Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 79382 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79382 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
"Ah, no," she said, shaking her head. She glanced back down at my phone then handed it back to me. "I mean, maybe they were there too, but this isn't who I was talking about."
For reasons I didn't want to analyze, my head lifted and my gaze found Renny's across the room. He watched me for a second before a slow smile lifted one side of his lips. And if I wasn't entirely mistaken, which what were the chances of that, he almost seemed... proud.
But that was ridiculous.
"Who the fuck else were the Grassis with then?" Reign demanded, looking between Duke and Renny.
Renny held up his hands, "All I saw was Luca and Anthony and the backs of other men. I thought they were just standing there too. Didn't realize they were with the Grassis."
"So back to fucking ground one?" Repo growled.
"Not exactly," I reasoned. "If one or two of you can calm down a bit and maybe pay the Grassi family a visit and ask who they were with this afternoon that Penny fingered as her attackers, you can get an answer. They're decent men. They will want to help."
"Well," Cash said, smile toying at his lips that I didn't trust, "that kind of sounded like you just volunteered for the task. Didn't it sound like that, Reign?" he asked as Reign's mouth spread into a nearly identical little smile.
"Did sort-of sound that way to me," he agreed.
I huffed out my breath, shaking my head. "I'm not a Henchmen, guys. I can't show up there and say I am speaking for you. They won't have any respect for that."
"Which is why Renny should tag along," Cash added, looking downright giddy at the idea.
"You can't..." I started.
"Sounds like a plan," Reign cut me off. "Famiglia should be opening in a couple of hours so Antony and Luca at least should already be around. You guys can head out now and we can finally get some answers."
"Really, I think this would be better coming from you, Reign," I insisted. "No offense to Renny, but he's not the president or vice, or even road captain. Why would they want to talk to him instead of you?"
"Because they're smart men and when shit goes down in their own business, they get themselves safe. That's what leaders do. They can't do shit for their people if they're dead. They will understand why I need to stay here. And Cash too for that matter and since Wolf is clinging to life in a fucking hospital bed, they will have to accept that Renny is who is showing up."
"Fine then," I sighed, understanding that logic. "But why am I being ordered to go?"
I didn't work for them in the traditional sense.
I worked for Lo. I worked for Hailstorm.
But so long as my assignment from my higher-ups had me at The Henchmen compound, Reign was, in a way, in charge of me.
"Honestly, babe," Reign said, lips twitching, "just for fucking fun."
The bastard.
TWO
Renny
I was wearing her down.
Alright, that was bullshit.
But it was a nice thought to entertain.
I didn't buy into a lot of the romantic bullshit. I watched men, much better men than me, slowly fall for women over the past several years. All the while I'd sit there believing the shit was just a trick of the brain, a heady concoction of sex hormones and oxytocin bound to burn out eventually.
Then that fucking woman walked into the back door of the compound and interrupted a fight between me and Duke- sexy as fuck voice telling us she thought are scrapping was "interesting" and I turned and saw her and fuck if I wasn't half goddamn in love with her right then.
Only half, mind you.
And most of that love was my dick doing the thinking.
I wasn't a fucking sap.
She was possibly the most gorgeous woman I had ever seen though. She was tall and leggy, with definite but understated curves to her hips, breasts, and ass. But it was the face, man, that was what brought a man to his knees.
I had always been a sucker for exotic, especially the kind that hinted at a mixed ancestry that was hard to put your finger on. And Mina's round face and hazel eyes and long shiny brown hair hinted as something European and something Asian.
Dutch and Japanese as it turned out.
Then of course there was the fact that she was in Hailstorm garb- utility pants in a khaki color and a white tank that in no way hid how fucking perfectly formed she was.
See, in the past, I thought I liked soft. I'd had a lot of hard and cold in my life, when I aged up and started chasing skirts, I wanted sweet, I wanted gentle. For the most part, that was what I had too.
I had a lot of respect for hardass women like Lo, Janie, and Maze. I knew what it took for a man in the world to get respect and I knew that, for women, it was about three times as hard and the job was never-ending. You never had to stop fighting for it.