Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 81845 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81845 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
I lift mine back then mutter, “Not sure you know Zack, Lane, or Teo, but they’ll be with Maggie when I’m not.”
“What’s up? I’m Aye, and he’s Pika,” Aye returns, dipping his head toward the other bodyguard.
“Zack?” Pika’s eyes squint, looking at Zack, then he smiles. “Shit, man, how the fuck are you?”
“Didn’t think you recognized me.” Zack smiles, putting out his fist toward Pika who bumps his against it.
“You’re uglier now, so it took me a minute,” Pika replies, and Zack chuckles then looks at me and mutters, “Pika used to take over the VIP in Bistros every time he was in town. He had bitches ten-deep every night, all of them cool with sharing his affections.”
“I miss Vegas.” Pika smiles then looks at Aye. “We get some time before we have to head back to the island, we’re going out.”
“Sounds good to me.” Aye grins, and I look between him and Pika, knowing that at one time, I would have been right there with them, but not anymore. Now the idea of random women isn’t even a little bit appealing.
“You wanna show me where we’re staying? Maggie’s asleep. I want to get her settled then we’ll talk,” I say, and Aye looks at the car behind me.
“Heard about her. Uncle Frank wouldn’t shut up about her,” Aye mumbles, bringing his eyes to me. “Sorry about what happened. It’s fucked up, but in the end, you’ll get yours,” he assures, and I know he means that in more than one way.
“Yeah.”
“I can take Maggie in while you guys get shit sorted,” Lane puts in, and I look at him, but his eyes are on the Suburban where Maggie’s sleeping.
“I got her,” I tell him, and as his gaze comes to me, I see something there that sets my teeth on edge when he nods. Looking from him to Zack, I see his eyes on Lane, watching him in a way that has me wondering what the fuck I’m missing. I know Maggie and the guys are cool; they’ve been cool since the first night she showed at the club, but now I’m wondering if I missed something in all the shit that’s gone down.
“I’ll show you.”
Pika claps my shoulder, and I pull my eyes from Zack to look at him and mutter, “Thanks.”
Once I get Maggie settled in bed, I find the guys sitting in the dinning room at the table talking. Pika and Aye are filling Zack, Lane, and Teo in on the house and the parameter, including the sensors in the desert.
“Zack,” I call, and his eyes move from Pika at the head of the table to me, and I nod toward the front door.
Mumbling, “Be back,” he scoots away from the table and follows me out of the house.
“What the fuck was that?” I question, and he doesn’t even hesitate before he speaks.
“Not sure, yet.”
“What the fuck does that mean?” I run a hand through my hair. “If he—” I pause, clipping, “Fuck,” and dragging my hand through my hair again. “This shit is not okay, not with all the other shit going down.”
“I’ve got nothing to go on but my gut right now,” he rumbles, looking toward the house. “Teo sees it. He knows something’s off too.”
“Why the fuck didn’t you bring this to my attention before I had him in our house?”
“How could I watch him if he wasn’t with me?” he asks back, and—fuck—I know he’s right, but this shit isn’t sitting well with me right now.
“Flipped, man,” he whispers, looking back at the house.
“What?”
“When he knew Maggie was with you upstairs today, he flipped.”
“Jesus,” I whisper, wondering how fucking blind I’ve been. “He is not to be alone with her under any circumstances.”
“You don’t even have to tell me that shit. He hasn’t been alone with her, and won’t be. Teo and I are watching, waiting for his move.”
“He touches her, I’ll kill him. I know you guys are tight, but I’ll kill him.”
“If it comes down to that, I’ll do it for you,” he mutters, and I watch his eyes change in a way that shows how serious his statement is.
“He drugged her,” I whisper to myself, knowing down to my gut I’m right. “The only one who got close to her. She fucking trusted him.”
“Fuck,” Zack hisses, and I know he sees it now too. Eva wouldn’t do that shit. She wouldn’t. I saw the worry in her eyes when she found out what happened. Justin ran her check and it came back clean, no red flags. Lane has been playing the good guy, playing me, and playing her. I close my eyes, hating that I need to fucking tell Maggie about this shit. She’s already on edge; this shit will likely push her over.
“I can’t be here with her. With him here, I can’t risk something going down, not right now.”