Total pages in book: 180
Estimated words: 182075 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 910(@200wpm)___ 728(@250wpm)___ 607(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 182075 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 910(@200wpm)___ 728(@250wpm)___ 607(@300wpm)
Slade had insisted she take his credit card, but she’d bought their gifts with her savings.
She glanced over at their car, but it was out of sight. Dave, the driver, wouldn’t be able to see them.
The guy reached them, huffing and puffing. He had a receding hairline and squinty eyes.
“Jeez, Roger,” Margo said. “You might want to look into a gym membership.”
Harsh. But kind of fair. He was very red and sweaty and he hadn’t run that far. Suddenly, she wasn’t too concerned with him threatening them. She was fairly certain that they could easily out run him.
Even her.
Although, she’d been really tired lately. And it wasn’t like she was doing much. Well, except for growing a baby, she guessed. That did seem to suck her energy.
“Lemon, I need to talk to you.” He reached for the smaller woman’s arm and she shied back.
“Hey!” Margo yelled. She attempted to step forward, obviously trying to protect the smaller woman, but Lemon tugged her back and she stumbled.
“I need to talk to you! You have to tell them that it wasn’t my fault! That you wanted me to whip you,” the guy whined.
Holy heck.
Had he really just said that?
“I’ve been blackballed. I’ve got nowhere to play. Lemon! You will tell them!” He reached out for her again and Lemon let out a cry.
Indie! Stop standing there like a fool and do something!
She’d never really stood up for herself with Billy and she hated confrontation. But she was growing stronger. And she wasn’t going to let some guy bully Lemon.
Lemon, who was super kind and sweet, had a hurt that Indie could see ran deep.
“Just listen to me!” he cried. “You need to do what I want!”
“Or what?” Indie asked, stepping between him and the two other women. “What will you do to her if she doesn’t do what you want?”
“What?” He gave her a startled look as though he hadn’t even noticed that she was there. “Who are you?”
“I’m Indie. I’m Lemon’s friend and you’re scaring her. So you’re going to back off before I call the cops and have them arrest you for harassment.”
Go her!
Suddenly, a wave of dizziness hit her.
Now was not the time! This wasn’t the first time she’d gotten dizzy lately and it was starting to scare her.
You should probably tell the guys.
They’d overreact though and she didn’t need to be put to bed for the rest of her life.
All right, maybe she was exaggerating. It would probably just be until she was forty.
“Obviously you have no idea who you are talking to,” the guy said with a sniff. “But then why would you? You’re no one.”
“Way to dig your own grave, you idiot,” Margo said from behind her.
Indie glanced back to find that Margo was hugging Lemon against her. The smaller woman was staring up at Roger, her face filled with fear.
What right did this dick have to scare Lemon?
“I don’t care if you’re the fucking prime minister of Australia,” Indie told him. “You’ve no right to accost us like this and start screaming at Lemon. I’m sure there are cameras around here that the police would be very interested in looking at.”
Roger stepped back, glancing around. Then he sneered. “Good try. Nobody would bother putting cameras up in this neighborhood. What is there to even steal?”
“You’re such a wanker,” Margo told him tiredly.
“Lemon, I demand that you tell Slade the truth. That asshole has blackballed me everywhere. It’s not right when it was all your fault. You don’t want to make an enemy out of me.”
“Jesus, you’re like a bad bond villain,” Margo told him. “And if you wanted to convince Slade to let you back into the club then acting like a dick to his woman isn’t the way to go about it.”
“What are you talking about? You’re dating Slade? Aren’t you like his sister?” Roger asked, wrinkling his nose.
“Cousin,” Margo said dryly. “It’s not illegal, you know.”
“It’s not?” Indie asked.
“I mean, it’s weird and that would just be . . . gross.” Margo shuddered. “But it’s not illegal.”
“So you are with Slade?” Roger asked, looking ill as he gaped at Margo.
“No, you nitwit,” Margo told him. “Indie is.”
Roger turned back to her and she couldn’t help but give him a small finger wave as a feeling of smugness ran through her.
That was until he reached out and grabbed her arms and started to shake her.
Fear froze her.
Suddenly, it wasn’t Roger standing there but Billy. He was screaming at her. He would hurt her.
Then before her brain could break out of its freeze, Billy was ripped away from her.
There was more yelling but she couldn’t break free of the terror holding her in place.
“Indie!” Margo cried. “Honey, are you all right? You’re safe. You’re safe.”
Two arms enveloped her in a hug and she shuddered.
Safe?
Was she really ever safe?