Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 68937 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 345(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68937 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 345(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
Luckily, I was saved by the bell.
I headed to the door and found Cutter’s brother-in-law on the other side.
“Hey, Shasha,” I greeted him as I stepped back. “I’m assuming you’re here for my brothers?”
“Kind of,” he said in his deep, melodic tone.
There was something intrinsically familiar about it that hit something deep inside my chest.
Something that I’d kept buried for a week now…
I looked away from Shasha and gestured to the room beyond. “They’re in here.”
I didn’t bother to ask how he’d known they were here.
Either one of them told him, or he used his top secret spy skills to find out.
Either way, I was better off keeping my opinions to myself.
Shasha didn’t seem like the type of man that would indulge me and my smart mouth.
He was, quite frankly, scary as fuck.
Though he was nice when I’d met him at Cutter and Milena’s place, he didn’t strike me as the type of man to allow disrespect.
“What are you doing here, Shasha?” Cutter asked. “Is Milena okay?”
The worry in my brother’s tone had my heart constricting.
“She’s fine,” he promised. “At least, from what I know of. I haven’t had any reports that she wasn’t. I’m here for a different reason.”
Then his eyes focused back on me, and I felt something start to flutter in my chest.
“Is it about me?” I asked, surprised to have his entire focus on me.
It was disconcerting.
I didn’t know whether to look him in the eyes or not.
And I certainly didn’t know what more to say.
“Yes and no,” he looked away and focused on my brothers, allowing me to draw a full breath.
“What’s going on?” All three of them turned to survey Shasha.
And, showing the type of man he was, Shasha didn’t flinch when he saw he had all three’s attentions.
Nor did he back off or flinch as I’d seen so many other men do.
“Have you watched the news at all today?” he asked.
The four of us shook our heads.
“Allow me.” He gestured to the TV. “Pick a station.”
Cutter grabbed the closest remote, which happened to be the one that controlled the television in the kitchen—why I had one in the kitchen, I didn’t know. But my brothers spent a lot of time here, and they’d been the ones to install it, even though the living room wasn’t too far away, and would’ve worked just as well.
He flipped the television to a news station and froze.
“…Police and FBI are investigating the assassination. Alexander Pettigrew was a former aide for one of the top real estate companies in the country. He went to prison for raping a nineteen-year-old…”
Cutter muted the TV and turned to me.
I stood there, mouth open in surprise, and stared at the screen as the newscaster continued to talk.
I read the subtitles, and figured out that early this morning, when Alexander Pettigrew had been let out in the “yard” to get some free time, he’d been shot by a sniper.
One shot, one kill.
The guy had been dead in seconds.
Plus, from what the newscasters said, his head had exploded on impact and sprayed in a six-foot arc all around him.
The smile that grew on my face was nothing short of euphoric.
“Well, hot damn,” I breathed. “There are miracles.”
I pulled my gaze away from the TV and studied the men who remained quiet.
“What?” I asked.
“This feels too good to be true,” Copper said. “Why now? Are they trying to implicate me for the shooting?”
“Why would you think that?” I asked.
“Because we had a beef in that prison. And all of a sudden I’m out and oh, whoops. He gets shot?” Copper shook his head. “This isn’t good.”
“About that…” Shasha turned to me.
“What?” I asked.
“Do you know my brother, Dima, at all?” he asked. “I know that y’all weren’t there at the same time as each other when we all met as Cutter and Milena were set to be married last month, but…”
I was already shaking my head. “I can’t say that I do.”
“Hmm,” he said.
“Why do you ask?” I wondered.
Cutter’s, Copper’s, and Chevy’s eyes were also on Shasha.
“Why do you ask?” Copper asked carefully when Shasha didn’t reply fast enough for his liking.
“It’s just that…” He shook his head, his eyes going around my apartment. “How secure is this place?”
“Secure,” Cutter said at the same time Copper said, “Very. I checked it out myself when I got here.”
Shasha looked like he struggled with some thoughts for a long moment before saying, “I’m trusting you with my brother’s life here.”
“Okay…” I hesitated. “Why?”
“Because if who took that shot is who I think it is, you could incriminate him,” Shasha explained.
“Why do you think it’s your brother?” Copper asked.
“That’s the thing,” Shasha admitted. “I feel like he’d have only done that if she meant something to him.”
Shock tore through me.
“Is that why you’re here?” I asked. “To ask how we know each other?”