Total pages in book: 206
Estimated words: 192184 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 961(@200wpm)___ 769(@250wpm)___ 641(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 192184 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 961(@200wpm)___ 769(@250wpm)___ 641(@300wpm)
You’d think I’d been gone a month instead of two days with all the shit that had piled up. Holy fuck! I got two quick calls taken care of and decided to handle the rest later. I headed upstairs and heard the bath running so my clothes were quickly off and when I opened the door in the buff she looked up from the tub and gave me a sexy smile. I climbed into the tub with her, and we made what she called a “soapy, splashy mess”.
While I was about to get dressed afterwards, my phone went off. I needed to meet with my private eye to discuss the additional information I’d found out from O’Connor as well as follow up on the Earl stuff. I asked Tia to give me the photo of her mom and my pop and she found it for me in the basement. I kissed her goodbye and told her not to wait up, but to talk to Sarah in the morning for help packing for us for Vegas.
I made her promise to be no more than two feet away from her phone at any given time, and then I had a quick chat with the four guys on the house, including my brother-in-law Jimmy who was gonna be my main house security guy, replacing Earl. Until I really knew all was good, I wasn’t taking any chances. Maybe when we got back, I’d take her to the range and teach her how to shoot, too.
The rest of the evening was, thankfully, uneventful, except that Tommy didn’t come home. He texted me at midnight to ask if I was okay. Then he texted me again at 3:30 am, waking me, to say he’d be home in the morning. It sort of nagged at me and I didn’t sleep much after that.
I couldn’t help my mind from wandering to wondering if he was seeing another woman. Was he out somewhere giving someone else the ‘rough’ so that he could give me the ‘sweet’? I knew I’d have to swallow a lot being with him, but if infidelity was one of those things, I wouldn’t be able to handle it. It’d revert to being a prison sentence for me and one I’d never stop trying to find my escape from.
At 7:30 in the morning, I got up because there was no point continuing to lie here and torment myself. Sarah was up so she and I packed. I would’ve done it myself if I had a clue of how to pack for him. She clearly knew what she was doing, what sorts of clothes we’d need, etc. She was being sweet and chatty and tried to broach the topic of my and Tommy’s relationship.
“So, you two? Things better?”
I smiled and changed the subject. “Do I really need all these pairs of shoes for a short trip?”
She smirked. “You can talk to me. I’m like Fort Knox. You tell me somethin’ and it won’t go nowhere. I sat under interrogation for six hours once. I was in a hundred-degree room, and I had to pee. Still not a word.”
I found that hard to believe since she never shut the heck up – like… ever. I didn’t even want to ask her why she was interrogated for six hours.
Tommy strode into the bedroom and saved me from The Sarah Inquisition. He came right to me and folded me into an embrace. Sarah left the room and shut the door.
He ran his hands up and down my back and his nose traveled from the nape of my neck up to my temple, then he kissed it.
“Miss me?”
I stiffened.
He looked down at me. “Something wrong?”
I shrugged.
“Tia?” He had alarm in his voice.
“Where did you stay last night?” I asked. My face felt hot.
He frowned. “I didn’t stay anywhere. I haven’t slept yet.”
I looked down at my feet. “Oh.”
“Tia?”
He let go of me, then backed up and sat on the bed beside the opened suitcase and crossed his arms and stared.
“What time do we have to go?” I tried to change the subject. My face still felt hot.
“In half an hour. Look at me.”
My eyes met his.
“Did you think I spent the night with someone else?” He had his eyebrows raised and he looked on the verge of pissed.
I shrugged my shoulders once, slowly.
“Athena.”
I chewed the inside of my cheek and stared at the ceiling. Weird how in a few short weeks he felt like he could use my given name like this to show he was serious. But it worked.
“Answer me,” he demanded and his voice wasn’t friendly. I looked at him. His eyes weren’t friendly either. He jerked his chin up at me.
“I just didn’t know where you were.”
“So you assumed I was off fucking someone?” His voice was calm but menacing.