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)
“I’m so sorry, Dotty,” Monroe said, stepping into the room. She had a blanket wrapped around her and came to sit by Addie on the sofa. “This is all my fault. Maybe the two of you could go home. You should be safe. It’s just me they want, right?”
Dotty looked stricken for a moment, and Butch’s eyes narrowed before his face cleared of expression.
“None of this is your fault,” Dotty reassured her. “It’s all due to that asshole man you married.”
“Yeah, but I was the one that married a perfect stranger. And I insisted on coming here to find him.” Monroe looked miserable.
“And we’re not leaving you,” Addie told her, reaching out to wrap her arm around Monroe’s shoulders.
“Stop talking,” Cash said. “Last warning or you’ll find yourself in trouble, little girl.”
“Last warning?” Monroe asked. “What does that mean?”
Dotty put her hands on her hips. “Yes. What does that mean? What kind of trouble? And why are you calling her ‘little girl’?”
Her sisters knew she was a Little. And they might even realize that he was threatening to punish her. Ralen, who had just stepped into the room, gave her a knowing look so she knew he got it.
Why had Cash said that? To embarrass her? They all knew he didn’t want her that way.
Feeling embarrassed and uncertain of her emotions, Addie rushed into the bedroom, ignoring them calling out to her as she shut the door behind her.
30
Crawling onto the bed, Addie pulled all the covers over her and held Snaggles tight.
“Addie? Can I come in?” Cash asked through the door. “Addie?”
Addie closed her eyes as tears threatened. What was wrong with her?
“Addie, it’s us,” Monroe said. “We’re coming in.”
Great. She knew she wouldn’t be able to keep her sisters out. She felt the bed compress as they both sat.
“Can you come out?” Dotty asked.
Addie took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She was being silly.
“Come on, babes. This is us. You can tell us anything,” Monroe said. “Whatever is going on, surely can’t be worse than marrying a stranger, having him walk out on you and when you try to find him, you end up landing your sisters in danger.”
Hmm. Once you put it like that . . .
“Not that it’s a competition,” Monroe added.
Addie moved out from under the blanket and Dotty handed a tablet to her. It looked like the same one she’d used at Callahan Security.
“Ralen gave this to me. Apparently, it got delivered this morning.”
Addie glanced over at the door, wondering if Cash was still on the other side.
“He’s gone to have a shower,” Dotty told her, accurately reading her mind. “Ralen had to help convince him. He looked like he was ready to camp out until you opened the door.”
“He looked really unhappy,” Monroe added. “I think because he upset you.”
Really? He was concerned about her being upset?
That was kind of sweet.
Something that she was certain most people wouldn’t think about Cash Savage.
“What’s going on?” Monroe asked. “I mean, I know this is all shit. You must be really stressed out by now being away from all your things and your bed.” She leaned forward to look at Dotty. “Do you think the two of you could return? Without being in danger, I mean?”
“I don’t know. I keep racking my brain for different scenarios. But we don’t know enough about what’s going on to predict how these people will react. Do I think they’d come after us in Las Vegas? No. I don’t. Especially now that you’ve taken down the photos.”
Monroe had removed all of the photos and sent copies to Brody so he could go over them.
“I just don’t get it.” Monroe picked at the bedcover. “None of this makes sense.”
“What upset you, Addie? Is Cash bothering you? If he is, just say it and I’ll get him removed. Ink can find someone else to cover for him. I’m sure he’ll be interested to know if his employees aren’t behaving professionally. What does he mean by trouble? What kind of threat is that? Was it a violent one? Are you concerned that he will hit you?”
Whoa, Dotty had gone to the worst-case scenario very quickly, even for her.
“No, nothing like that,” she wrote into the tablet, letting Batman do the talking. “I’m not scared that he will hit me. Cash wouldn’t do something like that.”
“We don’t know him,” Dotty warned her. “We don’t know these guys at all.”
“Well, I do know that Cash doesn’t even work for Ink. He’s not getting paid for this. Neither does Ralen. They just feel some obligation to help me.”
Both Dotty and Monroe tensed.
“What?” Dotty asked. “They don’t work for him?”
She shook her head.
“That’s weird,” Dotty said.
Monroe leaned forward to look at their older sister. “How is it weird that they’d do this for Addie?”
Dotty frowned. “No, I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant, why would they do this for someone they barely know if they’re not getting paid?”