Total pages in book: 152
Estimated words: 155037 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 775(@200wpm)___ 620(@250wpm)___ 517(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 155037 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 775(@200wpm)___ 620(@250wpm)___ 517(@300wpm)
“I think this one is perfect,” she said.
“Definitely that one,” Loki agreed as there was knock on the door.
“I’ll get it,” Remy said, opening the door.
“Get your fucking hands off my sister!” a voice roared.
What. The. Hell.
Isa turned, gaping as her brothers stormed into the room. They were good-looking guys, even if they were snot-heads. The three of them stood there, glaring at Loki.
Then they turned to glare at Remy.
“What the hell are you wearing?” Rusty asked.
“Guys, what are you doing here?” she countered. “And why are you yelling at Loki? You know him. You like him.”
“Yeah, but that was before he started defiling you,” Rusty said.
“Defiling me?” She climbed off Loki’s lap and stomped over to her oldest brother. “How old are you? A hundred? No one says defile anymore.”
“Well, what would you call it?” Rusty fumed.
“I call it well-satisfied.” She smiled smugly.
Bryant started gagging.
“Shh, brat,” she told him. “What are you all doing here?”
“We heard that these two assholes were taking advantage of our baby sister,” Rusty said with a scowl. “We came to take care of them.”
She sighed, looking up at the ceiling for patience. “God give me strength.”
“Um, guys,” Bryant said.
“So you’re not living with them?” Simon demanded. “You’re not . . . not . . .”
“Fucking them?” she suggested sweetly.
All three of them looked ill.
“I am. And it’s no business of yours what I do or who I do it with.”
“Well, it’s mine!” another voice said.
She groaned and closed her eyes. “You couldn’t have told me he was coming?”
To their credit, all three of them appeared apologetic as her father stepped into the house, Judy behind him. She looked around curiously while her dad stayed focused on Isa.
His face was purple. Not a good sign.
“Sorry,” Bryant said.
“What are you all doing here?” she asked.
“Is that any way to greet your parents?” Her father scowled at her.
She went to apologize, but he kept going.
“And after you have inconvenienced and embarrassed us? I do not think I’ve ever been so ashamed of you.”
Everyone erupted. Including her brothers. Even Judy frowned at her father. That was all she noticed before Loki drew her to his side, cupping the back of her head and pressing her face to his chest. She breathed him in.
“Quiet,” Remy said in a commanding voice.
To her surprise, her brothers quietened and so did her father.
Turning, she saw Remy scowling at her father. “You speak to her like that again and you are out of here.”
“What right do you have to speak to me like that?” her father asked. “Who the hell are you?”
Oh, he was mad.
“Dad, this is Remy. Remy, my dad, Grant and my stepmom, Judy.”
“I’d say nice to meet you, but it isn’t,” Remy said. “I have every right as Isa’s man and her protector. And you’ve hurt her enough.”
Her father reeled back. “I’ve never hurt her!”
“Then you’re blind and deaf. Look at her.”
Her father turned to her. She met his gaze, let him see the hurt and pain. It was time to confront him. She attempted to move away from Loki, but he tightened his hold on her.
Her dad narrowed his gaze in on Loki. “Never liked you. You were never good enough for my daughter.”
She sucked in a breath. Yeah, no way she was standing by while he insulted her man.
“And you.” He turned to Remy. “I heard you’re just some cowboy that travels around. You don’t even have a proper job.”
Remy just smirked.
But she was mad. Really mad.
“Do not speak to them like that,” she snapped. “Loki, let me go!”
“You’re not going to hit him, are you, Tink? Because remember, thumb on the outside.” He winked at her but let her go.
Scowling, she stepped forward. “You don’t get to come here and look down on Loki and Remy. They’ve been here for me when you haven’t. They’re worth a thousand of you. They treat me well. They look after me. They lift me up. They have never made me feel unwanted and unloved. That I’m not good enough. That I’m a nuisance and that they wish I’d never been born.”
Her dad’s eyes widened. “I never said that.”
“You said it every day in the way you treated me. You all just took off and left me and then demanded I come to you every holiday so you could make me feel small and like I’m nothing. Not anymore. I don’t know how you heard about all of this, but you aren’t welcome here. And I’d like you to leave, please.”
“I . . . I have no idea what you’re talking about! But no daughter of mine is going to shame my family!” He reached for her and five men stepped between her and her dad.
“Boys! Get out of my way!” he yelled at her brothers.
“No,” Bryant said. “You were always colder to her. Less caring. But I didn’t think you made her feel so unwanted. That’s not cool, Dad. You need to go.”