Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 103413 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 517(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103413 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 517(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
“Oh, yeah? Then how come I hear you’re workin’ out a partnership with Regent Malone.”
“I’m friends with Regent.”
“I’m hearin’ it’s more.”
“I’ve got something going on here, Grandfather. I just need a week or two to sort something out.”
His grandfather grunted. “Got somethin’ to do with Malone’s pretty sister?”
Fuck. It wasn’t a good idea for Lottie to be on the radar of the head of the Irish mob.
“Charlotte isn’t any of your business.”
“It is if you’re plannin’ somethin’ with her. I always knew you weren’t destined to be with that Greek boy.”
He sighed. “I’m married to that Greek boy. I love him.”
“Then what’s goin’ on?”
“What’s going on is none of your business,” he told him firmly. “It’s mine.”
“If you want the girl, grab her and get back here. Heard some rumors I don’t like about what’s goin’ on down there in New Orleans.”
“What do you mean? What rumors?”
“Someone is gunnin’ for Regent Malone, and you don’t want to be caught in the crosshairs.”
Fuck.
The call ended.
He needed to talk to Regent.
Liam waited until they got back to the Malone mansion to speak to Regent. The house was quiet, everyone else in bed. He followed Regent into his office.
“I need to talk to you.”
“What is it?”
“My grandfather called me.”
Regent stared at him. “What did Sean want?”
“To warn me that he’s hearing rumors about someone coming after you.”
“He’s hearing this from New York?”
“Grandfather has ears everywhere.”
Regent nodded thoughtfully. “Thanks for the warning. Appreciate it.”
Liam didn’t like being dismissed, but the fact was he had better places to be.
Lottie awoke with a scream hovering on her lips.
Her breathing was ragged, her pulse so fast that she felt ill. Sitting up, she glanced around, the nightmare overlapping with reality.
Home. She was home.
Moving to the side of the bed, she stood and walked into the bathroom. The light was on. She couldn’t sleep in the dark anymore. She had trouble sleeping at all. Splashing water on her face, she stared at the woman in the mirror.
Pale, too thin, haunted.
She leaned her hands on the counter and bent over, letting out a strangled scream. She was so sick of this.
She was not weak.
He couldn’t have this hold over her anymore. She refused to allow him that power. Finally, she pulled off her nightgown, it was plastered to her body with sweat, and threw it in the hamper. Then turning on the shower, she climbed in before it had even started to heat up. She shivered in the cool, trying to remind herself that she was alive.
She’d survived.
She was a survivor.
Getting out, she dried off then moved into her bedroom to pull on some pajamas. Then she sat on the bed, feeling exhausted. There was no point of going back to bed. She wouldn’t sleep.
You should call them.
They’d made her promise to call if she had a nightmare. Two nights had passed since she’d watched Nico suck Liam off. She hadn’t seen Liam much since then, he’d been busy with her brother.
She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. A headache thumped in her temples.
Call them.
She’d had that dream again. The one where Liam was there the night she was rescued. Which was utterly ridiculous because she knew he hadn’t been.
You’ll disturb them if you call them.
But she’d be in trouble if she didn’t. And she wanted to hear their voices. Oddly, in only a few short days they’d come to represent safety to her. It had always been this house. Her brothers.
But now, it was starting to become them.
Without thinking about it anymore, she hit call on her phone for Liam’s number. Then she stopped the call after three rings. She wasn’t going to wake them.
She’d managed up until now without any help from them.
Then her phone started buzzing in her hand. She had it on silent. Liam’s name came up.
Shoot.
“Hello?”
“Baby, what’s wrong? You all right?” he asked worriedly.
“I’m fine.”
“Why did you call and hang up?” Nico asked. She must be on speaker.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t want to wake you up.”
“Charlotte,” Liam told her firmly. “We told you to call us at any time, didn’t we?”
“Yes, but it’s four-thirty in the morning,” she replied. “That seems above the call of duty.”
“There’s no duty here, pretty girl,” Nico murmured. “This is what we want to do.”
“What we need to do,” Liam added.
“Did you have a nightmare, pretty girl?” Nico asked gently.
“Yeah.”
“Tell us,” Liam ordered.
She rolled her eyes at the bossy command.
“No.” How would she explain her stupid, crazy dreams. They didn’t even make sense.
“Are you sure?” Nico pressed. “Sometimes it takes away their power to talk about them.”
“I just . . . I don’t understand them. They’re confusing. I was drugged most of the time and I don’t remember most of it. I think that scares me as much as anything. If I just knew it all, I might feel better. But I don’t. And so I have these crazy dreams.”