Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 63139 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 316(@200wpm)___ 253(@250wpm)___ 210(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63139 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 316(@200wpm)___ 253(@250wpm)___ 210(@300wpm)
I don’t have the patience for this.
I turn and walk away.
I need to go home.
I pull out my phone and call Rhett.
“Hey,” he murmurs, his voice sleepy.
“Are you sleeping?” I ask.
“I fell asleep, yeah. Been a fuck of a day. You good?”
“I need a ride.”
“Fuck, Gab, I’m out of town.”
I exhale. “It’s fine, I’ll find another way home.”
“I’ll get one of the guys to come and grab you. They’ll be cool with it.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yep, where are you?”
“Wildflowers.”
“Hang tight, someone will be there soon.”
“Hey, Rhett?”
“Yeah?”
“Come and see me when you get home, I miss you.”
His voice gets a touch softer. “Miss you too, Gab.”
He hangs up, and I sit on the sidewalk, waiting for whoever is going to come and take me home. Cabs don’t run every night in this small town so there’s no point in even attempting to call one. I could walk, but it would take me half an hour, and I can’t be bothered. I just want to go home to bed.
“Why are you sitting on the sidewalk?”
Remy’s voice fills my quiet little space.
I look over my shoulder at him. He’s got a cigarette in his hand and no woman attached to him. Shocking.
“Where’s your little fling?”
“Gettin’ a drink. You leaving?”
God, he literally has zero concern about this entire situation.
“Yes.”
“What’s the problem?”
I close my eyes, struggling for calm. “No problem.”
“Bullshit, you’ve been glarin’ at me all night.”
I lose my shit. “You know what, Remy? Fuck off. Seriously. Go home to your little fling and leave me alone.”
“That what this is about? I thought we made it clear no attachment.”
“I’m not attached to you, far from it. I just don’t like being a notch on your belt you can call anytime you get horny.”
“Far as I can see, babe, you call on me just as much.”
“What a load of crap,” I mutter.
“You don’t want to do it anymore, nobody is forcin’ you,” he growls.
“Great.” I stand. “Good to know.”
A truck pulls over to the curb and the window winds down to show me Rhett’s best friend, outside of me, and second in charge, Lorenzo, mostly known as Enzo. He’s tall, dark, and handsome, as you’d expect. Only with that same cowboy twang Rhett has. They’re all like that out there, considering they are running a ranch most of the time, it makes sense.
Oh, an illegal business ranch, I should add.
“Hey, beautiful,” Enzo murmurs, his voice low and husky. “Heard you need a ride.”
“Thank god,” I say. “Thanks for coming to get me.”
“Who the fuck is this?” Remy asks.
I glare at him. “None of your business. Night.”
I walk around and get into the car, not looking back even once at Remy. Enzo drives off, pulling away with his big, rumbly truck. When we’re out of sight, I exhale and lean back into the chair.
“That your man?” Enzo asks me.
“Fuck buddy.”
“Fuck buddies don’t work, honey. You gotta know that by now.”
“They do if you don’t catch feelings, in case you haven’t noticed, I’m not the feelings type.”
Enzo grins. “What I saw back there was a whole lot of fuckin’ feelings.”
“Doubt that.”
“He looked like he was goin’ to drag me out of this truck just so you didn’t get in.”
I roll my eyes. “That’s because it’s a big dick competition. He likes the power.”
“I’d say you’re wrong, but I’m not here to argue.”
“I’m not wrong, but I agree.”
Enzo chuckles. “Been a long time since I’ve seen you. Why don’t you come around anymore?”
“I do, I’m just busy working.”
“Too busy for your family.”
“You’re not my family.”
“Babe, we are.”
I smile at him. “Okay, fine, I’ll come around more often.”
“Yeah. Good.”
He takes me home and we chat for a bit more before I climb out of the car. I look to him before I close the door. “Hey, Enzo?”
“Yeah?”
“Is my father a bad man, like, a bad bad man?”
He narrows his eyes. “You want the truth?”
“Yes.”
“Yeah, he’s the fuckin’ worst.”
“Bad enough to hurt someone?”
“You in danger?”
“No, I just ... I need to know.”
“If that someone threatened his reputation and power, then yeah, I think he could.”
I nod, giving him a forced smile. “Thanks.”
He nods, and then he’s gone.
His answer isn’t a shock.
Not at all.
It’s just as I suspected.
11
“I NEED YOU TO DO SOMETHING for me, Gabriella.”
I look up from, midway through fastening a pin in my hair for this stupid ass ball, and glance at my father in the mirror. He’s standing behind me in a suit, and as he watches me, I wonder if the man standing there has taken a life. An innocent life. Does he have it in him to kill? Yes. Does he have it in him to kill an innocent young girl? I don’t know.
I exhale. “What?”
“What I’m about to ask you to do affects us all, I need to know you’re on our side.”
I have one of two choices here. I either throw down and say no, which will put me entirely out of the loop and affect everything, or I suck it up and say yes, letting him believe I’m fully on his side until I can find out what I need to know.