added.
“Everyone makes mistakes,” Salem added. “I’ve made plenty.”
“You?” Roman asked, looking skeptical.
Salem snorted. “Yes, I make plenty of mistakes. More than I care to admit. And the only thing you can do is learn from them. I’m going to try and do that.”
Roman nodded solemnly.
“And we’ve seen you with Tamsyn, you might be a gentler, more subtle version than Salem and I . . . and perhaps you’d never be this way with anyone else, but you’re her Daddy.”
“All right.” Roman let out a breath. “Let’s do this.”
“Let’s do this,” Salem repeated grimly. “Find our girl.”
The knock on her door had her tensing and sliding to where she had a knife taped on the underside of the dining table.
The crappy door in this terrible apartment didn’t have a peephole. The first thing she’d done was put in a decent lock. That and buy roller skates.
One of his guys had felt sorry for her and given her some cash when he’d dropped her off here. It was basically all gone now. She assumed someone was paying the rent on this place.
“Who is it?” she called out.
A string of Russian came back, making her eyebrows rise.
“It is Alexei. You will open the door now.”
His accent was thicker than she’d ever heard it, and she swallowed heavily.
Was he upset with her?
Why do you care?
Because she did. Because she thought she might love him and he sounded upset.
She opened the door and he stood there, glaring at her, his phone to his ear.
“I have her. 5d.”
He ended the call.
“Who were you calling?”
“Salem and Roman.” His gaze went to her hand. “At least you have the sense to have some protection in this shitty neighborhood. Pack your things, we’re leaving.”
He stomped into the room, looking around.
“On second thought. Leave it all. We’re going.”
Turning to her, he grabbed her around the waist and she barely held back from stabbing him. He put her over his shoulder.
“Let me down! You can’t just take me!” She wriggled on his shoulder.
Slap!
“And you can’t spank me when I’m not doing what you want!”
“Sure I can. I just did. Stay still or I might drop you.”