Total pages in book: 52
Estimated words: 47615 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 238(@200wpm)___ 190(@250wpm)___ 159(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47615 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 238(@200wpm)___ 190(@250wpm)___ 159(@300wpm)
Cain raised his hands in surrender. “Point taken. I’ll rephrase. Tell me everything, please.”
Knuckles snorted. “Did that hurt? Because it sounded like it hurt.”
Cain grinned. “Bastard.”
I pushed off the wall and moved to Ada’s side. She looked up at me, a smile playing on her lips.
“Remind me never to piss off Gunnar’s dad,” she whispered.
I nodded, returning her smile despite the tension coiling in my gut. “I’m just glad he’s on our side.”
The door swung open again, and two more men entered. Knuckles stepped forward once again. “Ice. Cyclone.” He shook the hand of each man as he addressed them.
“Knuckles. Bohannon and Torpedo said they’d…” Ice gave his brother a puzzled look. “How’d he put it?”
Cyclone snorted. “Come bail your sorry ass out if you need it.”
Knuckles chuckled. “You tell him I said to go fuck himself.”
“All over that shit.”
Their expressions shifted from amusement to confusion when they spotted their father already seated at the table. A family reunion in the middle of a war zone.
“Dad,” the taller one said, surprise evident in his voice. He had the same sharp eyes as his father, but his frame was leaner, built for speed rather than raw power. He glanced from Cain to Gunnar. “Ice didn’t think you wanted us to involve Dad.”
Ice schooled his expression, but I thought I saw his lips twitch. “Yeah. Something about him getting on in years and Mom really wanting him to retire or some shit.”
That got another round of laughter from everyone in the room.
“So much for brothers having each other’s back,” Gunnar grumbled, then he gave his brothers an evil grin. “I’m tellin’ Mom.”
More laughter.
“Boys,” Cain replied, his tone neutral but his eyes warming slightly. “Glad you could make it. Finally.”
“Gunnar called Stunner first.” Cyclone shrugged. “You had a head start.”
“Actually,” Gunnar interrupted. “I called Suzie first. Because I knew Suzie would tell both Stunner and Cain.”
Stunner snorted. “He knew Angel wouldn’t be mad at Suzie for telling Cain. That way, he knew Cain would come and he wouldn’t get in trouble with Angel.”
By now, we were all cracking up. Even I found myself smiling. Ada clung to me while she laughed. I recognized the situation as a bonding moment with both Gunnar’s blood family and his found family. He was the younger brother getting picked on good-naturedly.
“All right, let’s get to it.” Knuckles raised his voice to be heard over the other men, calling them all to order.
Everyone took a seat, focusing on Knuckles. This wasn’t church, so several of the old ladies and club girls were listening at the edge of the group or sitting with their men.
Knuckles sat back in his chair, his muscled arms crossed over his chest. “We all know why we’re here,” he began, his voice low and steady. “Last night, someone lobbed a container of Tannerite over the wall, then shot it. We’re speculating whoever shot the container did so to target either Jag or Ada. Maybe both. We also know Rat Man wants to go after Gunnar to get back at Cain,” Knuckles continued. “We’re assuming Rat Man is the son of a bitch responsible for last night.”
“What about your women’s shelter?” Cain asked. “Haven.”
“I’ve already increased security and made arrangements to move the residents we have to another safe place today.” Knight gave the report without hesitation.
The conversation continued, the gist being Knight was on this shit and would find Rat Man in a few hours. All I cared about right now, though, was Ada. I needed to get her alone. To hold her.
“Let’s go.” I took her hand and tugged, not giving her an opportunity to protest. As we walked out, I acknowledged I felt better about the whole situation but couldn’t shake the feeling something was still coming for us. I pulled Ada closer to my side, the weight of her against me both a comfort and a reminder of everything I stood to lose.
I steered her away from the others, not sure how much longer I could stay in the room with so many unfamiliar people. Not with the stress of knowing Rat Man was still out there. Right now, my need to be alone with Ada was stronger than my need to be part of any planning. I could follow orders with the best of them when I had to. All I cared about was protecting Ada.
“Jag?” She looked up at me, concern etching lines between her brows.
“Home,” I muttered, guiding her through the building to the back exit under the camo netting which covered the paths between buildings. A couple of minutes later, we entered our building and I had her in the lift headed to our floor.
When we reached our room, I ushered her inside quickly, locking the door behind us with a decisive click.
Ada watched me, her eyes tracking my movements as I checked the windows, drew the blinds, swept the room with my gaze.