Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 70488 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70488 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
The drive home was miserable, and by the time I’d pulled into my driveway, my heat had finally started working.
It was also, once again, snowing.
I pulled up to my garage and hit the button, looking forlornly at the space in the garage with annoyance.
My truck was too big for the garage.
I’d give my left nipple to be able to park it in there.
That would mean that I wouldn’t have to scrape snow off my truck every morning before I had to go to work.
Though the snow had already been knocked off my truck this morning when I’d gone outside to do it.
I assumed that Creed was responsible, and it’d made me roll my eyes.
I loved my brother, but he didn’t need to go out of his way to clean my truck off on his way to work.
The big dork.
Sadly, I had to take my hands off the steering wheel to go inside.
Also sadly, when I turned the truck off and got out, my two least favorite people were there drinking beer and standing in their yard leering at me.
“Hello, Bernice.”
I hated the way Lanny said that.
Gross.
I didn’t acknowledge him.
“Bernice!”
This time, my name was called by a woman.
I turned to find Heidi waving as she rushed down the street in boots that were six sizes too big for her.
I recognized the boots, too.
They were Hux’s.
They had a really weird emblem on them that made them look custom.
A little bit of envy rolled through me at the thought of being able to be so comfortable around Hux that I could just slip into his clothes and shoes without worrying I’d offend him.
“Come on,” Heidi said as she got close enough to grab my arm. “I don’t like the way they look at you. Come eat pizza with us. We’re having family night.”
I hitched my bag up on my shoulder and said, “I’m not going to insert myself in your family night.”
Plus, I was really cold and wanted to get into my warm bed and snuggle in deep with my heating blanket.
“Don’t worry,” Heidi said, not letting go of my wrist as she tugged me along in her wake. “None of us will care that you’re here. We’re easy like that.”
Eleven
Don’t make excuses for nasty people. You can also put a flower in an asshole and call it a vase.
—Hux to Bernice
Hux
I knew the moment that she pulled up.
I had a sensor not only on her car that let me know where she went and when she came home, but I also had a tracker on her shoe.
She’d left them on her front porch one day after work, and I’d tagged them, placing a sensor in the sole of her shoe where she wouldn’t feel it.
Not to mention, the cameras that I had on her house warned me the moment she pulled into her drive.
Heidi had been sitting inside with me when I’d seen her pull up, and I sent her outside to intervene with the Hubers, knowing that the assholes were going to be extra awful today.
Patrick was arrested by Gentry, a club brother and sheriff’s deputy with Jesper County Sheriff’s Department.
When one of their own was “targeted” they got mean and vindictive. No one would be spared.
And to keep myself from getting my hands dirty by beating the absolute shit out of them, I sent Heidi out because she would be the least threatening out of us all.
She came back with a surprise.
A surprise who looked wholly out of place, cold, and hesitant.
I hadn’t expected Heidi to bring her back, but now that she was here, I was glad that she did.
“Well, look who the cat dragged in,” Harvey drawled.
Romina slapped him across the chest. “What did I tell you about talking so badly about your sister?”
The table erupted in laughter.
“I was talking about Bernice.” Harvey rolled his eyes. “Romina, this is the woman my mom tortured for the last three months.”
Bernice’s eyebrows rose, but it was Romina who stood and walked over to Bernice and gave her a long hug. “I’m so sorry you had to deal with that horrible woman.”
Bernice’s eyes caught mine where I was leaning against the counter drinking a beer.
Her eyes widened and she mouthed, “What is going on?”
I shrugged.
When Romina pulled away, I noticed how Bernice’s arms went around her as she hugged herself.
I shoved off the counter and walked into my bedroom, coming back with the small throw that I had on my bed to cover my face and ears when I was sleeping, and handed it to Bernice.
She smiled at me gratefully, and I walked to the thermostat and kicked it up five degrees.
I’d be sweating my balls off in a few minutes, but it’d be worth it if I didn’t have to see Bernice shiver anymore.
“Cold?” Hampton asked.
Bernice gratefully wrapped the blanket around herself, then surreptitiously bent her nose into the fabric of the blanket before inhaling deeply.