Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 132657 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 663(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132657 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 663(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
“Then he can do the same for Jensen,” Niall argued.
“He doesn’t know me.” Niall wasn’t thinking. “And even if he did, it wouldn’t matter. Harlow isn’t testifying against Hamilton. She’s not the one who’s going to put him in jail. Hamilton has to come after me.”
“He also has no reason to come after anyone if he’s buried in my backyard,” Chase announced.
He was back to liking Chase, but he couldn’t put Harlow’s dad in the line of fire, either.
“We don’t have any room in the backyard,” Ben said under his breath.
Lucas stood and sighed. “I’m leaving before this gets worse. I’ll go find Nat. Chase, she got a couple of hotel rooms for us. We can leave in the morning. Jensen, take the night to think about this. There’s a way forward that doesn’t involve you going to jail or dying. Let me help you find it.”
But all of those ways led to her being in danger. Led to Niall being stuck in the middle of something he’d never meant to become a part of.
However, he was certain that putting out his brand-spanking-new plan would only end in arguments, and these motherfuckers could argue forever.
It was best to do what he needed to do.
After he had one last night with them.
At least this time he was leaving his best friend with the most beautiful girl in the world. “I don’t think I’ll be able to think about anything else, Mr. O’Malley.”
Jack stretched and yawned. “I’m going to stay here. I need to be on the road in a couple of hours. Uncle Chase, can you catch a ride with my papa?”
Chase nodded. “Yes, though I suspect we’ll hang out at least until tomorrow afternoon. I’m sure Nat will want to spend some time with Harlow, and I might need to talk to these two a bit more. I’m pretty sure that one is going to pull something stupid.”
Naturally he was gesturing toward Jensen. “I told you I’ll think about it.”
Chase frowned, and a long sigh went through him. “You’ve already thought about it. I know because if anything has been made perfectly clear to me this evening, it’s that I had it all wrong. I thought you were the me. You see there are always roles in a relationship like this. There’s the reasonable guy who smooths things over for the super-brilliant one who struggles to fit in from time to time. There’s the super-brilliant one who’s good at everything except interpersonal politics.”
“We call them relationships,” Ben corrected.
Chase waved him off. “And there’s the beautiful, damaged one who needs a shit ton of therapy because of all the damage. That one is the dangerous one because she’ll make split-second decisions based on the trauma she survived and not what’s best for the three of them. She’ll martyr herself because that’s all she knows to do. Because she thinks maybe she doesn’t deserve good things like love and protection, like no one should risk for her.”
“Harlow isn’t like that,” Jensen protested. Her dad needed to get to know his daughter.
“He’s talking about you,” Niall said and sniffed like he was getting a little…emotional. “You’re the one who can’t love himself.”
Jensen stood. He wasn’t going to do some weird therapy thing. His mind was made up, but he was now worried if he tried to plead his case, he would get hauled off. He didn’t trust the Dawson brothers to let him make the choice himself. He got the feeling if they decided he was making the wrong one, they would lock him up until he changed his mind. “I’m fine. I’ll talk to Jack in the morning, and we’ll figure this thing out.”
“I hope you’re telling me the truth, but this has to be your choice,” Chase said, pushing his chair back. “I’m going to go apologize to my daughter. You were right, Ben. I hate that.”
“I’m always right.” Ben moved to the door that led to the backyard.
“Are not. You suck at Jeopardy,” Chase bickered. “You can’t even answer the Celebrity Jeopardy questions. They’re softballs.”
Ben sighed as his brother walked through the door. “Yeah, so you’re the trivia champ and I understand actual people.”
“Hey, only one of those things gets a big trophy and a payday, brother,” Chase snarked but he also stopped and turned to Lucas. “Thank you for coming out. We’ll make decisions in the morning. Niall, you look like a man who can cook. I like my bacon crispy. Jensen, seriously, think this over. You’ll come to the right conclusion.”
“I thought you wanted me gone.” Jensen was confused. He’d kind of thought Chase would drive him to jail if given the chance.
“It’s been pointed out to me that I need to let my daughter make her own mistakes. Sometimes mistakes have a way of turning out okay,” Chase said solemnly. Then his lips quirked up. “Like Ben being born.”