Total pages in book: 189
Estimated words: 181808 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 909(@200wpm)___ 727(@250wpm)___ 606(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 181808 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 909(@200wpm)___ 727(@250wpm)___ 606(@300wpm)
Priss hastily shook her head. “I meant, I think Larissa’s original suggestion about you and Calder going on a vacation is a much better idea.” Priscilla gave her a warning glance. “Isn’t that right, Larissa?”
“Uh … yes.”
What was it going to take to snap her out of the fixation on Moon? The moment Crazy Bitch came up with the idea, she should have never agreed so readily.
“You should take a few days to think it over. Give yourself time to get over your disappointment, spend some alone time with Calder to discuss taking in foster children, then I’m sure Child Services will be happy to process your application,” she said, giving Crazy Bitch the reasonable answer she should have given her in the first place.
“Fuck that!” Crazy Bitch stepped around them to barge toward Knox, Shade, and Viper.
Larissa couldn’t help but watch as Moon went to the other men standing around before leaving out the door without a glance back. She could strip naked, and he wouldn’t give her a second glance.
Turning her attention back to Crazy Bitch, she tried not to notice the sympathetic look Priscilla sent her.
Knox was attempting to explain to Crazy Bitch that she would have to get approval for state care of the children before he could hand them over to her.
“Don’t talk that mumbo jumbo to me when we both know you can do whatever the fuck you want. At least be a man about it and admit you don’t want me to.”
“That’s not what I’m saying,” he denied. “I’m not going to lose my badge because you don’t want to wait a couple of days to get approval.”
“Who’s going to take them in the meantime?” Crazy Bitch asked, her body tense as if she could change Knox’s mind by sheer force of will.
“I don’t know yet. I haven’t made the call. I was waiting for the doctor to come out, so I know if the two young ones need to be hospitalized. I wanted to talk to the mother as well, to see if she has any relatives who could take them. I was trying to buy some time before notifying CPS. If a relative is willing to take them in, they might not have to go into foster care.”
Knox looked at Larissa. “Did Eryn give you emergency contacts?”
“Yes.” Larissa nodded. “Her husband, Dusty. You could contact him maybe.”
Knox shook his head. “He’s going to be under investigation for manufacturing and distributing drugs. A couple of the men I arrested say Dusty was involved, too. I won’t have all the facts until I have the opportunity to interview them, but that isn’t going to help the kids out until I finish my investigation.”
Crazy Bitch folded her arms across her chest, tapping her foot impatiently. “I’m standing here. I can take them.”
“Lennon says”—Larissa nodded her head toward the young girl sitting to the side—“Eryn is her aunt. That could be a possibility you could look into.”
“I can’t get her to talk to me.”
“Maybe I can find out more if I talk to her,” Ginny suggested.
Knox shrugged. “At this point, anything we find out could be helpful.”
The door opening from the treatment area drew everyone’s attention. Lana walked over to where they were standing.
“Dr. Price is about to move Eryn to the maternity ward. The baby is being checked out, but so far, his stats look good. She wants to talk to you,” Lana told her.
Larissa immediately started toward the door. She entered the emergency room and found Eryn sleeping.
Not wanting to wake her, Larissa started to leave.
“Larissa.”
She moved to Eryn’s bedside and took her hand. “How are you doing?”
“I’ve been better,” she replied wryly. “This isn’t exactly how we planned for me to have my baby, is it?”
Larissa studied her seriously. “No, it wasn’t.”
“I always manage to screw everything up, despite how hard I try not to.”
“Sometimes, life gets out of our control.”
Eryn turned her head away on the pillow. “Then sometimes, we end up in the bed we deserve.”
“Don’t say that. No woman deserves to be hurt by their partner.”
“I knew Tanner was bad news for me.” She gave a bitter laugh. “I just couldn’t stay away from him. Everything got out of hand after Dusty left. Tanner might have been better in bed, but Dusty had the brains. Everything went to shit when he took over. He wanted us to leave Treepoint. He said the only reason they hadn’t been caught was they weren’t selling to anyone in town. I gave him the excuse to leave when Tanner told him about us, but I knew he was terrified of The Last Riders. He kept saying they would kill us if they found about us.”
Larissa’s heart had started pounding when she’d mentioned The Last Riders.
“That’s a harsh accusation for him to make. Did he say why he was so scared of them?”