Total pages in book: 149
Estimated words: 141255 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 706(@200wpm)___ 565(@250wpm)___ 471(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 141255 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 706(@200wpm)___ 565(@250wpm)___ 471(@300wpm)
I guess I took it for granted that they’d handle things with my friends. I never should’ve assumed that Mia and Beth would sit back and take Rose’s word for everything. Ruby would. Mia and Beth? Nope, as evidenced by the fact that we now had to fly home and that my totally awesome but sassy and tenacious friend Mia had demanded that my husband produce me by a certain deadline.
Somewhere down the road, when all this was behind us, I might look back and laugh that my badass Dominator got bossed around by one of my besties. I wasn’t ready for laughter yet, though. He certainly wasn’t.
Dex and Nino’s twin brother Tino (who was identical to Nino but not bald, not bearded, and not the biker type, more the burly Men-in-Black suit / goon type) had picked us up at the airport with Tommy’s BMW convertible and then they left together and followed us back.
Tommy and I drove to the house and got settled in a guest room that Sarah had directed us to. Tino and Dex were on duty outside. Tommy had said that Dario had hired a few guys back from before plus were using a few of their friend and private investigator Zack’s guys because security would be important for now, while everything got analyzed for risk mitigation.
It seemed that no one was home but Sarah, who lived here with Tess, her boys, and Lisa. She’d greeted us enthusiastically, grilling me to ask how soon we were gonna have babies. While she was doing that Tommy kissed me goodbye and he left me there in the kitchen with her so he could meet Dario at the office.
I was pleased about getting a minute apart from him but I wasn’t pleased about being left for an inquisition. Sarah and I hung out drinking sugarless coffee, which she was very proud to gloat about, the fact that she’d gotten me off my 3-sugar coffee habit, and we chatted for a while until I went upstairs to get unpacked and get a shower and ready myself for dinner at Luc and Eddy’s. Bianca and Nino, Dare and Angel, Lisa, Tessa, and Sarah were all coming, too.
As I passed the master bedroom, I heard noise, so I knocked. I guess Sarah and I hadn’t been here alone after all.
“Lisa?”
She opened the door. Her eyes were bloodshot.
“Oh! You’re here. Sorry I didn’t greet you. Welcome back.”
“What’s the matter!?”
She waved her soggy Kleenex. “I’m just having a moment. I’m gonna skip the dinner thing. Sorry.”
“Oh no! It’ll be fun to have everyone together. You should come.”
“I’m gonna stay in, honest, Tia. It’s not a good day for me today. I’ve had some stuff to deal with and…”
She hiccupped and then tried to pull herself together.
I reached for and then squeezed her hand, “I know. Tommy told me. And no worries. I’ll just tell everyone you’re a little under the weather. Blame it on morning sickness. Do you need anything?”
Her chin trembled and she shook her head.
“I won’t tell anyone; don’t worry. You can talk to me if you ever need to.”
“I need to talk to Tess and Luc eventually, but Dare wants me to wait. God, what’ll they think of me?”
I nodded in agreement. “They’ll be shocked at first, it’ll rock their world. But they love you. I think after the shock wears off you guys’ll work it out. You can talk to me any time, okay? Don’t be afraid to reach out to talk to me. It’s not good to hold it all in.”
“I talked to Dare’s Angel today and I messed up. He asked me to help her and I went over there and started making it about me and then I upset her and she had a panic attack. It was fucked up.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“Yeah. I feel awful. I think holding all my stuff in the last two years made it easy but now it doesn’t feel so easy anymore.”
“You are allowed to feel upset, Lisa. Just because you’ve had more time go by doesn’t make what you went through less than what she’s going through. And you’re dealing with the loss of your husband. I’m sure she probably understands.”
She nodded.
“Do you want something to drink or eat? I can make something for you before I take my shower.”
“No, Tia. You’ve gotta be tired from all that traveling. And I’m okay. I ate a huge lunch a few hours ago with Angel.”
“What’s she like?”
“She’s gorgeous. She’s nice. She’s broken. Understandably. But Dare is head over heels. It’s good to see. I think he can help her heal.”
I smiled. “I’m happy for him.”
“They have a long road ahead of them.”
“I bet they do.”
“How’s your and Tommy’s road? Things okay? You take your own advice and talk it out if you need to, too, babes. Okay?”