Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 160684 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 803(@200wpm)___ 643(@250wpm)___ 536(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 160684 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 803(@200wpm)___ 643(@250wpm)___ 536(@300wpm)
“They said you took some of your pain pills.”
“They?” she asked.
“Um, Mr. Steele and Mr. Grady. Your bosses.”
“Holy crap.” They’d both been here? “Shit. I don’t usually drop into a coma like that.” Sure, the pills made her tired. Maybe a bit loopy if she took them on an empty tummy. But she was never completely out of it.
And she felt like there was more to it. What wasn’t she remembering?
“They didn’t like that you sleep on the couch.”
“What?” She froze. Fuck. They’d been in the apartment?
Of course they have. Steele carried you to bed.
“Yeah. They didn’t like it at all. And when I told them I had offered to sleep on the couch, they didn’t like that either. Effie . . .”
“Yeah?”
“They said they were leaving someone out the front of the building to make sure we were safe.”
“What?” she whispered. “Why? Are we not safe?”
“I think . . . I kind of think they wanted to stay. To make sure that you were all right. But they didn’t want to push me, and so they, um, they said to call them if you needed them and that someone would be sitting in a car out front all night.”
What the heck?
“That seems . . . intense.” Kind of scary. And kind of, well, caring? Was she nuts to think that?
“Aunt Effie? I don’t know any other bosses who act like they do. They seem . . . they really seem to care about you.”
“I don’t . . . I don’t really know what’s going on. But they have a rule about getting involved with any of their employees.”
“Right. Well, I’m just saying . . . they might be breaking their own rule. And I guess if you make the rule, you get to change it.”
“I guess.” She probably shouldn’t be having his conversation with her sixteen-year-old nephew.
“Did they . . . did I . . .?” She cleared her throat.
Be the adult, Effie.
“I’m sorry if I embarrassed you.”
Brooks scowled. “How would you do that?”
“By passing out and getting carried into bed. And I’m sorry you had to sleep on the couch. I hope you weren’t scared.”
“Aunt Effie, I wish you’d sleep in the bed. I’ve told you that lots of times. It should be me sleeping out there. And not just because you have a bad back. But because I should be between you and the front door.”
“What?”
“Royal and Baron say that a man is no man if he doesn’t do his best to protect the women in his life.”
Yikes.
“But it’s my job to protect you.” She was the adult.
“I’m getting older, Aunt Effie,” he said gently. “I’m not a kid anymore.”
She sighed and nodded. “I know. Truth is, I’m not sure you were ever a kid. Well, except when I was changing your diapers.”
He groaned. “Let’s not go there.”
“Your dad used to hold his breath while he was doing it. I swear he nearly passed out several times.”
“Aunt Effie! Shut up!”
“Sorry.” She held back her grin. Sure, it was her job to embarrass him. But it was also her job to acknowledge that he wasn’t her little boy anymore. He was a young man. “Baron and Royal seem to have some, um, interesting opinions.”
“They’re good guys.”
“I’m sure they are.”
“They look after their stepmom. And they say her boyfriend is a good guy too. They told me he’s going to propose soon. He showed them the ring and asked their permission first.”
“Really? That’s so sweet.”
“You’re not going to cry, are you?” Brooks gave her a horrified look and she smiled at him. There was still some teenage boy in there.
“I’m good.”
“They also said that they know about Steele and Grady because Ink, their stepmom’s boyfriend, is good friends with Steele’s brother-in-law.”
His brother-in-law?
“So they’ve heard things and they said that we might hear things too. Some of them good, some of them not.”
“What?” she whispered.
“Do you know anything about what Steele does?”
Shit.
Yeah, she knew. Because she wasn’t an idiot. And because she’d been warned.
But she hadn’t intended to tell Brooks. Because she didn’t want him to know how desperate she’d become.
Desperate enough to work for a man who had a . . . reputation. The thing was, the thing that Chardonnay had made clear was that Steele was a good boss. And that nothing bad ever touched the people who worked for him.
“I know.”
Relief filled Brooks’ face, which confused her.
Then she got it. He was worried he’d have to tell her.
“And you’re okay with that?” he asked.
“Kind of? I mean . . . I’ve heard things, but they’re rumors. You know I don’t like to judge or make assumptions about people. And the thing is . . . sometimes good people do bad things. Or they get in trouble for good reasons. And sometimes, the world isn’t black and white. There’s gray in there.”