Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 115186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 576(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 576(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
“What the fuck this gotta do with you?” Romeo bit off.
“She’s family,” was Easy’s answer. “We’re all fuckin’ family.” He leaned closer. “You ain’t.”
“Shoulda came to me,” Shade said.
“About that dickhead? Just said—”
“To ask permission,” Easy interrupted.
“To fuck up that motherfu—”
“To fuck her.”
Son of a fuckin’ bitch. “This shit ain’t got nothin’ to do with you, Easy. Stay the fuck outta it.”
Easy smiled. “Those are some strong fuckin’ words for a broken man.”
“Untie me and we’ll see how fuckin’ broken I am.”
“Enough,” Shade quietly interjected.
Romeo pulled in a breath to cool off his temper. Easy was right. He was in no fucking condition to threaten anyone. Not only was he injured and wearing casts, but he was tied down.
He needed to keep his head.
“Need you to know you ain’t my choice for her,” Shade said next.
“Gettin’ that.”
What sucked was, Romeo still had no idea how much Shade knew. He didn’t want to dig because that could raise red flags. And his Black ass was still parked in front of a human-sized oven.
Now was not the best time to talk about Maddie’s sex life and how he was involved.
“Seems as if what I want for her is different than what she wants,” Shade continued.
Hold up. What the fuck did she want?
“But that don’t mean I can’t tell you what I want anyway…”
Oh fuck.
Romeo needed off this goddamn rollercoaster. They either needed to kill him or—
“You to be true to Maddie. Meaning… No side pieces, no sweet butts, no nothin’. I hear you stepped out on her…”
“Ain’t gonna do that.”
“Havin’ a hard time believin’ that with your history.”
“She changed me.” Holy fuck. Was that true? “For the better,” he quickly added. “Want her to wear my cut.”
“She said,” came Easy’s unwelcomed response.
Christ, now he couldn’t back out. Was he going to be stuck with one woman for the rest of his fucking life?
And if he fucked up, he’d get incinerated?
That sounded worse than life in prison.
Was the sweat gathering on his forehead from him having a fucking panic attack because his life as he knew it would be over and not because of facing death?
If it was anyone other than Maddie…
He closed his eyes and tried to slow his racing heart.
But it was Maddie.
He wasn’t being forced into taking an ol’ lady.
He didn’t have to offer her his cut.
But he did. Before this threat.
Why?
Because his real panic began when he found her gone. After she moved back to Manning Grove.
He had been and still was afraid of losing her.
Christ. Who the fuck was he? How could a lone female make his life do a complete one-eighty?
“Now… My ol’ lady invited you to dinner.”
He opened his eyes. What the actual fuck?
One minute the man was threatening to reduce him to a pile of ashes, the next, inviting him to share a fucking meal?
This whole damn thing was messed up.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Never in his goddamn life did he think he’d be sitting around a table and having dinner with the parents of a woman he fucked.
Like this was normal. Like they were normal.
None of them were normal.
Not a fucking one.
Despite his broken ribs, leg and arm, he had a hard time sitting still.
He might have escaped being cremated long before it was his time, but he was still paranoid about this dinner invite. This whole thing had to be a damn trap, and he wouldn’t be surprised if Fury members stormed in at any goddamn second, dragged his ass out and buried him out in one of their fields, never to be seen again.
He glanced at his still full plate, then up at Maddie sitting across from him. She chewed away unbothered like Romeo shared dinner with them every night.
But no one was saying a damn word.
Shade sat at one end of the dining table, Chelle at the other. Romeo sat along one side next to Jude, while Maddie sat next to her sister Josie.
“Why aren’t you eating?” Maddie’s adopted brother asked him.
Maybe because a few hours ago he was only a cunt hair away from being turned to ashes.
Or because both he and Maddie were being closely watched by Shade.
Or because Maddie’s younger sister kept giggling under her breath. Most likely from the awkwardness from this whole fucking situation.
He told Maddie he wanted to take her to dinner. Only, he didn’t expect it to be at her family’s house.
“You don’t like the chicken?” Shade’s ol’ lady asked him.
Romeo glanced at Maddie’s mother, then again at his plate. He picked up his fork and knife, cut off a small piece of the roasted bird and shoved it into his mouth. “It’s great,” he answered Chelle as he chewed, not even tasting it.
He had to gulp down some water just to swallow that small piece since his throat was tight.
Across the table, Josie giggle-snorted and elbowed her older sister.