Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 154037 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 770(@200wpm)___ 616(@250wpm)___ 513(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 154037 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 770(@200wpm)___ 616(@250wpm)___ 513(@300wpm)
Fuck, wasn’t sure why I couldn’t keep it tamped of late. Why it felt like I was losing my damned mind anytime I was around her. But maybe I did know. Maybe it was because I couldn’t stop thinking about that time. Wounds ripped wide open. The truth that this vengeance wasn’t just for Haddie.
It was also for her.
She peeled the foil from the dish.
I sucked all the chaos down and forced a casual grin to my mouth. “Smells good.”
“Don’t get your hopes up too much. It was just something I threw together super-fast this morning.” Raven leaned farther across the table, her voice dropping to a secret. “But what you really should get your hopes up for is the chocolate cake I brought for dessert.”
A groan rumbled through my chest.
Fuck. She knew it was my favorite. I probably shouldn’t take so much pleasure in it.
“Don’t tease me, darlin’.”
“You eat your food like a good boy, and I might save you an extra piece.” She winked as she straightened, and I had to fist my hands to quell the smack of lust that slammed me.
Woman acting the tease as she strutted off to help River transfer the burgers from the grill to a platter.
Baby sister. Baby sister. Baby sister.
Yeah, chanting it didn’t do anything to make me feel like that designation was true.
Five minutes later, we’d all gathered at the table, filling our plates.
Everyone gave themselves over to the airy, relaxed mood. Was easy to put your cares behind you when your surroundings were like this.
The placid lake that barely rippled with the cool breeze that whispered through the trees. The laughter of the ones you held dearest babbling in your ear. Nolan on his knees next to me as he took a humungous bite out of his burger.
It left a glob of ketchup on his cheek.
“How is it?” I asked as I used a napkin to clean the mess off his face.
“Deeeeelicious.” He rubbed his belly.
“And here someone was questioning my cooking skills,” River grumbled from where he sat on the other side of Nolan.
“Well, Daddy-O, I have had better, but it would be rude manners if I said that you did a terrible job and it was burnt since you did so much work,” Nolan said, so nonchalant.
A howl of laughter ripped out of my chest, and River was laughing too as he curled an arm around his son and pressed a kiss to his temple. “Guess your poor dad had better stick to the things he’s good at.”
“Like loving me and Mommy so much?”
Adoration rolled out of my best friend. A fuckin’ landslide of it. He slung his other arm around Charleigh on his opposite side and gathered his little family tight. “That’s right. Like loving you both.”
“I have to say, you’re pretty good at it,” Charleigh said.
Swore, she cherished these two more than I’d ever seen anyone do before. She’d been separated from her son for so long, and getting to have him back in her life? She wasn’t about to waste a single second.
Nolan leaned around so he could look at her. “And you love me a whole lot, too, right, Mommy?”
“There aren’t words that have been created to express how much I love you, Nolan.”
The kid beamed, and I could feel the love rolling out of Raven as she looked at them from where she sat across from me.
Nolan took another giant bite of his burger, words garbled around it. “I got the best family in the whole world…so many uncles and my auntie and a mom and dad. I think I got really lucky and got a really big family. Gotta remember family is who you love most, and I love you all the most, so don’t you forget it.”
It was funny looking at my crew who were all hard as stone and vicious to their cores turn to mush.
But it was always the way Nolan had us. Mush. The kid an actualization of what we did. Proof that it was right and good.
Theo reached a fist across the table to bump it against Nolan’s. “That’s right. Family is who you love most. And this family will always take care of each other.”
Nolan fist-bumped him back. “You got that right, Uncle Theo.”
Kane reached out, too, mumbling, “No question about it, Little Dude. Family is who you love most.”
We’d started saying that years ago since most all our actual families were jacked. Fucked-up, appalling examples of what a family should be. We came to the swift conclusion that blood didn’t necessarily matter. It was about the loyalty you shared.
A rumble of agreement went up, but it was Raven peeking over at me that sent the blood thundering through my veins.
That gaze said too many things.
Her own promises and some kind of plea.
Every oath I had made spiraled through me.