Total pages in book: 180
Estimated words: 176012 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 880(@200wpm)___ 704(@250wpm)___ 587(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 176012 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 880(@200wpm)___ 704(@250wpm)___ 587(@300wpm)
“How did you know about that?” Isobel gasps.
I chuckle. “It came up in the background check.”
“You did a background check on me?”
“Haven’t you done one on me?” I shoot back.
She’s nosy and overbearing. Of course she did.
She avoids the question. “Psh.”
The guy and girl on the motorcycle pass by me, and I notice he’s quite a bit older than her with graying hair and a scruffy beard. I do a double-take, recognizing him.
Is that…?
He looks at me, and I look away. Shit, that’s Nate Dietrich. He was a rival of Madoc’s in school. Or of Jared’s. I guess Kade is keeping the legacy alive.
“Oh,” Isobel remarks before letting me go. “You have a date tonight. Do you want to cancel it yourself?”
I cut off my groan before it becomes audible. “I’ll take care of it.”
It’s tempting to let Isobel cancel what’s just become an appointment for two overworked people who need to blow off some steam, but it’s not a situation a good person puts their assistant in.
“I’ll get back to you when I have the files,” she tells me.
“Thanks.”
We hang up, and I walk toward Jax. Across the street, taking the steps up the hill to where he has electronics spread out under a tent.
“Hey,” I say, warm wind breezing through my hair.
He looks up. “Hi.”
“Need any help?”
“Nah, about done,” he tells me.
I nod, letting my eyes roam over the equipment and cords on the table, cases of drones underneath. I can’t go back to the Caruthers’ place. It’s too quiet.
I could go to Fallon’s shop, but Madoc’s car was there earlier, and I don’t have answers for questions he desperately wants to ask.
“You want to talk about it?” Jax offers.
I run my hand over the blade of a drone. “No.” I pause, then continue. “Just tell me I’m welcome in the Falls no matter what happens.”
“Why me?”
I meet his eyes. “Because you’ve been the worst places and you’re still here.”
I’m not supposed to know that he was severely abused as a child or that he killed his father’s girlfriend and their friend when he’d had enough. Madoc didn’t keep things from me, though, and he wanted me to understand that nothing is as it seems. It’s impossible to be aware of everything about every person, and we should always give the benefit of the doubt.
And there’s only one person we ever really know. If we’re lucky.
“Sometimes I was carried.” Jax gives me a soft smile. “Jared, Madoc… And by her.”
I don’t have to ask to know he’s talking about his wife.
“When my heart couldn’t stand me anymore, I just gave it to her,” he states.
I clench my jaw, watching him close a case, and I move my hand off a box of security cameras as he covers the table with a tarp.
Who do I give my shit to?
I’m a bad guy, and I’m putting everyone around me in danger. Who do I let see that?
Hours later, Jared and Jax take the front line while Madoc slams the racquetball, and I try to keep my eye on the damn game.
“Senator?” I shout.
“I think I can do it!” Madoc boasts back at me.
The ball bounces, echoing in the big chamber. Jax dives to slap it with his racket.
“‘Think you can?’” Jared growls, pulling off his shirt and tossing it. “You’re not climbing a mountain. You’d be altering your life!” He hits the ball next. “Your family’s lives. Our lives!”
We’ve only been playing for fifteen minutes, but everyone is sweating already. I was thankful they showed up, though. Working out with Noah Van der Berg by myself was the last thing I wanted tonight. He found a girl he’s presently spotting on the weight bench anyway.
Jax picks up the ball, tosses it in the air, and whips it at the wall. “Don’t senators spend much of the year in D.C.?”
“And there are no term limits,” Jared adds to Madoc. “You could be gone for the rest of your life. Is that what you want?”
“I feel our relationship can endure this challenge,” Madoc says sweetly.
Jared scowls. “Fuck you.”
I rumble with a laugh as I slap an overhand. Jared’s embellishing. Madoc wouldn’t be gone the rest of his life. But he would be gone a lot, and Jared would miss him. Of course, he’s not going to admit that to Madoc.
“We got everything,” Jared pants. “And getting greedy is a good way to lose it. Can’t you just be content?”
The ball comes for Madoc, but it’s lost behind him as he turns to Jared.
“There’s no stopping,” he tells his stepbrother. “Like you said, we have everything. Now it’s time to serve.”
“No politician actually thinks like that.”
“They should,” Madoc retorts. “When life is good, you can help. When life is bad, you can still help. No matter what happens to us, we can always focus on others first. It’s that purpose that keeps us connected to the world. Do you know how many people don’t know that?”