Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 90972 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 455(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90972 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 455(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
When I don’t react, she taps one of those long, pink fingernails to one of the empty glasses on the bar. “What’s going on tonight, baby?” she purrs. “Drinking alone. What happened?”
Right. Because that’s what I do. I sit around pouring my guts out to one of the prostitutes Dad keeps around here. Dim lighting is the name of the game—it’s easier to forget things like family and financial responsibilities when everything’s dark and shadowy. Easier to find a cheap, momentary connection with a hooker just looking to earn a night’s pay.
The lighting makes it tough for me to know who I’m talking to. I’ve been with her before, more than once, but I never bother to confirm her name. Haley? Bailey? Something like that. Her name doesn’t matter. I don’t want company tonight. At least, not hers.
“I had a long day,” I mutter, emptying my current drink before leaving the glass next to the others.
“That’s a shame.” Her touch is light, moving up and down my arm. She’s making my skin crawl—if she wasn’t one of Dad’s biggest moneymakers around here, I would fling her hand away and tell her to fuck off and find somebody in the mood for her fake act. If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s this song and dance. Pretending to be into me when really, she’s into money. Of all people, I would know about that. I grew up around women like her. I know all the tricks.
Now her nails gently scratch the back of my head, combing through my hair. “Why don’t we go upstairs?” she murmurs close to my ear. She smells like too much perfume, but it’s the mint coming off her breath that sickens me. Like she just finished blowing a guy, then came out to the bar to look for her next client.
Of all times for Tamson’s face to show up in my head. Not that she’s been out of my head all day, but every drink I’ve slammed down my throat has pushed her a little further back. Now she’s at the front again. Now I can see her blue eyes looking up at me, now I can almost feel the softness of her damp cheeks under my hands.
“Why don’t you go find your next client somewhere else?” I ask, signaling the bartender for another drink. “I’m not good company tonight.”
“But I can make you feel good…” she purrs. There I was, trying to be decent. I don’t want to upset one of Dad’s best earners.
Brushing her off, I mutter, “Get lost. I’m serious.” She rolls her eyes and mumbles something under her breath, but at least I got rid of her. The bartender gives me an arched eyebrow before sliding another glass my way. He knows better than to question my tolerance.
A couple of guys walk in, laughing and elbowing each other like they’re celebrating something. Nico and Dante. They must be coming back from collecting for Dad, going around to the different people who owe a debt. They come up to the bar and sit close enough for me to hear them reminiscing.
“It’s gonna take them the rest of the weekend to clean up.” Nico sounds proud of himself, tapping a beer bottle to Dante’s before taking a long swig.
Dante flexes his fist, wincing. “That motherfucker’s got a hard head.”
Then he notices me and jerks his chin. “This guy should know.”
I’m too drunk and too fucked in the head tonight to catch on. “Huh?”
They laugh before moving closer. “Frank. Has a convenience store? You already laid into him, right?” Dante flexes his fist again, chuckling. “That fucker has a head made of solid rock.”
“And he needs his kid to defend him,” Nico adds with a laugh.
This time, I catch on. “How did she do that?” I ask as my blood starts to pump faster. She’s not stupid enough to get in between them and her dad, right?
“The usual.” Dante waves it off, scoffing. “Begging us to stop, all that shit.”
“Like, it didn’t take one slap to knock her on her ass,” Nico snickers—like there’s something to be proud of. Like he shouldn’t be ashamed of himself for hitting a woman. Especially one who’s so small and defenseless.
But she still stood up to them. Fuck, there shouldn’t be this sense of pride swelling in my chest. She means nothing to me. I shouldn’t care.
Somebody needs to tell that to my heart, because it’s thumping hard and making blood rush in my head. He put his hands on her. He hurt her. After everything she went through before I went to get her this morning, she had to suffer more. She had to watch the store get torn up. She had to watch them beat the shit out of her dad.
But there’s nothing I can do about it now. So it doesn’t matter how clearly I can see myself taking both of them by the backs of their heads and smashing their faces against the bar. It won’t change anything.