Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 132892 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 664(@200wpm)___ 532(@250wpm)___ 443(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132892 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 664(@200wpm)___ 532(@250wpm)___ 443(@300wpm)
“I’m the man who owns your ass,” I reminded her. “And usually I’m pretty easygoing. I don’t care what games you play, because I like the way you suck my dick. But this morning you fucked up, even though I warned you to stay out of my business. You went in and scared the shit out of my landlady like a jealous, insecure little bitch. Now I gotta worry about losing my place and my job. Did you think for one minute that your snatch is worth losing my apartment?”
Her mouth opened, then closed again, thoughts racing behind her eyes. God, she was transparent—I saw the exact instant she decided to pull her power play.
“You apologize or it’s over,” she said. “I won’t eat shit from you.”
“The only one who ate shit today was Tinker Garrett,” I said, cracking my knuckles slowly and deliberately. Her eyes widened. Yeah, you should be afraid, bitch. “Listen to the words coming out of my mouth, because I won’t be repeating myself. Tinker Garrett is nothing to me—we covered this already. Now promise you’ll let it go or we’re over. Period. Life is too fuckin’ short.”
Angry eyes narrowed, and for a minute I thought she’d kick me to the curb. God, that’d be a relief in its own fucked up way. Then the facade crumpled and I swear, her eyes started getting red.
“Crying changes nothing.”
“I’ll leave her alone,” she said finally. “But only because I believe you aren’t into her. I don’t trust her, though. She chases after men like you wouldn’t believe. You remember the video—”
Oh, I remembered. Vividly.
“Like I care about a goddamned video?” I asked. “You don’t get it, Talia. You’re young, you’re hot, and you suck my cock like a goddess. You wanna make this work, I’m with you. But I am not down with you fuckin’ everything that moves and then crawling up my ass just ’cause I got horny when you weren’t around.”
“So what you really want is an exclusive relationship?” she asked, sounding hopeful. Christ. Time to take another one for the team.
“Not if you’re gonna bitch at me twenty-four/seven,” I reminded her. “And not if you fuck up my job. You want to give things a try, I’m up for it, but you make another move on Tinker Garrett or pull any more manipulative bullshit like that fight the other night? Yeah, we’re over.”
“But otherwise, that’s what you want?”
Delusional. She didn’t even care about the damage she’d done, or who she hurt along the way. Sound like anyone else you know? I asked myself, and I didn’t like the answer.
Just get through it. Do it for your brothers—they’ve risked their lives for you, they’ve served time for you. Now suck it up and do what you have to do.
“Sure,” I said, letting a slow smile slide across my face. It was sexy—I knew this, because women fell for it every time. Talia did, too. So fucking predictable. She licked her lips, then reached down to cup one of her tits.
“Why don’t you come over here and let me show you exactly how I feel?” she whispered.
“Can’t,” I said, and while I tried to inject a hint of regret into my voice, it wasn’t easy to pull off. “Your brother wants me out at the clubhouse. Said we had something to talk about.”
Talia perked up.
“I’ll ride with you,” she said. “Let me grab my bag.”
I wanted to protest, but figured I’d pushed her far enough already. All I had to do was manage the situation for a few more weeks. Then I’d be free.
“I’ll be outside waiting.”
CHAPTER TEN
Proving once again that women made no sense, Talia was in a great mood by the time we pulled up to the clubhouse.
“Hey, Cooper!” shouted one of the prospects, a kid named Cody. “Good thing you’re here. Boss is lookin’ for you.”
“He knows we’re coming,” Talia told him. “I already messaged him.”
“Well, he said to watch for Cooper, and then send him in as soon as you guys got here. He’s waiting for you.”
Talia and I walked into the clubhouse, which smelled like weed and burned chemicals. Someone must’ve gotten their hands on some seriously low-quality meth, which surprised me. You’d think with Marsh’s connections, he’d be using better stuff.
Marsh sat toward the back of the room on a couch, hand tapping nervously against the armrest. A young girl sat on his lap. She had a blank, stoned look and while I could see her hand stuck down his pants, there didn’t seem to be much action happening. Approaching them, I caught Marsh’s eye and waited for him to speak. He pushed the girl off and stood up, blinking at me through bloodshot, dilated eyes, one hand still twitching nervously.
Great. He was tweaking.
“C’mon, Coop,” he said, eyes darting toward Talia. “You stay here, baby girl. We got business.”