Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 77422 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77422 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
So far back, in fact, that I thought he might tip over if he wasn’t careful.
Or if I followed through on the push that I wanted to give him.
“I’m here to talk about your sister,” I said. “We’re going to come to an understanding, and then you’re going to tell me what I want to know.”
“And what the fuck makes you think I’m going to do that?” he questioned, a grin tilting up the corners of his mouth.
“The fact that your sister loves me, and I love her. The fact that I will take care of her. The fact that she wants a family, and so do I—with her. The fact that she’s unhappy, and she deserves the happiness that I can give her,” I snapped.
His face went completely blank, and I knew I’d struck a chord with him.
“You’re not good enough for my sister,” he drawled.
I looked at him in a different light.
“Nobody’s good enough for our sisters,” I explained to him. “But, eventually there’s going to be a man who makes her happy, who swears that he’ll try as hard as he can to keep her happy, and you’ll just have to deal.”
Wolf’s lips curled in disgust. “Someone more qualified might come along.”
I laughed at him then, throwing my head back and roaring with it.
Which drew the attention of the man wearing the cowboy hat across the room from us.
“What’s so funny?” he wanted to know.
Griffin.
Griffin Storm was his name, and he was a Texas Ranger like Wolf was.
“He thinks he can make his sister love someone that he thinks is good enough,” I shared, my lip kicking up at the irony of the observation. “You do know that’s like wiping your ass while you’re still actively shitting. Futile and messy.”
Wolf kicked his lip up in disgust.
Griffin, however, understood.
“Do you remember when Ridley tried to warn Apple off of Kitt?” Griffin asked.
Wolf scowled.
“Now she’s got a kid by the man and he’s a part of our club. Trust me when I say that you’re fucked. Just let it happen,” Griffin recommended to Wolf. “They were in love when I saw them back then, and your sister’s not been happy since they split.”
Wolf’s eyes darkened.
“That’s because this motherfucker broke up with her,” Wolf snarled at Griffin, turning that angry glare toward me.
My stomach tightened and I stared at the man.
“You were part of the reason that happened, Wolf,” I said softly. “I’ve obviously not been appraised of all the details, but she’s scared as hell I’ll be killed like you almost were. That I’ll leave her.”
Wolf sighed and let his head drop down to his upraised hands that were resting on top of the desk.
“Fuck me,” he said. “Goddammit.”
I leaned back in the chair and let him put two and two together to get eighteen, and it didn’t take him long.
“She’s got abandonment issues,” he said suddenly, his head coming up so his gaze could stare straight into mine. “I left and joined the army. Our parents were useless. Didn’t want kids after they realized how much work they were. They were gone more than they were there. We were on food stamps and government assistance because it never failed that both of our parents would get fired from their jobs; usually at the same time.”
I waited for the rest.
“July had one boyfriend and one boyfriend only. He gave her some pretty lies about getting her out of the shithole we grew up in. He didn’t keep his promise. Went off to college, found a girl who would put out and dumped her before he’d even been gone a month,” Wolf continued.
My gut burned at the idea of July being in love with someone other than me, and it also hurt to learn that I wasn’t the first person she loved.
I didn’t like knowing that these things had happened. I’d wrongly assumed that because she’d been a virgin when we’d met that I was her first and only love. Apparently, I wasn’t and that was a hard pill to swallow.
“Our parents left, and then I did, too. I didn’t come home for a long fucking time, and I selfishly refused to come visit when I was on leave because I hated that hellhole of a town,” Wolf kept adding fuel to the fire. “I finally did come home, and I joined the police force. I pulled my head out of my ass. It was like the old days, her spending as much time with me as my job and life allowed until I met my then wife.”
I could tell he didn’t want to talk about his wife at all.
In fact, I saw sweat start to bead on his forehead, and I knew that he was telling me this strictly for July’s benefit.
He took a deep steadying breath, his eyes catching on a picture on the corner of his desk, and he looked back up at me.