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)
Addie picked up the cup of fruit salad and placed it in front of Monroe. She knew what her sister would eat and what she wouldn’t, although the likelihood of her eating in front of all of these people was pretty slim. She usually only ate in front of Dotty and Addie.
Cash frowned, but didn’t say anything, and Addie picked up the sandwich. Her hand was trembling as she brought it to her mouth.
She definitely needed something in her system. Dotty sat on the other side of Monroe and glared at Cash. Probably because he’d taken the seat next to Addie. Monroe and Dotty were used to flanking her, keeping her safe from everyone. But right now, she wanted to concentrate on keeping them safe.
“So let’s talk about why you’re here, Dotty and Monroe,” Ink said.
“Let’s,” Dotty replied with a suspicious look. She expertly cut a croissant. “Can you tell us what is going on and why we were basically kidnapped from the police station?”
“Addie, with your permission, can I go through everything that’s happened?” Addie nodded at Ink, relief filling her. She didn’t know how she was going to tell them everything with all of these people in here, and she wasn’t sure what had happened to the tablet that Brody had given her earlier.
Ink told them everything, from the moment of the bar brawl, to her hiding in the back of Cash’s truck after she’d seen the man with the dead body. She glanced at her sisters and could see Dotty tensing, wanting to ask questions, but to her amazement, her older sister actually stayed quiet for once. Then he went through the trip to the hotel room and the message that had been left on the mirror. This time, it was Monroe who reacted, growing pale and nibbling on her bottom lip. She still hadn’t taken a bite of the fruit salad.
Addie was worried about her. Monroe seemed like she lived a charmed life, always flitting around, always happy. But she had some dark secrets, and she really needed somebody to take care of her.
Cash leaned into her as Dotty started to question Ink.
“I want to see you eat more.”
She turned, giving him a wide-eyed look, and he nodded down to the plate, where she’d only taken a few nibbles of a sandwich. Sometimes, her stomach was tied to her anxiety, and she guessed there’d been so much going on that she was struggling to eat.
“No getting up from the table until at least one sandwich and part of a muffin or pastry is gone.”
Wow. He could not say that sort of thing to her. This time, her eyes narrowed as she gave him a stern look.
Cash Savage wasn’t the boss of her.
And he needed to know that because if she gave that man one inch, he would surely take a mile.
“So you’re saying that Cash and Ralen, who don’t know any of us from a bar of soap, brought Addie here to get your help finding us after they found a threatening message in our trashed hotel room?” Dotty asked.
“Yes, that’s about it,” Ink said. He didn’t seem at all intimidated by Dotty, which was impressive.
Although she guessed when you owned your own security company, you’d have a fair amount of experience dealing with difficult clients.
“They didn’t do anything to you?” Dotty asked her.
What?
“Hey, I resent that,” Ralen said, leaning forward and frowning at Dotty. “Why would you ask that? Just because we’re guys?”
“Well, that, and you look kind of rough. You’ve got all these tattoos. You’re wearing leather jackets and biker boots, and you kind of have a ‘fuck me’ attitude.”
“Actually, it’s a fuck-you attitude.” Ralen grinned. “And you would do well not to judge a book by its cover.”
Yikes. Few people told Dotty off. She could see that her sister was taken aback.
“They’ve d-done nothing but help me,” she said quietly to Dotty.
Dotty just shook her head. “I’m still surprised you’re talking in front of all these people.”
“The bruise is from a m-man who tried to s-steal Cash’s truck on the way here. They’re good people.”
“Yes, but there has to be something they want, Addie. There’s always something they want. People just don’t do things out of the goodness of their hearts.”
Dotty knew well what it was like to live with someone who always wanted something from her.
“And if we don’t want anything in return?” Cash asked. “Is it hard to believe that we like Addie and want to help her?”
“Actually, it is,” Dotty said.
“The fact that we like your sister is so hard to believe?” Cash asked, a warning note in his voice.
Dotty glared at him, her cold blue eyes piercing. Monroe reached over and grasped hold of Addie’s hand. Addie suddenly realized that she’d been pressing her fingernails into the palm of her hand. Cash took her other hand and opened it. Had he seen what she had done? He ran his thumb over the marks in the palm of her hand.