Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 74589 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 373(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74589 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 373(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
“Quit calling me that.”
He chuckles and walks to the door. I glare at him, finally coming back to myself, like I’m waking from a dream. He hesitates and looks back at me and his smile fades away.
“You’re in my house now, princess, and I’ll call you what I want.” His voice is a low snarl.
“We can’t do that again,” I say as he walks away. “Do you hear me? That was just a one-time thing, okay?”
He doesn’t answer and he doesn’t look back.
Because he knows I’m full of shit.
An hour later, Kady comes home with a dozen different bags. She piles them up in the living room and when she’s done, she gets one look at me, puts her hands on her hips, and laughs. “You fucked him, didn’t you?” she says, cracking up, and I want to melt right into the floor.
Chapter 12
Nolan
Kady gets herself and Cora set up and outfitted. The beds arrive later that morning. Once they’re mostly settled and Cora’s in fresh clothes, I pack her into my truck and drive us both to the Lonely Cat. Kady’s got work at the diner and my guys will keep an eye on her while she’s there.
Cora says nothing but I can feel her thinking about that shower. I don’t know why but the second I saw her standing by that window staring out at the woods, I knew what she was thinking—she was dreaming about escaping already. Those trees are her way out, but I don’t want her running off into the forest every time it gets difficult between us. Standing there in the doorway, I knew I had to do something to get her to understand that this isn’t about using her, this isn’t about destroying her, but this is about saving her and maybe giving her the future she deserves.
And now her taste is on my lips, and I don’t know if I can go through with my plan after all.
“You’ll work behind the bar tonight,” I say as I park toward the back of the lot. “Can you handle that?”
“I can handle it.” She glances at me. “Kady knows.” Her cheeks turn pink. “She knew the second she saw me.”
“I tried to warn you.”
“I don’t want to talk about it again, okay? It happened, things got carried away, and now we’re moving on. Can we agree to that?”
“You can agree to it, but if you think I’m going to forget you licking the taste of your pussy from my fingers, you’ve lost your fucking mind.”
Her jaw tightens. “Nolan.”
“Don’t worry, princess. Tonight is about business.” I open the door. “But know that I’ll be thinking about you all night.”
“Asshole,” she mutters but she gets out and follows me into the club.
It’s early in the night and the girls are just getting things set up. The bartender’s named Lennox and she happily starts showing Cora the ropes as I head back into the office. Eric’s there with Troy and Tom, and they’re doing a money count and looking unhappy about it.
I pull Eric aside and we step out into the hall.
“I hear you met with Ben,” Eric says, leaning against the wall. “And you brought the girl with you.”
“That fucking prick can’t keep his mouth shut.”
“Relax, he didn’t tell me anything. I know the girl that works behind the counter and she keeps tabs on Ben for me.”
My eyebrows raise. “Seriously? You never told me that.”
“Never really mattered until now.” Eric’s expression is dark. “Why’d you see Ben?”
“Guns.”
He softens a touch. “For the war.”
“The ORB already hit back. They burned down Cora’s trailer.”
“No shit?” He strokes his chin, thinking. “That’s a bold move. They must’ve known it would piss you off.”
“And they did it anyway. I hope Ben comes through with the weapons sooner rather than later, but either way, we’re gonna need to muscle up.”
“You mean hire some more guys?”
“As many as you can as fast as you can. This is going to be ugly, but I want it done fast.”
Eric nods and paces back and forth. Finally, he looks back at me. “What about the girl?”
“She’s staying for now.”
“We don’t need her anymore. You don’t need a fucking secretary. You have me and the guys doing the count anyway.”
“She’ll take it over again later, but for now, keep them on it.”
Eric looks unhappy but he nods and doesn’t argue. “Finding the muscle will take time, but at least we have the money to make it happen.”
“Do it as fast and as discreetly as you can. Some of the bikers down in Mississippi might be willing to take on some extra work if it means eliminating a rival club.”
“That’s a good point. I still know some guys I can reach out to.” Eric’s jaw tightens. “How fast is this gonna escalate? The others are going to want to know how much time we’ve got before it gets bad.”