Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 64362 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 322(@200wpm)___ 257(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64362 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 322(@200wpm)___ 257(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
She opened her mouth, closed it, and then glanced over at Goldie.
“It’ll take more than Jars and Brick to keep him from killing you both,” Butch called out from the sofa.
I scrunched my nose and looked back at him. He wasn’t even looking this way. He was still staring at his phone. Who would kill them?
“Shut up, Butch, if you want to ever eat in this kitchen again,” Nina snapped at him.
“I’m just warning ya to keep your mouth shut, is all,” he said with a shrug. “Ain’t my concern.”
“That’s right; it ain’t, so stay out of it,” Goldie told him, then shook her head, as if exasperated. “Ignore him. We do.”
I waited for one of them to answer my question, but they both said nothing.
“The fact that you aren’t saying anything means this is about me,” I finally said, watching their expressions.
Both were worried, and no fake smile was covering it up. Goldie fidgeted with her apron, and Nina looked frustrated as she chewed on her thumbnail.
The door to the kitchen swung open. Both their gazes shot up, and the alarm was clear on their faces. Hoping whoever it was would answer my question, I turned to see Nixie strutting into the kitchen, wearing a short hot-pink dress that hugged her body. Her makeup was already done, as if she were about to go onstage, although I figured she’d most likely just gotten offstage a few hours ago. Her eyes locked on me, and hatred flared in them.
This was expected. She’d been glaring at me for weeks. Ever since Rome had taken me to his bed the first time. She made no attempt to hide her loathing of my existence. I’d overlooked it because she was young, and if I’d lost Rome, I would be upset too. Heck, part of me hated her because she’d slept with him. I didn’t like knowing she’d been with him sexually. But most of the strippers who littered the place probably had. It was something I had been dealing with.
“Since when do you eat breakfast?” Nina asked her.
The unwelcome tone of her voice made me feel bad for Nixie. The other woman didn’t flinch though, like I would have.
She smirked. “I do now.”
“Well, it ain’t ready,” Goldie said. “So, go…go somewhere else.”
I knew the two of them didn’t like Nixie, for my sake. They had both had a Nixie in the past before they married their husbands. But this was a little much. They’d never run her off before.
“Why does she have a plate then?” Nixie asked, her gaze dropping to the plate in front of me and then back at them.
“Because she helped make it,” Nina lied. “Now go on and come back when it’s ready.”
Nixie rolled her eyes and cocked out a hip, then placed a hand on it. “I think I’ll wait here. Or are you gonna pick me up and carry me out?”
Nina’s eyes flared with anger, and Goldie grabbed her arm, as if to stop her from climbing over the counter and attacking the woman.
This was getting out of hand fast—and all because of me. I started to open my mouth to say something to ease the situation when Rome came walking through the door with a scowl on his face, also directed at Nixie. Then his gaze swung to mine, and it didn’t soften, but a flicker of panic in his eyes made me tense.
What was going on?
He stalked toward me, cupped the side of my face with his hand, then pressed a kiss to my lips.
“Oh God, please. They won’t feed me, and I’m going to get nauseated faster than normal if you start that,” Nixie drawled.
Rome’s entire body tensed, and his hand went to my waist. He placed it there, as if he were holding on to me. Then he lifted his head and looked at the women across the bar. “Ladies, would you mind sending breakfast to my room for us?”
Nina nodded, looking relieved as she grabbed my plate. “Sounds like an excellent idea.”
Goldie spun around and went to get another plate. “You two run on along, and we will get right on it.”
“Let’s go, Angel Face,” he said near my ear.
I wanted to demand that he explain what was going on, but I decided it was probably best that I did that in the privacy of his room. Standing, I glanced over at Nixie again. She was watching us with a mix of pain and anger in her eyes.
Had she been in love with Rome?
Her eyes met mine, and a smug smile curled her lips. “Is that your plan?” she asked, shifting her attention to Rome. “To keep her locked away and hope no one tells her? It’s gonna get hard, you know. Since, just thirty minutes ago, you told me in the library that you’d be there for me and the baby.”