Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 154379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 772(@200wpm)___ 618(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 154379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 772(@200wpm)___ 618(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
River
Only the best for Luna. And for my sister.
Otto
And we know I’m the best.
It was followed by three winky faces.
River
Hardly. Don’t know how my sister even looks at your ugly mug in the morning.
Otto
Oh, she likes looking at me just fine, but not nearly as much as I like looking at her.
A chuckle rolled out of me as I grabbed the coffee container from the cupboard.
Otto loved to rub it in that he had hooked up with Raven who was actually River’s younger sister. River had about lost his mind when he discovered the two had been getting naked, but in the end, he knew Otto was actually the best when it came to Raven.
Two of them this perfect match.
That soulmate kind of love rarely found.
River
Don’t make me hurt you. As far as I’m concerned, that kid was conceived by immaculate conception.
Otto
So, you’re calling me a god?
A laugh shot from my throat, and I shook my head as I tossed a few scoops of grounds into the filter then poured water into the coffeemaker and set it to brew.
Kane
Before River hops on his bike on a mission to gut Otto, need to interject. Emery has her big grand opening at Ivy Threads this coming week, and I want to throw her a surprise party to celebrate. Going to need your attendance. Opening is on Friday. Want to do it at the club after closing.
Otto
You’d better loop Raven and Charleigh in on this.
Kane
Already done. Just want to make sure you fuckers show.
River
Like we would be anywhere else. Emery is family.
Cash
Yeah.
Otto
Double yeah.
That’s exactly what Emery had become.
Family.
Never thought I’d have one again, and sure as hell not one that looked like this.
I’d met the guys when we’d been living on the streets of LA.
Each of us suffering and realizing we were a whole lot better off if we were suffering together.
Having each other’s backs.
Raven had been there then, too. Barely nine years old, River stealing her away from the torment of their piece of shit father.
During that time, our loyalty had been forged in the fire.
God knew, we’d gotten up to some seedy shit.
I’d gotten to the end of the thread, the last text from about twenty minutes ago, so I tapped out my own reply.
Me
You know I’ll be there.
I hesitated, wondering how the fuck to lay this out when I’d broken one of our rules. On top of it, we didn’t talk Sovereign business on this thread. We did our best to keep it to our secret meetings. But I needed to get this shit out.
Me
Also, need to let you all know that Unit B is occupied.
Took all of three seconds for the shitstorm to hit land, texts firing in on top of each other.
Kane
The fuck do you mean, Unit B is occupied?
River
How am I just fucking hearing this?
Otto
You stumble on someone who needed help?
Cash
Who? Give me the name.
Blowing out a heaving sigh, I ran a flustered hand over my face before I responded.
Me
No need to freak the fuck out. Came upon a small accident on my way back from the city yesterday evening. A woman, her two-year-old son, and her elderly grandmother. Car’s jacked, and they needed a place to stay. They rode in with me and I set them up here. It was the only unit available that could fit them all comfortably.
Cash
Those units are reserved for Sovereign business only.
Cash was one hundred percent right. I hadn’t been thinking clearly last night. But maybe I wasn’t thinking clearly then, either, since my teeth were grinding as I pushed through their disapproval.
Me
Need to get the clear that they can stay there until we get this shit with their car sorted.
Kane
We?
Leave it to Kane to pick up on it.
Me
They’re stranded without a car in a town they don’t know. Of course, it’s a we. Gonna see to it that they get things taken care of appropriately.
Otto
Ah, now I see what’s going on here.
Me
What the hell’s that supposed to mean?
Otto
Means it sounds like our pretty boy is fucked.
Kane
Selfie please. Gonna need to see those heart eyes you’re so clearly sporting.
Heart eyes? What the fuck? Guess I had it coming for giving Kane shit when he saw Emery that first night at his bar.
Me
Eat rocks. Every one of you. There are no fucking heart eyes.
Otto
Oh, I much prefer to eat something else. Something juicy and tasty and ripe.
Dude followed it up with an entire screen of winky faces.
River
I will kill you.
Chuckling, I shook my head, then pushed it a little further.
Me
So, are we good with this? Them staying?
River
And what happens if we need it?
We didn’t have anyone new in the pipeline, but that didn’t mean we wouldn’t get called in for an emergency extraction.
Me
Then I make other arrangements.
Otto
Arrangements to get her directly into your bed?
Me
Fuck you, man. She has a kid.
And they knew me well enough to know I sure as hell wouldn’t be messing with someone like that. A mother was so out of bounds, we didn’t exist in the same stratosphere.