Total pages in book: 159
Estimated words: 155775 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 779(@200wpm)___ 623(@250wpm)___ 519(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 155775 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 779(@200wpm)___ 623(@250wpm)___ 519(@300wpm)
And then Cash swept her up against him, lifting her onto his hip. At another time, she might have been embarrassed to be held like this, but right now she was relieved to have an excuse to take her gaze off Dante.
She buried her face into Cash’s chest and let him hold her. Perhaps she’d just let him deal with Dante.
“Cute little thing, isn’t she? Does she talk?” Dante asked.
“Dante, you’re being rude,” Bonnie scolded. “Addie is my friend. And I don’t mind that Cash and Ralen went to help her. From what Ralen said, if they hadn’t been there, she could have been badly hurt. She could have been stabbed. I’m glad they went.”
“I know you say that she’s your friend, Bonnie,” Dante said, his voice softening. “But how long have you even known her?”
“Is there really a number of days that you have to know someone in order for them to be your friend?”
“She’s met her once,” Titus said.
“Titus, whose side are you on?” Bonnie exclaimed.
“He’s on mine,” Dante said. “Since he’s my man.”
“Well, since you get a man, then I’m going to claim a woman, and I claim Addie,” Bonnie told him.
“Really? And what do you claim her for? What will she do for you?” Dante asked her.
“Dante, people don’t always have to do something for you. Sometimes you can do something for them.”
“Oh, like try to save her from me?” Dante asked smoothly.
Was she in danger?
“You’re not going to hurt her, Dante,” Cash said.
Oh, shit. Things were not going well.
“And who’s going to stop me, if that’s what I want?” Dante asked.
“I am. I’m not going to allow you to hurt her. Addie belongs to me. She’s under my protection. She’s my girl.”
“So you’re going to go up against me in order to keep her safe, are you?” Dante asked.
“Yes, I am.”
Addie scrambled out of his hold. She must have caught him by surprise, because he let her go. She stood in front of Cash with her arms spread wide. “I won’t let you hurt him. If you’re going to hurt anyone, hurt me.”
Dante caught her in his gaze again. Jesus. It took every ounce of willpower she had to stand her ground. Why were his eyes so dark? So soulless?
What was she thinking? Oh, yeah, she was thinking that she needed to protect Cash.
Dante stared at her without expression. Ralen seemed horrified. While Bonnie was just smiling.
“Oh, Addie. Love the outfit.”
Her outfit? She was wearing what they’d managed to find at a gift store on their way to the airport. So it was more Las Vegas tourist stuff.
“Addie, what do you think you’re doing?” Cash reached out, drawing her in behind him.
“You don’t need to hide her from me. I’m not going to harm her. I’m not actually in the business of harming innocent women.”
That didn’t mean that Cash was safe.
“So, it’s not just a fling then, huh? You really do care about each other,” Dante said. “You must, if you’re willing to go up against me to protect one another.”
Dante moved over to Ralen and took hold of his hand. Ralen gave him a shocked look as Dante drew him in, patting him on the back. The pat didn’t look gentle, and she winced, but Ralen didn’t show any sign of pain.
“Good to see you, Cousin.”
What was going on? She didn’t understand. Why did Dante now seem less cold and more relaxed?”
“That was a test?” Cash asked.
“I don’t want you just running off every time you see a girl whose skirt you want to chase,” Dante said. “I had to know that you actually cared about each other. That she best be worth what you risked. The fact that she was willing to get between the two of us shows some strength of character, and the depth of her feelings for you.”
So he’d been scary on purpose to see whether she really did love Cash?
“But don’t get the wrong idea. I’m still very unhappy. The two of you took your time looking for Ortega. And then when you did find him, you didn’t keep him with you. So I had to come here to try and talk some sense into my brother since all he sent me was a short message saying, ‘I’m fine.’”
Ralen sighed. “I told him to call you.”
“Well, Ortega doesn’t always do what other people want him to. You should have stayed with him.”
“He didn’t want us to stay with him,” Ralen told Dante. “There’s no way we could have kept him with us if he wanted to leave.”
Dante crossed his arms over his chest. “Then I get here and find the two of you gone without a word. So no, I’m definitely not happy.”
“We’ll take whatever punishment you deem is suitable,” Ralen told him.
“Good, because there’s going to be one. The two of you need to decide which one of you is coming back with me.”