Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 138274 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 691(@200wpm)___ 553(@250wpm)___ 461(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 138274 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 691(@200wpm)___ 553(@250wpm)___ 461(@300wpm)
“Well… don’t you?”
“Of course I hate them. But she doesn’t need to know that.”
V tapped his cig over his ashtray. “It is entirely possible, my brother, that you overplayed your hand with protecting her against males.”
“Yeah, if that was your daughter, would you want her to date someone like us?”
“Fuck no.”
Z motioned a there-ya-go. “And here’s the only thing I’ve learned about being a parent: It’s too late for us.”
“Well, that’s encouraging,” came the dry response. “Please tell me more.”
“The instant they come into your life, whether they’re born to you, or adopted by you, or somehow their paths cross yours, it’s too late. No going back. A piece of your fucking heart is out in the world running into things, getting run over, falling off heights, getting sick, falling in love with the wrong person. And you can’t stop them from living. So I guess you just have to suck it up, I don’t know. I really don’t.”
Vishous stared off into space. “Can I ask you something? While we’re talking about this subject—which, P.S., we will never talk about again. Ever.”
“Hit me.” Shit knew he couldn’t feel worse.
“Was it true that you threatened to castrate Bronwyn the Younger’s kid at the Winter Festival eight years ago because he was going to ask Nalla to dance.”
Z ground his molars. “Absolutely not.” When V cocked a brow, he shook his head. “No.”
Silence. Except for smoking.
But fuck knew that raised eyebrow was talking at him.
“I was just going to break his leg, okay?” Z went all hello? “Broken bones heal. It’s not like slicing off a nut sac.”
“Oh, yeah.” V leveled a stare. “Totally different.”
“It is! That other shit is permanent.”
Vishous’s eyes narrowed. Then he glanced pointedly at his own crotch. “No, really. Tell me more.”
Crossing his arms over his chest, Zsadist looked away. “Sorry.”
“Why did you come here again?”
“I have no idea.” Something about work. But who the fuck cared. “Anyway, I hope Al makes it through the change. I can’t imagine what it would be like to lose… whatever. I shouldn’t have brought up the subject.”
After a moment, V stabbed his cigarette out. “And I hope you and Nalla work your shit out. You love her so much. She’s gotta know that.”
“I hope so. I’ve made mistakes, but I’ve done my best.” Z laughed a little. “Look at us. Who’da thought you and me would ever be talking about our kids, huh.”
“Allhan is not my young.”
As Z shot the brother a little brow action of his own, V rolled his eyes. “Fuck.”
“That just about covers it.”
“Yeah.” There was another stretch of silence. “But Nate really is an asshole. No daughter of mine would be allowed to date something like that, true?”
Zsadist nodded gravely. “True. Too bad I can’t kill the motherfucker. Just my luck, the one male on the planet I can’t put in a grave also happens to be the off-the-chain idiot she falls for.” He wiped away his words with his dagger hand. “Not that I would do that.”
“Of course you wouldn’t. Nah. Not at all.”
Zsadist frowned and lowered his voice. “I’ll tell you this, though. If he breaks her heart? I will find a way to destroy him. I don’t care what it takes.”
Vishous stared across his desk. Then he nodded. “And the rest of us’ll help you. She’s our baby girl, too.”
Z inclined his head once, and almost felt sorry for the cocky sonofabitch. Almost.
It was good to have ride-or-die brothers, wasn’t it.
They came in handy in all kinds of situations.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
All Nalla had to do was follow the signal of her own blood in Nate. And as she flew in a scatter of molecules through the night, she was aware of a tingling anticipation that threatened to make her lose her concentration and go solid in mid-flight. Which was not the kind of outcome she was looking for, so she battled back the sexual charge and kept herself going.
When she sensed that he had landed, she re-formed in front of a…
Okay, so where he lived was no castle. She hadn’t expected it to be. But she was a little surprised at how run-down the log cabin was. The one-room hunter’s crib looked like a stiff wind could knock it into pick-up-sticks condition, and as she checked out the barn off to the side, she wondered why he didn’t live in the other structure. At least that seemed to be a little sturdier.
“This way,” he murmured as he held out his hand.
Oh, who the hell cared about real estate anyway?
Taking what he offered, she practically floated over the snow as he drew her under the shallow entry and opened things up.
It was just as cold inside as outside, but as he spun her around and drew her against his body, like she needed any extra heat? She could have been in an ice pack and felt just frickin’ fine.