Total pages in book: 38
Estimated words: 37123 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 186(@200wpm)___ 148(@250wpm)___ 124(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 37123 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 186(@200wpm)___ 148(@250wpm)___ 124(@300wpm)
After I got Leonard to give me everything he knew, on tape, I hauled his ass right back to downtown Boston to Police headquarters, where the fuckin’ guy spilled his guts all over again. And in light of Leonard’s little truth spree, shit’s about to change. All of our brothers in jail or currently awaiting trial are coming home ASAP, and their records are being wiped in light of the head DA basically fabricating evidence against them.
It’s not like this was going to take down the mob—I mean, yeah, the cops pinched a few low-level guys, and the family itself for sure “took care of” the mid-level guys who were running this behind-the-scenes- merger. But what Leonard spilling everything did do though, was send a message. That’s when Franco reached out for a sit down, to talk this shit out.
After all, no one wants a war, just better boundaries and a clearer idea who’s got a piece of which pie. And that’s some shit we can work with, for sure—not to mention respect—and apparently, so can the mob.
Leonard’s going to jail, for a very, very long time. I was worried at first about what it would do to Nicole, but she’s honestly fine. The more I get to know her, the more I realize that family of hers is nuts, not to mention completely dysfunctional. It’s actually amazing she grew up capable of loving and having normal emotions and relationships.
I grin.
Well, maybe not that last one. After all, there’s fuckin’ nothing normal about ours—at least the first chapter of it.
There were calls for us to “handle” Owen internally—as in, the whole lot of us beat the fuck out of him before we let the guys he put in jail take their shots. But Grey put his foot down, and so Owen’s going up to Walpole himself now, for a long, long fucking time.
Nicole’s hand squeezes mine, and I turn to smile at her before turning back to Grey and Hawk.
“You’ve gotta be Nicole,” Grey says quietly, smiling at her. He sticks a hand out, and she shakes it firmly.
“Grey?”
“That’s me,” he chuckles.
“Hawk,” Hawk grunts. The guy is basically my size and built just as hard. But Nicole doesn’t flinch once as she beams at him and shakes his hand.
“Nice to meet you.”
“So I guess you’ve got a pretty good leash on our boy here,” Grey chuckles.
“Watch it,” I mutter.
Nicole giggles. “You know, I guess I do. He really is a big puppy dog, isn’t he?”
Grey and Hawk snicker at the scowl on my face, and Grey grins as he reaches over and claps me on the back.
“Oh I like her,” he winks. “She’s good for you.”
“That’s what I keep telling him,” Nicole sighs.
“Well, keep reminding him,” Hawk chuckles darkly. “He’s a bit thick-headed.”
“Fuck you too, buddy,” I grumble as my friend laughs.
“Alright, I’m out,” Grey sighs. “Gotta get over to the shore house and check out the damage.”
Julian and Shane, two of our newer prospects, and a few of Franco’s guys were already out there the day after the shit went down to clean up the shootout and get rid of the bodies, but no one’s really patched up the house yet.
“You want a hand?”
He grins. “I think you’ve got yours filled for the rest of the day, brother,” he winks, nodding his chin at Nicole. “Or at least, if you’re not a fucking idiot, you will.”
He turns back to her, grinning.
“So we’re gonna be seeing you around, I hope? I mean I already like this asshole better with you next to him.”
“He’s definitely bathing more often,” Hawk jokes with a snicker. Nicole laughs as I punch him in the shoulder.
The two of them head out, leaving us alone, and Nicole beams at me as she turns to sink into my arms.
“So, you were like, the stinky kid, before me?”
I roll my eyes, and she laughs, sinking into me before we both go quiet for a long minute. I know what’s coming—we haven’t talked about it, and in fact, we’ve pretty actively avoided talking about it. But it’s the elephant in the room, and it’s getting restless, fast. I’m talking about the “what comes next” talk—the fact that my place is here, and hers is in New York. The fact that I’m me, with all the shit and damage and danger that comes with it, and she’s her.
“Killian—”
“You should do your own thing,” I growl quietly.
Nicole pulls back, smirking at me with a cocked brow. “Oh fuck you.”
I smirk. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me!” she snaps, poking me in the chest. “And no, you can’t get rid of me that easily.”
I frown, shaking my head. “That’s not at all what I’m doing, princess,” I growl. “Nicole, I’m not—”
“I’m in,” she whispers heatedly. “‘I’m in for all of it.”
She leans up into me, standing on her toes, and I groan as her lips sear to mine. I wrap my arms around her, holding her tight as I kiss her slow, deep, and hard.