Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 77980 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77980 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Mo was going to keep the baby, and she hadn’t said a fucking word to me. Which begged the question, would she have said a word if I hadn’t shown up for a quick fuck? Was she more afraid of my fucked-up Ashby genes than the allure of my wealth and influence?
Or was she worried that I wasn’t a man capable of stepping up to take responsibility for my actions, that I wouldn’t take care of her and the baby?
That was a lot of shit to unpack, and I didn’t have the time or mental energy to deal with it right now. I needed to move some of this shit off my plate, so I could deal with Mo and possibly, my baby.
A knock sounded, pulling me from my thoughts. I’d come straight to Midnight Mass after visiting Mo at least a few hours ago, and I hadn’t accomplished a damn thing. “What?”
The door opened and Terry appeared. With Ellison. “You sound like a big ball of sunshine,” Terry smirked and stepped inside, Jameson right behind him.
My attention went straight to Jameson. “It’s not payday yet,” I growled. “And don’t even fucking think about asking for more money.”
Everybody had a fucking hand out now that Sadie was still in a coma, and the local news talked about it nonstop.
Jameson wasn’t in uniform as he walked further into my office and dropped down on the leather chair directly in front of me.
“Damn, you are in a good mood.” His ever-present smile fixed in place, Jameson shook his head. “Relax, Jasper. I know you have a lot on your plate right now. I’m not looking to add to it.”
I nodded my appreciation.
“I was over at Pomodoro’s. You know that deli right off the Strip that caters to cops? They have the best roast beef and cheddar with fresh horseradish. It’s so fucking good, and I can’t get enough of it, but the smell makes Maddy sick, so I’m not allowed to bring it home until after the baby is born. And you know they put malt vinegar on their fries. Steak fries. That shit is unbelievable.”
“Get to the fucking point,” I growled.
Jameson grinned, not bothered by my bad attitude. “The fries are so damn crispy on the outside and almost like mashed potatoes on the inside. No idea how they do it, but it’s so good I damn near came in my pants.”
He chuckled and shook his head, gaze far off as if he was reliving his goddamn lunch.
“Ellison.”
He smiled again. “There was this cop there, Robinette. You know him? Anyway, he tells me to add a little extra malt vinegar until it’s almost soaked, and you know what? Fucking incredible. Know what else he told me?”
“You’re getting on my nerves, Ellison.”
“Told me about some plucky redheaded federal agent with a hard-on for the Ashby family. She dropped a tip that Lucky Lopez has underage girls working the stages. He didn’t believe it, of course. Still, Robinette has two ex-wives and is desperate for the overtime, so he’s suiting up for the planned raid tonight, right before shift change so between eleven and eleven-thirty would be my guess.”
Sadie was right. Adding Jameson to the payroll would pay off. It already had. I reached for the forgotten glass of whiskey, downed it, and looked at Ellison.
“Fucking Beck.” It was almost like the bitch was daring me to kill her.
“She didn’t say shit to me about it, or Marshall as far as I can tell, which means she’s fucking with you.”
I agreed with his assessment. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to goad her, bring her so close to orgasm, and then leave her hanging, but fuck, I couldn’t resist.
No matter what she said or did from this moment forward, I would always have that to hang over her fucking head.
Jameson’s phone rang, and he grabbed it before the second ring. “Hey babe, what’s up?” He listened with the smile of a man in love and sighed. “Oh, Shit! On my way.” He pushed out of the chair and headed for the door, a man on a mission.
“Where do you think you’re going? We’re not done here.” Ellison always came through regarding intel, but goddamn, the dude needed to learn who the fuck was in charge.
“You might not be done, but I am. I gave you the intel, but the Green Zone is in the jurisdiction of Metro, not Glitz. Nothing more I can do. Now, if you’ll excuse me, Maddie’s water broke, and Molly is taking her to the hospital, which means I’m about to meet my baby boy.”
Without another word, Jameson stormed out of my office like his ass was on fire.
“Beck is becoming more than a nuisance,” Terry said, annoyance darkening his tone.
“She is, but killing her now would bring too much heat, so we need to play this smart.”