Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 72496 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 362(@200wpm)___ 290(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72496 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 362(@200wpm)___ 290(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
He stopped and looked down. “—Maybe this is my failure as a boss.”
Ivan stepped forward. “Ash, no, it’s not you, it’s us, it’s me, I’ll take full responsibility.”
I rolled my eyes even though guilt crept in, Ash was only five years older than him, and he respected him a lot. “Yes agreed, we both take responsibility, and we’ll try harder.”
Ash looked between the two of us intensely for at least a minute before nodding his head. “You know what? New plan.”
Oh Hell. Ash always had the worst plans. When his wife gave birth to their first kid, his “plan” was to ask Chase to call in a favor and make sure the secret service would be at the hospital, just in case. Chase laughed at his son. Ash repeated the request, weirdly enough on top of at least fifty of the Abandonato men being stationed there, two Secret Service made their way to the front proving yet again the power our Family had even over the government. The President sent flowers. Weirdest thing I’d ever witnessed.
“You’re moving into the dorms.” He nodded, more to himself than us, like he’d already decided. “And you’re going to stay together, in the same room, fighting it out until you can finally learn to get along, no escape routes, no separate houses.”
Had pigs literally flown in front of my face, I would have been less shocked. “I’m sorry, what? You want us to cohabitate? In actual peace?”
We struggled with family dinner, and we were placed on opposite ends of the table for a very, very legitimate reason.
Knives.
Ivan held up his hands in surrender. “I would rather stab myself in both eyes, get a root canal without shots, and crawl into my own grave that I dug myself and eat the blood-soaked dirt, so thanks but no thanks.”
“Oh good,” Ash said, “Be right back, I think I have some extra spots where you can start your own burial, might even have a shiny shovel and why go to the dentist when I can pull your teeth directly from your mouth, more blood that way, and I hear it mixes well with dirt, as for your eyes, well, have at it, let me know when you’re ready.” He stomped past us through the open garage, we both followed while he dug his hands into soft scary looking brown dirt, grabbed it and threw it in Ivan’s face and grabbed a knife from the inside of his jacket, it was more machete than knife honestly. “Eat it, but no matter how many times you do, you’re still doing this, I’m sick and tired of both of you being such an issue, like I said, grow the hell up, be the solution, not the problem, you want to be made? The only way you”—he jabbed his finger at Ivan—“will ever be made in this Family, is if you get along with her and you…” I jolted at the way he thrust his finger in my face. “…need to learn humility in a huge way. I know Nixon raised you better than this, but you’ve been privileged and spoiled, it stops now. Pack your shit tonight and enjoy your first day at Eagle Elite. Don’t kill each other.” He walked off, while Ivan dusted the dirt from his face. “I almost thought he was going to break down and start quoting pop culture, then ask where he went wrong,” Ivan said in a horrified voice.
I snorted out, “Yup, and it doesn’t even seem weird because we’re about to go to war for an entire year, we’ve clearly pushed him beyond his emotional and physical abilities, which says we’re the worst.”
“I snore.” Ivan threw out. “I also sleep naked.”
“I also sleep naked and snore.”
“Why does this feel like war?” He turned to me, his sneer evident all over his stupid, beautiful face.
I didn’t even glance back as I put on the helmet and whispered, “Because it is.” I gave him a shove. “Now wash the dirt off your face, we’ll come back later and pack. I don’t want to be late for class and knowing Ash, he’s already calling the University to make arrangements for our dorm.”
Ivan paled. “Shit, we do not want to end up on the north side of campus, they only have six showers on the second floor.”
My eyes widened. “I try to block out the memory of when the freshman set rats loose.”
I ran back to get my helmet.
“The crickets.”
I made a face. “I honestly thought the turkey run was a good idea, but they always put the loud ones in there and I need my—”
“Beauty rest?” he offered.
“Obviously not.” I snorted.
“You do own a mirror, right?”
“You do own a dick, right?” I got on the bike behind him and slid my hand down his thigh. “Nah, probably not… otherwise, you’d have more balls.”