Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 74501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 373(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 373(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
Jagger got it too.
And he would go there because Jag deserved the shot to have whatever Dutch was going to get out of this.
Except…
He looked to Georgie.
She shrugged and bit her lip.
She then nodded and said, “It’s not fair. They’re on again and it’s not right, Dutch.”
He nodded back and asked, “You or me?”
“What the fuck?” Jagger cut in.
Georgie looked to his brother. “Okay, I’m sorry. So sorry. But, well…”
She faltered.
Dutch stepped in.
“She’s usin’ you, man. Carolyn. She’s got a bunch a’ guys she mooches from and it’s not life-is-tough shit. She’s got a cocaine habit.”
Jagger’s upper body swayed back.
Shit, Christ.
“Brother, I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “But it’s true.”
“I’m not a pain-in-the-ass sister, Jagger,” Georgie added. “I’ve been on her for a while to get herself cleaned up and to stop…uh, what she’s doing with, um…using you and the, uh…other guys.”
Fuck.
“I told you, boy,” Hound said.
“I did too, honey,” Keely put in softly.
Whoa.
He had no idea his parents had figured shit out about Carolyn.
Dutch looked to Jag.
Jag was staring at Georgiana.
“The other guys?” he asked.
She jolted again and then asked back carefully, “You didn’t know?”
“I knew, but she takes money from them?”
“Yes.”
“All of them?”
“All of you.”
Jagger’s tone was not right when he asked, “Cocaine?’
Shit, this sucked worse than he already knew it would.
“It was recreational at first, and I was still concerned,” Georgie said. “But I don’t think it is anymore. She used to not hide it. She hides it now. And she sometimes sells handbags, or shoes, when she’s in between guys, I suspect so she can keep supplied.”
“So the money I’ve been givin’ her is goin’ up her nose?” Jagger asked. “Not to pay her rent?”
Dutch let Georgie go because he could tell by the line of Jag’s body and the deterioration of his tone that shit was going south.
Hound also adjusted his position.
Keely went to Georgie.
“Son,” Hound said low.
“Don’t, Hound,” Jagger warned.
“Let’s take this outside, brother,” Dutch suggested.
Too late.
Jag’s body tightened tight.
“Goddamned fuckin’ cunt!” Jag shouted.
Then he twisted, reached an arm long, and pointed his finger at Georgiana, and Dutch braced to intervene.
He did it with difficulty, because he would lose it if his brother was a dick to Georgie, and he did not want that between him and Jag, nor have that dragging on what he wanted to build with Georgiana.
But this was Jag.
He should have known better.
“Sorry,” Jagger forced out. “Sorry you heard that. But she’s a goddamned cunt.”
Dutch relaxed.
Hound relaxed.
Keely stayed close to Georgie.
“I should have said something earlier,” Georgie noted, and she sounded miserable.
“Can’t rat out your own sister,” Jagger replied.
“I tried to stop her,” Georgie told him.
“Babe, this isn’t on you. This is on your user, loser, junkie bitch of a sister,” Jagger stated.
“I should have—”
“Stop it,” Jag hissed. “This is the goddamned damage of assholes like Carolyn. She makes me feel like a chump, I gave her money. She makes you feel like shit, you didn’t shield people from her bullshit. And it’s all on her. So fuckin’ shut up about it.”
“Jagger,” Hound said in a warning tone.
“Fuckin’ shut up about it, please,” Jagger amended.
Georgie let out a startled laugh and said, “You got it.”
Okay then.
Done.
“You need a shot?” Dutch asked. “I got all sorts of shit. You call it.”
“I need to find Carolyn and tell her she’s dumped and if I see her face again, we got issues,” Jag replied.
Dutch looked to Georgie.
But she shook her head. “It’s his now. And he’s right. It’s not his job, or my job, or yours, or anyone’s to cushion her from whatever’s coming. It happened how it happened and now it’s Jagger’s,” she said. “So I’m not going to ask any of you to let me cushion her from this.”
“She’s gonna be pissed at you, babe,” Dutch warned.
“Well, I’ve been pissed at her for a few years now, it’s my turn, I guess,” she returned, and then she looked to Jag. “But if you want me to talk to her—”
“No, I got this,” Jag bit out.
Georgie nodded.
“I know I need a goddamned shot,” Hound declared, walking to the kitchen.
Keely gave Georgie a look, Dutch, Jagger, then she followed her husband.
“Mwrr?” Murtagh asked, batting at the leg of Jagger’s jeans with his paw.
“So now you like me, after you know the piece of ass I was tagging was taking me for a ride?” Jagger asked.
“Mwrrrrrrrr,” Murtagh answered, butted Jag’s leg with his head before he ran his whole body down it.
Which meant Jag bent and picked him up, muttering, “You’re nuts.”
“Murr,” Murtagh retorted.
“Don’t deny it. You totally are,” Jagger said, and Murtagh gave up on the conversation and started purring when Jag started scratching behind his ears on his way to carrying Murtagh to the kitchen.
“Does your whole family speak cat?” Georgie asked Dutch.
“Until now, I’d have said no. Now, I gotta say yes.”
She smiled at him.