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)
“What can I give her?” Quaid said.
“Fuck, I didn’t realize you were this insecure,” Slade grumbled. “Do you need a list of all your attributes? A hug?”
“Touch me, asshole, and you die,” Quaid snarled.
Slade had to grin. “Now, there’s the Quaid I know and love. We all know you have plenty to offer her. You just have to stop being so fucking self-sacrificing. No one is jumping ship. That includes you, Rock. If she senses we’re not all onboard with this, she’ll start doubting as well. She needs our confidence to feel secure and . . . loved.”
Because he did love her.
And he knew these guys did too.
“Bring her Billy,” Rock rasped.
Slade glanced over at him. But Rock was staring at Quaid.
Quaid nodded. “That I can do.”
“We all want a piece of Billy,” Slade said darkly. “Quaid is going to get Shepherd to track him down.”
“I’ll get him here tonight,” Quaid said.
Slade’s phone buzzed and he checked it. “Spencer. About fucking time.”
Asshole was supposed to be giving them regular updates.
Spencer: Think I fucked up.
Slade: How?
Quaid: What did you do?
Rock: Talk.
Spencer: She needed to go to the bathroom, so I carried her in. I was careful to begin with but when I went to help with her pajamas, she flinched back and hurt herself.
Fuck.
They’d all seen how jumpy she was.
Spencer: She’s scared of me now. I don’t know what to fucking do.
Things were bad if Spencer was lost.
Quaid: Slow things down. Take it easy. Warn her before touching her. But whatever you do, do not leave her. She needs consistency. For you to show her that your touch isn’t going to hurt.
Slade stared over at his damaged friend. If anyone knew what Indie was going through it was him.
Rock: She likes praise.
Fuck. How had he forgotten that? Indie had received no kind words from her mother growing up. No praise or positivity. Now she sucked it up like a dry sponge soaking up water.
Spencer: Right. Yeah. Keep my movements slow. Warn her. Lots of praise. Anything else?
Slade: See if you can get her to eat.
Spencer: Yeah, no kidding. She’s as light as a feather. I could feel her ribs. She needs lots of care and attention.
Slade tapped his fingers against the desk and glanced over at the other two men. Then he typed out another message to the group chat.
Slade: Q is going to talk to Shepherd to get his help finding Billy. I’ll ask Church to take over the club for a while. And Ramsey and Angus can take on more responsibility at work.
They owned several nightclubs that Spencer oversaw. Slade ran Club Slade. He and Quaid were the CEO and CFO of their construction firm. While Rock was the head of design.
Angus and Ramsey were brothers and had gone to school with them. They trusted them both.
Spencer: Good. Because I don’t want to leave her. She’s so fucking fragile that it . . . it scares me.
It scared all of them.
20
Indie glanced over in surprise as the door opened without anyone knocking.
And Spencer walked in. Well, she assumed it was Spencer behind the large bunch of flowers he held.
When she’d gotten out of the bathroom, he’d been gone. And she hadn’t been sure whether he would return or not.
Yet, here he was. And her heart leapt with excitement.
Urgh.
She had issues.
Remember that they treated you like you were dirt. Dog poop on their shoes.
And you don’t owe them anything.
Not to mention that flowers just reminded her of Billy. Okay, she thought she might be sick now.
Although she noticed that the blooms were all white or pale pink. Her favorite colors. And that there was a mix of roses, lilies, gerberas, and tulips.
Someone had chosen that bunch just for her.
It didn’t make it any easier to look at them.
“The flowers are from all of us,” Spencer said as he placed a bag on the floor by the bed. “Unless you don’t like them and then they came from Quaid.”
She raised her eyebrows. He was throwing Quaid under the bus, huh?
Spencer held the flowers out to her. She stared from them to him.
“I know that you want to punish us,” he said quietly. “And so you should. Get your pound of flesh, Princess. Make us work for it. But even though you want to punish us, it’s not the flowers fault.”
“I understand what you’re saying . . . but I just don’t like flowers anymore. Billy would . . . Billy would buy me flowers after he . . .”
Keep it together, Indie.
There was silence and Spencer had grown pale.
Shaky.
“Right. Got it.” He turned and left.
Shoot. She hoped that he gave them to someone else.
Why do I feel so bad?
When he returned the flowers were gone, but he still appeared pale.
“I’m so sorry, Princess.”
“You weren’t to know,” she replied quietly.
He shook his head. “Makes me feel ill, thinking of him . . . shit. That fucking prick.”