Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 62737 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 314(@200wpm)___ 251(@250wpm)___ 209(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 62737 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 314(@200wpm)___ 251(@250wpm)___ 209(@300wpm)
“Hey, Ronnie.” She looks up, covering her mouth with a yawn.
“Hey, sweetheart.” I don’t say anything else. Instead, I run my fingers through her hair.
“You’ll always be Roar girl to me. Between your morning breath and bed head, sorry, but you’re stuck with it forever.” Jude helps keep the morning light. We continue lightly bantering until he deems it time for breakfast and he’ll be cooking for his girls.
23
JUDE
“Where are the girls?” Tysen asks by way of greeting me when he and Matthew walk through the door. Our group has been dropping in here and there, making sure we have everything we need and then some the past few days. It’s been tough. No, fuck that. It’s been downright fucking hard. Rory is stuck to Ronnie like glue. Where she goes, my sister follows, and my Foxy, she just goes with the flow. We’re in the process of setting Rory up with a therapist, maybe even a psychiatrist, too. The girl is going to be sifting through a lot, and even I don’t know the full extent of the trauma Jeffrey Ellison created for them.
“Hey, Tys, Matthew,” I reply instead of giving Tysen the answer he wants right away. I’m sure it has a shit ton to do with the case being built and all the other shit we’ve been wading through.
“Hey, Jude, ignore him,” Matthew acknowledges Tysen being a pain in the dick.
It’s Tysen who pulls me in for a hug and taps me on my back before asking, “You good?”
“I’m alright,” I answer honestly. Is anyone ever in this situation? “We’ll go into my office to talk.” Matthew greets me the same way Tysen did when he shakes my hand.
“Not a bad idea. I’d have suggested having this conversation in my office, but I know leaving the girls isn’t an option at this time.” The only time we’ve left the house is for Rory to make a statement with Matthew present and toeing the line since he rarely touches anything outside of estate planning yet will step into whatever role is necessary when we need him. Everyone has helped in some form or the other. Trent stopped by Bobbi’s apartment, made sure the investigators were thorough, as well as the clean-up crew. The girls rallied, boxing up every single item my sister and her mom owned in the apartment with care and delicacy. Rory’s room came here, and the rest of the items were put in a climate-controlled storage unit, and I gave my sister the key. I knew she’d want a few things of Bobbi’s and didn’t want her to think she’d ever have to ask.
“That bad?” I ask Matthew. When he shakes his head, I breathe a sigh of relief.
“Thank fuck. The girls are in the living room, playing a video game. Ronnie’s letting Rory kick her ass since my sister is terrible and kept ruining my profile.” I’ve set Rory up her own account, letting her get the hang of the game, plus it keeps her mind occupied. Ronnie has a spare she didn’t tell me about and likes to sometimes get on it in order to start over to keep her skill level up.
“Your girl is the shit,” Tysen relays, stating nothing but facts.
“That she is.” The guys follow me through the house. Ronnie looks up, nods, and I do the same. Luckily, Rory is focused one what’s going on with the screen for the time being. She’s been back and forth emotion wise, it’s to be expected. Still, it fucking robs me of air to breathe when my sister seems okay in one instant and sobs the next. When the anger comes out, that’s a whole other story. I let her have at it, using me as punching bag. All I can do is tighten my muscles until she crashes. Which she does shortly after, apologizing while holding on to me or Ronnie.
We walk into my office, Tysen closes the door behind him, and that’s when I know shit is about to get intense.
“How are things going with the guardianship paperwork?” There are formalities, even with Jeffrey sitting behind bars without bail. When Bobbi fought, she fought with everything she had, injuring Dad enough that escaping became impossible. A knife to the gut will do that to you. It didn’t help save Bobbi. Hard to do when you’re being strangled, but she gave it her all till the cops came barreling into the apartment, breaking down the door. The protocol to give him medical care pissed me the fuck off. He deserves to die a thousand deaths. Prison is too kind for the likes of him.
“The state has no problem handing guardianship over to you, but they’re asking for a DNA test. Standard protocol. And as long as you’re the only living relative or one who will take Rory in, everything will be good to go,” Matthew lays down some shit. Worry seeps through my bones at the thought of someone, anyone, trying to take Rory away from my care.