Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 56232 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 281(@200wpm)___ 225(@250wpm)___ 187(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56232 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 281(@200wpm)___ 225(@250wpm)___ 187(@300wpm)
“Don’t talk to me like that, Ralph,” I snap.
He flinches, shocked that I’d stand up to him, but I’m not a little kid anymore.
“Just get on with your work,” he grumbles, turning away.
CHAPTER 8
Colt
After following Lexi to Luca and Ruby’s house in the ’burbs, I sit outside, watching her climb out of her car and head toward the front entrance. The savage inside me stirs when I see her in her tight-fitting black pants and her no-nonsense shirt. Maybe there aren’t many other men who’d find the combination attractive, but it makes me want to own her, grab her, kiss her, and go further.
All thoughts of Eddy and the Serpents drain from my mind as I watch her wait outside the front door. She turns, looking over at my car. When she folds her arms across her middle, I almost lose it. It’s the way her breasts sway with the movement, the lust triggering in me like a wave of belonging.
She raises her hand in an awkward gesture. I do the same, knowing I should stop being a douche and get out of the car. I haven’t been in her presence since that night, since I stopped her from going full-war woman and avenging her sister. It was difficult enough not to kiss her then, but now? We’ve shared…
“What?” I growl under my breath. Realistically, from an outside perspective, what have we shared, exactly? A few texts, what other men might call flirting, but nothing serious. Nothing that would make her realize just how badly she belongs to me.
When she disappears into the house, I grab the steering wheel and prepare to pull away. She’s going to be safe now. Luca and Elio are there. There’s no way they’ll let anything happen to her. I could leave, go searching for the Serpents, the truth.
A moment later, the door opens, and Luca walks across the street. He’s got his baby in his arms. Lexy, I remember, with a y, named after my Lexi. No, not my Lexi. Damn it.
I roll down the window.
Luca is glowing, his eyes alight with happiness, a smile on his lips way more contented than cocky. “I thought I saw you lurking out here,” he grins.
I do my best to return his smile. “Lurking is hardly the word I’d use,” I tell him.
He laughs gruffly, like Elio, he, and I always do. “This little one said she needs Uncle Colt to come inside and play nice.” He rocks his sleeping baby gently.
“She said all that as a newborn? I’m impressed.”
Luca laughs again. “Come on, Colt. What’re you doing hanging around out here?”
“Maybe I’m keeping watch.”
“No, my grumpy friend. We both know you spotted the Family cars on your way in. You know we’re already being watched.” He moves closer. “Is it about Lexi?”
“She’s cute, I’ll give you that.”
“Ha, ha,” he grunts. “You know which Lexi I’m talking about. It’s almost been a year since…” He pauses, his eyes getting dark for a moment, no doubt remembering what happened in that frat house, the beating, and then killing that sick fuck. “You saw her, right?”
“Almost,” I say, nodding, “but we’ve been texting. I’ve been helping her out with an issue.”
“Always the Good Samaritan, even if you want to pretend you’re the big bad wolf.”
“I’m not doing it out of the goodness of my heart,” I tell him.
“I know. Anybody could see that. What’s the big deal? You like her. She might like you. Instead of sitting out here like a weirdo, waiting for life to happen, come and make it happen.”
“I think I preferred you when you were miserable,” I say dismally.
He grins. “Yeah, yeah… Are you coming or not?”
I swallow, feeling younger than my forty-six years. I’ve never felt like this before—nervous about seeing a woman. That’s because I’ve never cared about a woman before, as sick as that is, considering what happened with the Serpents, with her, with them.
“Sure,” I say, reaching for the door handle before I can convince myself not to.
The house party is in full swing, with guests filling all the rooms and the backyard. Scarlet sings a song in the living room as Elio watches her with a look of profound love, holding their baby in his arms. His parents watch her with the same deep contentment. More guests mill around in the dining room.
Luca leads me through the house to the kitchen that opens directly into the yard. There’s a buffet set up, so I load a plate full of chicken to conveniently distract myself if I get trapped in a conversation.
Walking into the yard, I stop, a shudder moving through me like I’m a goddamn teenage boy or something. Lexi sits beside her sister, Ruby, and another woman I don’t recognize. The other woman is talking, but I can’t focus on anything except Lexi’s crossed legs and wavy brown hair brushed back over one ear.