Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 109178 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 546(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109178 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 546(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
Lennox knew right then and there that he was correct about all of his suspicions. He’d been watching Grandpa closely during that entire meeting, and figured something was going to happen. He could smell it on the geezer. Grandpa had been collecting evidence of all of their misdeeds like stamps, while planning to return that shit to ‘sender.’ Sure enough, he made the punishment match the crime. At least in his own mind. Lennox’s transgression had been pretty low key, so his punishment wasn’t as extreme. No life taken. There would be a special gift, so to speak, for dear ol’ Kage though—the one who’d spoken his mind and given it to Grandpa with no Vaseline. He had to be at the top of the old man’s hitlist. Kage, the wily wolf that he was, had crossed the bull’s line, and boy did he pay the price. In fact, all of their surprises from Grandpa paled in comparison and were walks in the park compared to the specially crafted retribution for Kage.
Kage let everyone know, from the comfort of his hospital room, that some motherfucker had set his garage on fire, blowing it up like a grenade had been thrown inside. The fire quickly spread, but most of the house was salvaged. A clear ominous cautioning. He’d endured smoke inhalation and some nasty scratches from flying glass and debris yet got out in the nick of time, luckily otherwise unscathed. The icing on the cake was, he was then chased into the woods by only God knew what. Kage claimed the thing appeared fast and inhuman. Maybe a rabid dog. No one was sure if that was Grandpa’s doing, too. Hell, maybe it was a cruel joke and the old bull of a man had let loose a demented wolf to hunt his most hated grandson. Needless to say, it had been a rough night for his cousin, and Grandpa also left him a special text message which Kage thought too funny not to share:
DID YOU HUFF AND PUFF AND BLOW YOUR OWN HOUSE UP?
All of these messages disappeared somehow before anything could be done. It would have been their word against his, and besides, running to the police about a crime lord who ran Houston’s underbelly was not only a snitch move, but a useless one, too. The police knew who the hell Grandpa was, and the last cop to try and be a hero ended up with fifty-eight holes in him, stuffed in a barrel, and floating down the river. There was no one worse than Grandpa. And there was nothing worse than a vengeful, power-hungry old man who knew his way around guns, the Bible, explosives, and technology. Amen.
CHAPTER THREE
A day late and a dollar short
What Lennox needed to say, he preferred to not share over the phone. This sort of thing required looking a woman straight in the eye. Besides, he didn’t believe in coincidences. He’d run into Nadia for a reason. He was going to do this right the first time.
Running his thumb along his lower lip, he crossed his hands over the folded Greasy Spoon Soul food Bistro menu, the place where he’d invited Nadia to meet him for dinner. He hadn’t been here in a long while, but it was one of his favorite spots.
It seemed their easygoing chemistry the evening before was all but forgotten once he informed her that he didn’t want to chit-chat over the phone, or do the light and fluffy stuff. He’d made it clear that right then, he was contacting her about business. That’s when things went left field.
Nadia became rather serious, and started acting strangely, with an attitude, asking what this was all about. When that didn’t work, she began to shut down, refusing to allow him to pick her up and insisting she’d meet him at the restaurant instead. She’d hung up abruptly, leaving him a bit confused but not completely surprised. She’d always been one to need to control the trajectory of things, including something as simple as a conversation—and he knew why. He’d thought her curiosity must be too great to completely blow him off, but of course, there was a first for everything. Time was ticking.
He glanced at his watch as the minutes passed. The waitress refreshed his water and he drank it down fast, then checked the time again. Nadia was seventeen minutes late—not a huge deal, but annoying all the same. She never so much as sent a text to let him know she was on her way.
As soon as he began to toy with the idea of leaving, the front door opened, and in she walked, clad in a long, furry white vest, tight dark jeans, and her hair slicked back into a ponytail. She spoke briefly with the hostess at the counter, then both of them turned and Nadia pointed at him. Her black velvet boots clicked on the floor as she approached, firmly gripping her purse straps. With knitted brows and tight lips, she slipped into the booth across from him.