Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 111676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 558(@200wpm)___ 447(@250wpm)___ 372(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 558(@200wpm)___ 447(@250wpm)___ 372(@300wpm)
Like hell I’d let her do that. Jade had busted her ass in high school to make good grades. I had no doubt she’d busted her ass in college, and she was so damn close to finishing and becoming a nurse. A real job. A respectable job. Something fulfilling that paid enough to give her a good life. I couldn’t stand seeing her like this.
I wiped a tear from her cheek with my thumb. “No, you won’t.”
“What else can I do, Wolf? I can’t let them become homeless. And I can’t even steal from an empty house.” A defeated laugh slipped past her lips. “Cassie even has to help me just to pickpocket drunks.” The hopelessness I’d lived with most of my life swam in her eyes, and damn if seeing it wasn’t a shitty feeling. “I’m tired and running out of options. I’m going to end up in jail if I keep going.”
Not all options… I pushed off the bed, went to the dresser, and got the black pair of practice socks I kept tucked in the back corner of the drawer where I hid my cash. Of course, I could have done with the money, but it had been bonus cash for me. If I left Jade to her own devices, she’d be behind bars within the next week. She was book smart, not an ounce of street smart.
I fished out the money. “It’s four hundred,” I said, turning and handing the bills to her.
“I’m not going to take money off you, Wolf.” She sniffed. “This is my problem.”
I took her hand and placed the cash in it. “If you keep trying to handle it yourself, it will be my problem.” Because God only knew what other hair-brained ideas she might come up with. The last thing I needed was the police going through my house. There were enough drugs in the place to fuel a small cartel.
She stared at the money like she was battling some moral dilemma by taking it.
“It’s what I made off Dickhead’s Challenger. So, it should have been yours to begin with.”
“We both know you never really owed me that money.” She frowned before placing the bills on the bed. “You were right. I would have torched the car.”
Sometimes, she could be the most stubborn person in the world.
“Just let me help before you end up in jail. No offense, but you’re a shitty excuse for a criminal.”
She huffed a laugh through her tears. “I’m aware.” Then she went back to pulling lint balls from the comforter. “I’m grateful, Wolf, really, but Dad isn’t getting any better. Long term, dropping out is my only real option.”
No, that was not an option. As far as I could see, she—we—only had one.
Fifteen
Jade
I stared at the wad of cash on the bed, then back at Wolf. His soft expression showed none of the hate or resentment I’d seen over the past week. He reminded me of the boy I’d fallen in love with. Kind, full of empathy, and willing to risk himself to help me. When I saw those flashing blue lights, my future had played out in front of me like a short, low-budget movie. It involved a lifetime of jail followed by minimum-wage employment and poverty. I could just imagine my sick father’s face, the disappointment at hearing that everything he’d tried to instill in me had been a waste. But Wolf had gotten rid of the police and filed a fake report…
It had been far too close, though, and now, I was left with the cold, hard truth that I couldn’t keep doing this.
“You know,” he said. “I’ve kind of missed the adrenaline hit that comes with stealing shit.”
“You miss the white-knuckle fear of possible jail time?”
A slight smirk caught the corner of his lips. I’d forgotten how handsome he was when he actually smiled. “Something like that.”
“You’re a drug dealer…”
The way he deadpanned me screamed, “No-shit, Sherlock.”
“What, that’s not thrill enough for you?”
“What I’m getting at is that I can help you.”
I felt bad enough dragging Cassie into this shit. Not to mention, this was one of the reasons my relationship with Wolf had fallen apart. I couldn’t let him risk the future he had a very real shot at, not for me. “It’s too risky.”
“You forget I’m Dayton.”
“So am I, so I wouldn’t say that argument holds much merit.” I sighed. “It’s too much to risk, for me, Wolf.”
He snorted, petting over the lump that was Dog beneath the blanket. “You act like I’m planning on getting caught.” Of course, he was arrogant. He’d never been caught. Arrested? Sure, but not charged. He’d certainly never left a car outside his target’s house. “I’m not planning on robbing First National Bank, Jade.”
I stared at him for a few seconds, trying to piece it all together. He’d blackmailed me, hated me—which I had probably deserved. Why would he give a damn about my crappy situation? Hell, why hadn’t he just handed me over to the cops and saved himself a headache? Instead, he’d filed a false report.