Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 94313 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 472(@200wpm)___ 377(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94313 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 472(@200wpm)___ 377(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
“What I can’t understand is why you were livin’ out there in the first place,” Leo said.
“I—” She glanced at me. “I—uh.”
I rubbed my thumb lightly between her shoulder blades, ignoring the little zap of attraction at the firm muscle under my fingertips.
“They sent me there when I told them I was pregnant,” she said finally. “They said I could come home after I’d had the baby.”
Leo stared at her in confusion.
“Fuckin’ assholes,” my gramps muttered.
“I knew they’d be mad,” Esther said, her voice soft.
“Did you tell them who the father was?” Uncle Casper asked, watching Esther intently.
She met his gaze, wide-eyed. “They never asked.”
Chapter 7
Esther
Everything had felt a little hazy and unfocused that morning and I’d had a really hard time following along with what the men at the cabin had been talking about. The situation still felt completely absurd—but facing the six men in front of me, their faces wreathed in suspicion, made things come into clear focus very quickly.
“They never even asked who it was,” I repeated, looking at Otto apologetically. I wasn’t sure why I felt bad that my family hadn’t cared who I’d slept with. I guess I didn’t want him to feel unimportant.
“Was there anyone who knew?” Grease asked.
I started to shake my head and then stopped, realization dawning.
“Becka,” Otto said gruffly, his hand growing heavier on my back.
“My cousin,” I clarified to the men. “She knew that I’d spent time with Otto.”
“She know you fucked him?” Dragon practically barked at me. I flinched.
“I told her he kissed me,” I mumbled, embarrassed.
“Kissin’ doesn’t make babies, honey,” Casper said dryly.
“She didn’t know I was pregnant,” I shot back, embarrassed. I might not know anything about guns and whatever else they were into—probably nothing good—but I did know where babies came from.
“And if someone told her you were pregnant?” Dragon asked.
I nodded. “It could only be Otto,” I said softly.
His hand moved upward, wrapping comfortingly around the back of my neck. “I, uh, stopped by her family’s garden center a couple times,” he muttered uncomfortably. “A few days after Esther and I hooked up and then again, uh, yesterday morning.”
“You did?” my gaze shot to his. He’d come looking for me even after I’d stood him up. Something inside me warmed.
“Fuck,” his grandpa muttered.
“You know they wired that cabin with explosives?” Dragon asked, pulling my attention back to the angry men.
“That’s what one of the guys said—”
“Brody,” Otto chimed in.
“But my dad wouldn’t do that,” I continued. “Not with me living there. He’d never put me in danger. I’m his daughter.”
I just couldn’t comprehend it. Sure, for a split second when he’d brought me to the cabin, I’d imagined him killing me, but I hadn’t actually believed he’d do it. If he was going to kill me, he would’ve done it the night before when he’d lost his temper and beat the crap out of me, not in the cold light of day. My dad was surly and it wasn’t like we’d ever been close, but I’d never believe that he’d put a bomb in my house. He had a temper but he loved his family even if he wasn’t good at showing it.
“If you let me call him, I think we can get things straightened out,” I told the men firmly. “Maybe he didn’t even know about your guns.”
“Your dad owns the cabin,” Casper said flatly.
“Really?” I replied. I’d figured it belonged to someone else in the church—someone who would be involved with stealing guns. There were a few men that I’d always thought seemed kind of shifty. A couple that had looked at me in a way that made my skin crawl.
“Still,” I said stubbornly. “There could be other people who knew about it. I doubt it was a secret.”
“Ones that knew you’d be out of there yesterday?” the guy named Mack asked. He was wearing a T-shirt and one of his forearms was covered from wrist to elbow in a thick white bandage.
“The doctor I saw yesterday is part of our church,” I said, desperately finding a thread that would pull my version of events along. “He would’ve known I had an appointment and wouldn’t be home.”
“That’s reachin’ a bit,” Otto’s grandpa said dubiously, pulling his phone out of the chest pocket of his T-shirt. “Give me a minute,” he mumbled to the group, standing and walking away to take the call.
“I really have to use the bathroom,” I said quietly to Otto, knotting my hands together in my lap and regretting the soda I’d drank with breakfast.
“Come on,” he said, getting to his feet. No one stopped him as he led me through an archway and into a hallway that stretched along the back wall of the building.
“Thanks,” I said, sliding past him as he swung open the door to a small bathroom.