Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 151097 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 755(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 504(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 151097 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 755(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 504(@300wpm)
“You’re wrong, mo aingeal. He’s not your only family. You have people who love and adore you so much that they’d never raise a hand to you.”
“Like you?” she said with no real ire.
“Exactly.”
Coby sighed but didn’t agree with my point. How could she?
“I think…” Coby mused out loud, drawing my attention. My eyes fell to her left hand resting on the table. She was deep in thought as she toyed with her custom engagement ring. “I think if we get married, Hunter will leave. She won’t stay.” When I simply stared at Coby for an explanation, she obliged. “Last night, she kept talking about balance—about jealousy, ownership, and making things fair. I think if we want her to be us, you and I can’t get married. I know the position this puts you in, so what I guess I’m saying is…give it some thought because you may have to choose.”
I frowned at that. “Between you and Hunter?”
Coby shook her head and then squared her shoulders. “Between being Boss or being with us.”
Staring off, I didn’t say anything for a long while as I considered all that Coby had said. I felt her gaze on me, and she looked sort of desperate for an answer that I wasn’t ready to give. It’s not that I wanted to be Boss that badly. It’s that I knew in my gut there had to be a way I could have both, so I nodded. “Thanks for letting me know.”
Coby sighed and pouted, resigned to having to wait for my answer. I almost smiled because her brattiness had always amused me. We finished eating, and then I pulled her into my arms to say goodbye properly before I headed out.
“I almost had her, you know,” Coby said after we finished kissing slowly like we had all the time in the world. “She was about to say yes before you came in with your moodiness and fucked everything up.”
I snorted. “You did not.”
“I did!” she squealed in delight.
I pursed my lips skeptically, and she punched my arm.
“She’s not coming,” Abel grumbled for the third time.
“She’s fucking coming,” I snapped back as we stood by the elevators dressed in all black.
“I don’t know what you said or did, but she actually almost kicked my ass this morning. She’s not coming.”
I didn’t respond as I stared at the stairs, waiting for her to appear. I didn’t want to admit that Abel might be right. I’d texted Hunter the time and place to meet tonight, but I didn’t tell her why.
Another five minutes rolled by—three minutes past our meeting time—and still no Hunter. She was supposed to meet us at midnight, and she was always prompt, so I knew there was a good chance she wouldn’t show.
I grappled with either leaving without her or dragging her out of bed, but since waking Coby would ruin the mission before it started, I refrained.
Just as I was about to say fuck it and leave without her, Hunter appeared at the top of the stairs dressed in dark clothing as I’d instructed. Her long hair was braided back, and her face was blank as she approached us.
“You’re late,” Abel couldn’t help complaining.
“Sorry, I thought you’d learned how to change your own diaper by now,” Hunter retorted.
“Ignore him,” I said as I stabbed the button for the elevator.
Hunter chose not to speak to either of us as we climbed inside and rode it down. Abel found that hilarious, silently laughing at my expense behind Hunter’s back.
I swear to God, I almost shot him.
I’d given Paul the night off, wanting as few witnesses to what we were about to do as possible, so Abel hopped into the front seat of the Denali while Hunter and I climbed into the back.
I watched her while she stared out the window.
We rode south for an hour until we reached a secluded road, where we found a fleet of cars blocking our path. Abel flicked his lights so we wouldn’t be shot the fuck up as soon as we stepped out.
“This feels familiar,” Hunter said, the first words she’d spoken since we left.
“Yeah, well, it’ll feel even realer in a second.”
The three of us climbed out and walked toward the cars parked up ahead. I stopped Hunter just before we reached them while Abel kept walking, leaving us to talk alone.
“What’s up?” Hunter asked me.
“You once mentioned a friend you trusted who tried to take more from you than you were willing to give. Tell me who he was.”
Her brows rose as she cut her gaze toward all the men waiting for us a few feet away. “You want to talk about this now?”
“A name,” I demanded.
Still resistant as ever, Hunter sighed. “Why does it matter, Ocean?”
“Because tonight will go one of two ways. Your answer will determine which path we take, but only one of them is irreversible. The only has lasting consequences.”