Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 68735 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 344(@200wpm)___ 275(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68735 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 344(@200wpm)___ 275(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
Most of the old ladies and the rest of the attendees had been, too.
Everyone but Laney.
I’d made sure that she switched to water halfway through the night because I wanted to make sure she could get home safely.
She was more than sober when she came home, too, because I remembered waking up when she walked through the door.
We didn’t sleep in the same room, never had since we’d gotten married.
But she always made sure to let me know when she arrived or left so I didn’t worry.
She’d gotten home that night and woken me up to tell me that she was home and had said that she’d had a great time after I left.
Usually, that meant that she’d found a dick to scratch her itch.
At the time, I’d been drunk on sleep, and hadn’t really thought about the fact that she’d been at a club party when she’d made the comment.
But after she’d died, I’d realized a few really harsh realities.
One, I knew one of the club brothers was Lottie’s father.
And two, I had no clue what to do about it because one of them would feel really fuckin’ bad about sleeping with my dead wife, and knocking her up, forcing me to raise a kid that wasn’t mine.
Not that I hated Lottie or anything.
I loved her.
But it was more like an uncle kind of love.
I knew that she wasn’t mine, and never would be.
One of these days, she would either be taken by the Combs, or I’d have to find her real father and make him fight.
Either way, this wasn’t going to end great.
How did I even bring this up with them?
Hey, at a party two years and nine months ago, one of you slept with my wife, and knocked her up. Would you all mind taking DNA tests so you can help me fight to keep Lottie away from the uber-rich Combs?
Yeah, it wouldn’t go over well.
I did, however, have it narrowed down to four men.
Cakes, however, was now in the lead.
“Please stow your tray tables and make sure your seats are upright,” Creole’s sweet, honeyed voice broke into my thoughts.
Everyone did as she asked, but something in me made me hesitate to right my seat.
Which, of course, prompted her to come right over to me and bend down so only Cakes and I could hear. “Are you hard of hearing? Or do you expect me to right your seat for you?”
Cakes coughed uncomfortably.
My brows rose. “I actually had planned to, but you should probably give us more than ten seconds from the moment that you announce what we need to do.”
God, this woman sure knew how to get under my skin.
“How about now?” she whisper-hissed. “Has it been long enough?”
“Cakes,” I said as I righted my chair. “You should probably make sure your tray table is stowed before she loses her…”
I saw the moment the man’s name registered, and she all but jerked back.
Her eyes went wide, and she stared at Cakes for so long that I felt my belly start to get a little uncomfortable.
Was she looking at him for the reason I thought she was?
Or was I just overthinking it?
But if there was one woman on this planet that would know who Lottie’s father was, it would definitely be her…
Determined now to know the answer that was burning on the tip of my tongue, I said, “Creole, have you ever met Cakes?”
Panicked eyes met mine. “No. Why would I?”
“Because the sound of his name made you get all weird,” I said. “Just thought you two might know each other.”
“Can’t say that I’ve had the pleasure of meeting her, man.” Cakes grinned. “I definitely would’ve remembered that hair.”
And what went unsaid was her ample ass and tits.
Those were a few things that Creole had been known for.
Tits, hair, and ass.
I remember Laney droning on and on about how perfect Creole’s body was, meanwhile she had to put in six hours at the gym a week to have a flat tummy.
“Cakes, this is Creole Williams. She was Laney’s best friend,” I said softly. “Creole, this is Cakes.”
Cakes offered her his hand, but Creole winced and stepped away. “Nice to meet you, Cakes.”
“Don’t take offense,” I said softly as we both watched her move away. “She doesn’t allow touch from anyone.”
“What happened to her?”
What hadn’t?
“Something happened when we were teens. I’m not sure what, but one day I woke up and she was just different. Hated my guts. Laney tried and tried, but she could never figure out what happened,” I murmured. “She got pregnant sometime in our senior year, had her kid, and moved in with her sister so she could help with her son. Though, her son died from leukemia. Then her mom followed six months later.”
Cakes cursed under his breath. “What a life.”
Agreed.
Six
Don’t be mad that I tipped that server a dollar. Do you know that a stripper will show me her butthole for that?