Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 111676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 558(@200wpm)___ 447(@250wpm)___ 372(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 558(@200wpm)___ 447(@250wpm)___ 372(@300wpm)
“Again, and? Who cares what Wolf Brookes thinks?” She straightened, rolling a little on her skates as she gave me a judgmental glare. “Unless, of course, you sleeping in his bed did, in fact, mean something, and you’re into him again.”
I wasn’t admitting to anything. Not even to myself. “One word,” I said. “Rogue.”
“I’m not into him. I’m punishing him. It’s different.”
“I’ve seen no punishment since you moved the rats in. And—”
Her smile could not have been more proud. “I put itching powder in his clothes this morning.”
“So, your punishment consists of pranks twelve-year-olds pull on each other? When he’s putting you in an auction… Like, an actual human being sale…”
Her eyes narrowed. “Yeah, well, I have a plan for that. This afternoon, while I was doing the dishes, he asked us to recruit some auctionees…”
The thought of recruiting women for that…“What are you going to do? ‘Rent a crowd’ and pay them to revolt?”
“Just you wait, Jade. By the time I’m done with Rogue, he’ll be a broken man.” The slight, unhinged tone in her voice worried me. Because if she pushed Rogue over the edge, she was taking me with her.
I pushed up on the skates and tucked my sneakers into the locker. “Be careful with him, Cassie.”
“It’s him who needs to be careful. Anyway, have you found anything in Wolf’s room yet? Anything we can use?”
“No.” I felt like shit for lying. Although, technically, I hadn’t found the penguins in his room. There was no telling what kind of bomb Cassie would set off if I armed her with that penguin, and I was still too conflicted to know if I wanted a bomb at all.
“What about the charity? It’s a scam, right?”
“Yeah. But it has a registered charity number with minimal donations going to some conservation program for the penguins.” Like, ten bucks a month. I’d looked it up the day we’d seen them on the concourse selling those stupid toys. With cash donations and “overhead,” it would be nearly impossible to prove what they were or weren’t doing.
“Dammit.” Cassie whirled in a circle on her skates. “I’ll give it to Rogue, he’s smart.”
Not smart enough not to leave his pills in a bathroom vent and tell Cassie where they were. Or not hide a box of drug-stuffed penguins in the hallway closet.
She grunted. “I can’t even find any drugs in the house. He’s moved his stash,” she said. Then again, Cassie hadn’t found the penguin drug mules, so maybe I wasn’t giving him enough credit.
“They’ll slip up at some point,” I said, skating toward the door. “There’s bound to be pills at that auction.” Not a lie. “In the meantime, tips aren’t making themselves.”
“No.” She adjusted her boobs in her push-up bra. “These are.”
We skated outside into the muggy night air, rounding the side of the building. The scent of cooking grease smacked me in the face when we reached the hatch.
“Hey, I was thinking. You know how I told you about Aunt Betty and her gambling…”
“Yeah.”
“Well, she also used to get scratch cards all the time. She won like a hundred bucks a month on them. We should go to Georgia this weekend. Grab a few ourselves.”
I didn’t have the heart to tell her that Wolf was going to help me, and there was no need to risk driving all the way to Atlanta for nothing.
“You know it’s called gambling for a reason, Cass. You might lose money.”
“Fine, I’ll front the money. If we win, give me a cut. If I lose…well, I’ll just use Rogue’s credit card for food for the rest of the month.”
Rogue would love that. She was trying to help me, though.
The cook tossed a ticket onto my tray, followed by a wrapped burger, fries, and a drink.
“I’m in Dayton this weekend.”
“Fine, one night next week then?” Another burger landed on her tray.
At least it would get me out of the house and away from the guy who thought I was gross. “Okay.” I wheeled toward the waiting car, vaguely recognizing the beaten-up Toyota I’d only seen once. I didn’t put it together in time, though.
The window lowered, and Brent’s bloodshot gaze met mine, his right eye swollen, and a deep-purple bruise covered the bridge of his nose. I assumed that was Wolf’s doing. I might have pitied him if he wasn’t such a cheating asshole.
“Are you stalking me now?” I clipped the tray to his car door and rolled back, folding my arms across my chest while I waited for him to take his food. As if he were diseased.
“No.” He stared at me for a long moment.. “Look, I know you’re mad, but Jade, please talk to me. I’m trying here. I helped with your car…” Like that entitled him to any of my time.
“Thank you for your help, but did I not make myself clear the other night when I punched you? Just take your food, Brent, so I can get back to work.”