Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 67039 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67039 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
“Wait, like you can check to see if she’s done something? That could clue us in?”
“Possibly.”
“I’ll be right back!” Tova takes off.
“Don’t run,” I shout after her. She can be pretty clumsy, especially when she’s in a rush.
“No running in the house.” Z chuckles. “That a new house rule?” If it were, it would be the purest rule to ever exist around here.
“She trips walking.”
“You really are protective of her.” Z drops down in his chair.
“You think this girl is using her?” I ignore his comment because it doesn’t matter. My wife and how I handle her is my business.
“I don’t know.” He shakes his head. “If she was trying to get to us, it wouldn't be for herself. Someone would have had to hire her, but that would be a long con, and for what? No one knew Dad was going to force your hand to marry Tova,” I begin to protest, but Z puts his hand up to stop me. “Plus, wives are never involved in our bigger dealings.”
“What if it was to take her? To use her against me.” That would be my worst fucking fear coming to reality.
“Like Mom?” I nod. “Again, that’s a long con, and I don’t think Marks does that shit. The few projects that I know we were both on were government jobs. I poked around about her, and she’s a ball-busting jokester. Young too. Obviously not fully on the up and up, but from what I could dig up, she runs pretty clean.”
I don’t get into all the details of the things Z does, but I know he’s worked with the government more than once. He’s also done jobs for other big families on the West Coast. He’s never given me a reason not to trust him, and he’s saved our asses before we even knew things were happening. We each have our part in the family. That’s why it runs as smoothly as it does.
"I got it." Tova comes rushing back in, pink laptop in hand. She starts to hand it to Z but pulls back. "Don't access my Kindle library. Pinky promise.” I can’t help the smile that breaks out on my face at the look on Z’s face.
“She’s not going to back down,” I warn him.
"I promise I won't." Z lifts his right arm, holding up three fingers.
"You were a Boy Scout?" Tova says dryly. A bark of laughter leaves me.
"A Boy Scout." I shake my head. Z might be better with people than Ronan is, but that doesn’t mean he wants to hang out in a club with others. He’s not big on the outdoors either unless it’s on his motorcycle.
"Give me the laptop."
Tova hands it over to him, and he takes it back over to his mountain of computers.
"Think Z bugged my phone?" Tova whispers to me.
"I didn't."
"He's got really good fucking hearing," I inform her. Creepy good. There’s no getting shit past him around here.
"Maybe Z is a robot." Tova snickers.
"Oh, I'm the robot." He levels a stare at me, making Tova laugh harder.
"Fair point."
“Don’t be a brat, little mouse.” I grab her sides.
“Ah! That tickles.” Tova wiggles all around.
“Maybe this is how I’ll get you to obey.”
“I give, I give.” Tova falls into me. I tug her close. When I glance back up, Z is watching us with an expression of longing. When he notices I’m watching him back, he turns his attention to Tova’s laptop.
“I’ll get you a new one.”
Tova shrugs. “I don’t use it much.”
Z opens the laptop, and a half second later, a voice comes from it. “Tova!” My wife jumps.
“Marks.” Tova tries to rush over to the laptop, but I keep my hold on her.
“Marks isn’t coming through the laptop.” Z smirks. “Plus, I’ve got it locked down.”
“Tova, are you okay?” The Marks girl ignores us, continuing to try to get to Tova.
“I’m fine,” Tova responds, her fingers digging into the front of my shirt.
“How can I know for sure? What’s your favorite paranormal read?”
“Bear shifter!” Tova fires back. Aren’t we supposed to be questioning Marks?
"Tova! I'm going to freaking murder you." My wife’s eyes go round like saucers, realizing I’m not going to like that Marks has threatened her.
"She didn't mean it!" Tova shifts her whole body in front of me, thinking I'm going to destroy the laptop. She thought right.
"I have been so freaking worried!" The girl keeps shouting through the computer.
"I'm sorry." Tova's shoulders drop.
"We are not fucking sorry," I bark right back. Maybe I should have growled instead. Now I have to be jealous of imaginary things. A fucking bear shifter.
"Oh, you shut up. You're the one who went to the strip club and made her cry, asshole!" Marks doesn’t hesitate to try to put me in my place.
“He was working.” My wife is quick to defend me. Tova brushes one of her curls out of her face, reminding me of her hair tie that I’m still wearing around my wrist. I reach down and snap it hard to try and keep my anger in check. Tova doesn’t care for when I’m mean to people she likes.