Total pages in book: 45
Estimated words: 41143 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 206(@200wpm)___ 165(@250wpm)___ 137(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 41143 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 206(@200wpm)___ 165(@250wpm)___ 137(@300wpm)
"Okay, babe, you need to go. Text me when you're done with therapy and let me know how it went. Then take a steam and relax, okay? You've been up every night this week working on that book, and I'm worried you're not getting enough rest. You need to sleep."
"I want to have it done by the time you get back, though." She says it with a little whine and pout. "The hero is just about to take the heroine's virginity, which kind of reminds me of… anyway, I'm using all the filthy talk you've inspired. Who would have thought the word 'cunt' would make me wet? Oops, there I go. I'm wet…"
"Oh my Jesus God." I groan, about to lose my mind, and she laughs. She loves making me crazy. "I have to go, babe. My cock's already hard, and the crew's coming into the building. You're trouble with a capital T." I grin at the corny words, her laughter spilling down the line. "Okay, baby, take care, text me later."
We sign off, and the crew chief comes through the front door. Both clubs burned the same night, a hundred and fifty miles apart, both going up at the same hour. That's not one man's work. Somebody planned it, and that's the part that keeps me up. Total loss on both, a rebuild from scratch, and the insurance meetings and the cleanup crews and the drive between them have me strung tight. We're a year from done, maybe more. Decker's in the loop, even mid-honeymoon, and he's already pushing to hand me the CEO chair so he can retire and make babies with May while I live on the road. And the whole time, all I want is to be home with Leah.
Fucking life. It throws the golden goose in my path, then laughs its ass off, because now I'm not sure I want it. I'll figure it out, one way or another, but I'll tell you this: I'll lose the clubs a hundred times before I'd risk losing her.
10
Leah
Wilson is tapping his foot, waiting for me to answer. "So?"
He's been bugging me for an hour about moving back to the mansion.
The truth is, I do want to go back. But I want Allister's read first, and he's already on his way home. Just knowing it has my stomach in knots. If I can hold Wilson off a little longer, Allister will be here, and we can talk it through.
"It's time to go back, and I will. Just a couple more days. I want the last of the legal mess settled first so my life can be as hassle-free as possible. Surely you understand that? Simon's already taken his deal, and the rest is just loose ends getting tied up. After that, I'll go back."
He doesn't meet my eyes, but his jaw clenches. I don't know why this matters to him so much. "You need to be back at the house. That's all I'm saying." He sighs and shakes his head. "Henrietta told me to tell you to take your medicine."
Furious heat floods up my neck. I'm so tired of them treating me like a child. "I'm not taking it! I told Henrietta that, and she knows it. Not anymore, not ever. She is not in charge. I took those for too long. Simon forced them down my throat for years, and I'm done. I'll tell you the same thing I told her: I'd rather live with the pain. Besides, with the therapy Allister set up, my legs are getting better. It hurts less than it ever has, and it'll keep getting better. I won't take them, Wilson, so don't even try. Every time I look at those pills, I think of the person who killed Mom and Dad. Those pills are why my parents are dead."
Wilson looks dumbfounded. He closes the cabinet and comes back to the table, where I'm sitting with my laptop open.
I slap it closed. The scene on the screen is the ending of the book I'm writing for Allister, and no one gets to see it but him. Besides, I don't want to read it myself right now. I'm not exactly in the mood. Wilson sighs, but he shrugs and drops into a chair, and I make myself breathe. It's not his fault, I remind myself. He's just doing as he's told.
"Wilson, I'm sorry, that was uncalled for. I'm fine. Actually, I want to lie down for a while. I'm tired, and it's making me snippy. I don't think I'll need you for the rest of the day. Allister's coming by soon anyway, so he can drive me anywhere I need. Take the rest of the day off. You deserve it."
Wilson crinkles his nose. "I'm not sure I should. I mean, are you sure you want him here? You barely know him, Leah. I don't like how he's weaseled his way in with you so fast. Don't you think it's awfully coincidental? First May and Decker, then Allister starts showing you all this attention?"