Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 58874 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 294(@200wpm)___ 235(@250wpm)___ 196(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58874 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 294(@200wpm)___ 235(@250wpm)___ 196(@300wpm)
“Shh.” Tor gripped his nape, strong fingers pressing into tense muscles. “Breathe.” He was six years old, standing in the Dunworthy kitchen, wanting to play in the rain, and Tor was stopping him from having a meltdown.
“Did you say Dunworthy?” Jule’s grandfather asked.
“Julian?” His mother sounded worried. “What’s going on?”
“Dunworthy?” his grandmother stammered.
“Julian?” his mother said again. “Do you know this man?”
Did he know Tor Dunworthy? Jule laughed humorlessly. His entire body was shaking, and he realized his cheeks were wet. He kept leaning against Tor, but he turned around so he could see his family. “Yes, Mom, I know him.”
“How? Who is he?”
Tor was his brother, though not by blood. Tor was his best friend. Tor was everything he had ever wanted and the one thing he had feared he couldn’t have. Tor was the person he had loved before he knew what love was and the person he had continued to love no matter what obstacles life threw in their path. Tor was his past, his present, and his future.
“Mom, Grandfather, Grandmother, this is Tor Dunworthy. He is the best person I know and I’m going to marry him.”
“They’re going to have to arrest me to get me out of here, and even then, I’ll give them hell if they try.” Jule crossed his arms over his chest and planted his feet. He was not going to leave Tor, not now that he had a choice in the matter.
A smile crept up Tor’s face. “I’m sure you would.” He cupped Jule’s elbow. “But it’s not necessary. I’m going to be done here soon and then I’ll come to your place.”
“Terrific. I’ll give you a ride.”
“Jule.”
“Not fucking leaving, asshole. Get it through your thick skull and finish up your work while I watch.”
A booming laugh sounded from behind him. “I understood what you saw in him years ago, Tor, but having front row seats to the show is even better.” Chief Montez had returned to his office after walking Jule’s mother and grandparents out.
“He knew about us?” Jule said, surprised.
“Yes.” Tor nodded. “Chuck’s known everything from the beginning. I had to explain it to him so he’d understand.”
“Understand what?” Jule’s legs started buckling now that the jolt of adrenaline from everything he’d heard was wearing off.
Unsurprisingly, Tor noticed. He slid his arm around Jule’s waist and anchored him as he walked him over to the table and pulled out a chair. “Sit.”
He did and the chief sat across from him. “Understand why I should believe a disheveled teenager’s crazy story about the murder of a prominent politician.”
“And why he needed my help to handle it.” Tor handed him a bottle of water.
Jule absorbed the information he had learned that afternoon and assimilated it with everything that had happened since the day his father was killed. “You’ve been doing this the entire time.”
“Almost.” Tor nodded. “Chuck wouldn’t let me badge in until I turned eighteen.”
“Which is three years earlier than policy,” the chief said. “I don’t believe you’ve ever thanked me for that.”
Tor flipped him off.
The chief cackled.
“So when you were locked up, it wasn’t real?” Jule asked.
“Oh, it was very real,” the chief said, all humor leaving his face. “I didn’t want him to do it the first time; he was so young.”
Tor rested his hand on the chief’s shoulder, and the older man patted it.
“But he insisted that it was the only way for us to truly understand how the Knights operated with the contingent that was on the inside and, like always, he was right.”
“The entire time.” Jule blinked up at him. “This is what you’ve been doing the entire time?”
Tor pulled a chair right next to him and sat. He pushed his leg to the edge so their thighs connected and looked Jule in the eyes. “I had to. If I didn’t, John Jones would have escalated. He was on a tear back then. I was worried he’d go after my brothers, after you. Letting him think I was standing with him was the only way I could have any control over him.” He opened the water bottle and placed it in Jule’s hand.
“So you joined his cartel?”
“Worse.” Tor winked at the chief. “I joined the police department.”
“And you went to prison. How many times? I can think of at least three or four when I assumed…”
“Drink.” Once he did, Tor put his palm over his free hand. “It wasn’t that bad. I was able to get through my classes faster when I was locked up. Not as much to do in there.”
“What classes?”
“ASU online. Took me a while but I got my degree eventually.”
“You did?” Jule rasped.
“He needed that to get pinned as lieutenant,” the chief said.
“That’s not why I did it.” Tor scowled at him.
“Yes, you made that very clear. You did it so you wouldn’t disappoint your”—the chief flicked his gaze between them—“fiancé apparently. Congratulations on the engagement. Marriage seems like an even better reason to accept my offer. You’ll need job stability.”