Total pages in book: 157
Estimated words: 155900 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 780(@200wpm)___ 624(@250wpm)___ 520(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 155900 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 780(@200wpm)___ 624(@250wpm)___ 520(@300wpm)
Don’t get me wrong. He was every bit as dedicated as the rest of us. He was just…different. Locked in his past. Chained in his trauma. Refusing to trust a soul other than us.
Otto
The elusive Cash. How are you, brother?
Cash
Fine.
I could almost hear him grunt it.
Otto
You coming camping?
Cash
Since it’s unlikely any of you assholes know how to pitch a tent, then it’s probably a good idea.
Otto
Oh, I pitch plenty of tents. All thanks to Raven.
River
Otto
So stabby. Think you’d better bring your girl to keep you calm. Actually, sounds like a damned good plan. Think I’ll bring mine, too. Nolan will love it. Both his mommy, his auntie, and all his uncles on a camping trip.
Otto issued it like he was going to have to twist River’s arm, which considering both of them started sniveling whenever they were away from their women for more than five seconds, was a foregone conclusion.
River
Good call.
Exactly my point.
Otto
How about three weekends from now? You’ve got that thing weekend after next…
Could almost hear the shift of Otto’s tone as he touched on Sanctum business. That same unsettledness I’d been riddled with last night rolled through me. That nagging sense that things were going to have to change within my crew.
Guessed it had been coming for a long, long time.
I couldn’t stand aside and let River keep running these jobs. Not when it put him at even greater risk.
It wasn’t like I wasn’t constantly in those types of situations. Running my own gig. No doubt, I should have stood up and intervened a long damned time ago.
Maybe I’d worried it’d put a spotlight on me.
But now that he was with Charleigh and Otto was with Raven?
I couldn’t ignore it any longer.
The last text had been sent more than two hours ago, and I hesitated before I let my fingers fly across the screen.
Me
Works for me, but I think we need to talk about the other situation.
Immediately, the dots popped up before a text blipped through.
Otto
Ah, he lives. Was wondering when you were going to drag your lazy ass out of bed. It’s almost noon, man.
Me
I own a club and three bars, dickwad. These are my normal hours.
Theo
Doesn’t have anything to do with that stunner you went all white knight over last night?
Otto
Ohhhh a stunner. And white knight? Details please.
Theo
One look, and our boy here looked like he was going to come out of his skin. Levitate from his seat.
He had no idea.
River
When is Kane not salivating over some sweet thing?
Theo
Not like this, man. This wasn’t the hunt. Dude had fucking hearts in his eyes and venom in his blood when some prick decided he was gonna get up on his territory.
Otto
Now this I would have paid to have seen.
Theo
Don’t worry, I recorded it. It was a moment that required documentation.
That jagoff better not have.
And what the hell?
Heart eyes?
Me
None of you would have sat idle if you saw what was going down. So you fuck off. And you fuck off. And you fuck off. Cash, you and I are good, man.
I couldn’t help but grin as I sent it, knowing Theo, River, and Otto would get the message.
River
Think you’re right, Theo. Something is up. Kane is the first to brag about his endless conquests, and here he is, getting defensive.
Me
No defense here. Just don’t know why Theo is talking out his ass. Some prick got a little too friendly with a woman who didn’t want the attention at one of my fine establishments. You know that shit doesn’t fly.
After I sent it, I roamed into the en suite bathroom attached to my bedroom.
My place was cool as shit, thanks to Raven who had a knack for design. She’d helped a ton when I’d purchased the old church that I’d converted into Kane’s, the club that I owned.
This old house sat on the far back of the property, and I’d fully renovated it to call it my own.
Everything about it was masculine, including the rambling bathroom. Black wainscoting covered the bottom half of the walls, and the upper portion was a textured mesh of black and bronze. The floors were a white and black checked pattern, and the mirrors and light fixtures were the same bronze as the walls.
An oversized claw-foot bathtub sat beneath a giant picture window. It overlooked the forest at the back of the property where a stream ran through on its way to the lake that was about a mile away.
Yeah, my nights might be filled with disorder but during the day I just wanted a little peace.
I took a piss, washed my hands, then glanced down at my phone where it sat on the veined granite countertop of the vanity as I pulled a tube of toothpaste from the drawer and grabbed my toothbrush.
River
So, what’s this we need to talk about?
Me
Meeting tonight.
I didn’t need to say where or when. We all knew.