Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 88736 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 444(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88736 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 444(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
Teddy laughed lightly. “I appreciate it. I’m not sure I remember anyone’s names, I met so many people.”
“It’ll get easier,” he assured her. “Come on. The boys are waitin’ on us.”
“The boys?” Teddy mouthed at me.
I just shook my head. We were about five seconds from the doorway, and she’d see for herself. Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I set it in the basket on the end of the bar.
“Your phone in your bag?” I asked her.
“Yeah, why?”
“Leave it out on the bar, baby.”
“You can leave the whole bag,” Casper advised. “No one will touch it.”
“Um…okay,” she murmured, pulling it off her shoulder.
As soon as she’d set it on the bar, Casper led us into the room. Sitting around the table were my dad, Uncle Leo, Grandpa Dragon, and Grease. Their conversation came to an end as they turned to look at us.
“Jesus, you look like your mother,” Grandpa Dragon said with a smile. “Didn’t notice it when you had your hair down Saturday, but I’m sure as hell seein’ it now.”
Teddy smiled and reached back to touch the braid at the base of her neck. “Yeah, that’s what Grease said.”
“’Cause it’s true,” Grease chuckled. “Come in and take a seat, Teddy.”
I pressed my hand against the base of Teddy’s spine to get her moving, rubbing my thumb back and forth to reassure her as she picked a chair. As soon as she sat down, I stood behind her.
“Like that, is it?” Grandpa Dragon asked, his eyes laser sharp on mine.
“Did you expect it to be any other way?” I replied.
He held my gaze for a long moment. His lips twitched as he gave me a small nod, then he looked to Teddy.
“You settlin’ in all right?” he asked her, leaning forward to rest his forearms on the table. “Kids good?”
“Yeah,” she murmured, glancing questioningly up at me. “Thank you for everything you did.” She glanced over at Grease. “I know my dad asked you to look out for me—”
“Called in a marker,” Dragon corrected.
“What?”
“We owed him.”
“Oh,” she muttered. “Right. Well, thank you.”
I wasn’t sure what Teddy and I were. We’d blurred the lines the minute she’d stripped out of that ratty tank top two nights before. Roommates at the very least and friends if I was feeling confident. But even if all of that was ignored, I’d still been tasked with giving her and her kids cover—making sure they were safe and protected—and I wasn’t happy with the way my grandfather was speaking to her. There wasn’t anything outwardly antagonistic, but his tone was riding the line of dismissive, like he was putting her in her place.
Which made no fucking sense because she hadn’t done anything wrong.
“I understand you’re a diesel mechanic,” he continued.
“Yeah, I worked at a friend’s shop before we moved. I’m competent with heavy machinery, but I’m a fucking magician with semis—”
“That all you do?” he asked, cutting her off.
I stiffened as I realized what he was getting at, and Teddy’s shoulder tightened under my hand. My dad had mentioned that Dragon wanted to talk to Teddy about her job search, and she’d gone into the meeting thinking that.
“Are you asking if I can do modifications?” she questioned emotionlessly. “Or if I’ve done them in the past?”
“Both.”
“Both,” she replied flatly. “Like I told your man…” She jerked her head at Grease. “I haven’t done that kind of work in over five years.”
“For Granger,” Dragon said.
“Yeah, for Granger.” She sat up straighter in her chair, which I hadn’t realized was possible. “Like I said before, I did some work for him over five years ago. I wasn’t happy about it, but I didn’t really have a choice.”
“And nothing since then?”
“She already answered you,” I barked.
My dad called my name in warning.
“You keep your mouth shut,” my grandfather ordered, pointing at me. “You’re here as a courtesy. Nothin’ more.”
I grit my teeth as Teddy’s hand came up and patted mine.
“Is that what this is?” she asked, glancing around the table. “You want me to do some mods? I’m rusty, but I could take a look.”
“We’ve had a call from David Granger,” Dragon said, leaning back into his seat. “Said you work for him, and he’s reachin’ out to see why you’re here.”
“I don’t work for him,” Teddy replied firmly. She was practically vibrating. “I did a few mods over five years ago.”
“And nothing since then?”
“No. Nothing since then.”
“Okay,” he said with a nod.
“Is that it?” she asked. Without waiting for an answer, she rose to her feet. “Cool. Good talk.”
She spun and left the room as Grandpa Casper called my name.
I turned to look at him.
“We had to be sure,” he said carefully. “If we’re shelterin’ her here, we had to be sure.”
I stared at him for a moment, knowing that if I said what was on my mind, I’d be fucked. They could’ve just asked her. Grease, the man she remembered, could’ve stopped by the house at any time and asked her what they needed to know. Instead, they’d called her into the club, sat her down in a room full of men she didn’t know, and interrogated her.