Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 96129 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96129 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
49
ROSIE
Yari: bro why do all the fun things happen when I’m away?
Me: are you reading the wrong texts? What is fun about that?!
Yari: you went on a date with a HOT AF guy and your HOT AF boyfriend showed up and asked you to marry you
Me: told me. He TOLD me to marry him
Yari: that’s fucking hot. Admit it.
Me: *eye roll emoji*
Yari: just sayin’. What’s up with the hot football player tho? Is he single?
Me: IDK. I played matchmaker and he left with one of his teammates’ sister’s number lol
Yari: soon you’ll turn Oui into a dating service and be the CEO
I laughed as I put my phone away and looked out the window. Marco was driving me to my dad’s house and had taken the long way since there was an accident on the usual route. It was yet another reason taking the train would probably have been faster, but I didn’t want to argue. Besides, it was cold as hell outside and warm in this car. My smile faltered when we neared the street Tempt was on. I hadn’t been around here in so long, and even though I knew Tommy and Anthony were no longer able to get to me, the feeling remained. When it came into view, I had to make myself look at it, but what I saw was not what I’d expected. I sat back in my seat and did a triple-take.
“What happened there?”
“There was a fire.”
“Oh my God.” I set my hand on my chest. “When?”
“Last week.”
Last week. I thought about the night Dominic showed up at the event telling me to marry him and smelling like a forest fire. “Were there people inside?” I whispered.
“The club was shut down,” Marco said.
“Oh.” I breathed out. “So no one died?”
“No innocent people were injured.” His eyes met mine in the rearview.
No innocent people. Interesting choice of words, but I wouldn’t expect any less from these guys. I didn’t say anything else as we approached my dad’s neighborhood. What was there to say, though? Is this who I would become? A person who hears about people dying and shrugs it away just because they weren’t innocent? When we reached the curb, I was surprised to find the other SUV already there and Adio standing outside.
“Are you switching this early?” I asked.
“Yeah. I have some things to do. Adio will take you home.” Marco got out of the car and opened the door for me. He walked me up to the door and waited for my dad to answer.
“Sir,” Marco said.
Dad looked at him and gave a terse nod before opening the door a little wider for me. He never greeted them, which was so unlike him. Dad was the kind of guy who walked into an elevator and said hello, walked into a quiet store and said hello, but he never gave these guys that courtesy. Marco waited until I walked inside before walking away. Normally, that bothered me, but tonight I was already upset at Dominic’s lack of communication and was just waiting to get into an argument with someone. In this case, it was going to be my father, because these last few weeks, he’d been a complete jerk; not just to those guys, but to Santi as well, and I’d been biding my time until Santi wasn’t here and it was just the two of us. so I could really give him a piece of my mind.
“You could say hi, you know,” I said. “They’ve done nothing but protect me.”
“So I’ve heard.” Dad shut the door behind me. I turned around and gave him the fastest kiss on the cheek I’d ever given him. “What was that?”
“Nothing.” I looked around. “Where’s Santi?”
“He just stepped out to get something.”
“Good. I’ve been meaning to talk to you. The way you’ve been treating him lately is total bullshit.”
“Roselyn.”
“No. You want to lecture us about our language? Maybe try treating people with respect first.” I turned around to take a breath and looked at the table. “Is Vicky coming?”
“Yes,” he snapped.
I looked up at him. “What the heck is wrong with you?”
“I’m just a little out of sorts,” he said.
“A little out of sorts,” I repeated. “What happened?”
“Your boyfriend came by.”
Oh God. My heart stopped beating. “What did he want? What did he say?”
“He was talking about marriage.”
“What? Oh, God.” I set a hand on my stomach and reached for the nearest chair. “I need to sit down.”
“He says he’s done with the thug life.” Dad’s lips twisted. His eyes snapped to mine. “What? Why are you shaking your head like that?”
“Because it’s Dominic, not Tupac.”
Dad scoffed. “Have you seen how many tattoos the guy has?”
I rolled my eyes. “So that’s it? He came to tell you he was done with ‘the thug life’?”
“He came to ask for your hand in marriage.”