Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 83167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 416(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 416(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
Oh man.
“You do not, ever,” Luke growled at Mo, “enter into an intimate relationship with the person you’re protecting.”
Mo’s head came up and he wasn’t amused anymore.
Oh man!
“He didn’t,” I said hurriedly to Luke. “We didn’t start that until a couple of hours ago.”
“Intimacy doesn’t only involve fucking,” Vance declared.
He had me there.
“It was totally professional,” I lied.
“Looks professional to me,” Ren remarked.
I glared at him, wondering what he was even doing there. He wasn’t a member of the Hot Bunch.
Though he was married to Ally Nightingale, now Ally Zano, and he was most definitely hot, and his own brand of badass, and obviously, when it came to certain things, it appeared it was all in the family.
“It’s over now,” I snapped. “Like I said, we didn’t start the fucking part until a couple of hours ago, even though I would have started fucking a week ago, Mo wouldn’t let me. So from that, you can see it was all professional.”
“Can you stop talking about fucking Mo?” Lee asked angrily.
“I’m a big girl, Lee,” I shot back at him.
“You’re every man in this room’s little sister, Lottie,” he returned. “So as such, can we please stop talking about you fucking anybody?”
I didn’t answer him.
I’d gone solid.
I was Jet’s little sister.
I wasn’t…
Woodenly, my head moved so I could take in the men in the room.
Every last one was scowling at me.
Because it wasn’t that my sister and all her friends’ men (and okay, also my friends) were badasses and assumed they could take care of all the women in their lives’ problems, no matter what kind of satellite that woman was in their life.
It was that all my big brothers had been kept in the dark when something was threatening me.
I didn’t…
I didn’t know.
I was just Lottie, Jet’s little sister.
I had no idea they felt this deeply for me.
But they did.
They did.
They felt really fucking deep for me.
It was then my throat closed and my eyes got hot.
“You didn’t come to me.”
My attention went to the man who spoke.
Eddie.
Oh boy.
“Eddie,” I whispered.
“If they didn’t have it…” He shook his head. “If something happened to you…” He couldn’t finish that either.
And I knew that, now, he couldn’t not only because his life would be hell if something happened to his beloved wife’s beloved little sister, his beloved boys’ beloved aunt.
Also because something would have happened to his sister-in-law, a woman he cared deeply about.
Oh God.
“It didn’t. It was Hawk Delgado, Eddie,” I said quietly. “He had it.”
“I’ve been to this guy’s house, Lottie,” Eddie retorted. “If they didn’t have it…”
He again didn’t finish.
With not a small amount of difficulty, I swallowed.
“Lottie, honey, look at me,” Hank called.
I looked at Hank.
“There was more than just finding this guy,” he said. “You had to be out of your mind worried. You should never take that on alone. It doesn’t help you or the situation and it doesn’t save the people you’re keeping in the dark from anything. They’re just going to feel what you’ve endured over a week in a second,” he lifted a hand to indicate the room, “as you can see.”
To be honest, I hadn’t even thought of that.
I just put my head down and got on with it.
But I did that because I didn’t want to worry anyone. Worrying the girls at work was bad enough, and that wasn’t my choice. If it was, I wouldn’t have done it.
And I was Lottie Mac. I was a tough broad. I could handle anything. I’d been on my own and doing that for a long time.
Not to mention, I had Smithie. Hawk Delgado. His team.
And I had Mo.
“Yeah,” I admitted. “But I had Mo.”
Bad idea.
Hank looked to Mo and his gentle big brother expression vanished.
“How about you go put some clothes on while we have a word with Mo,” Luke suggested.
Oh no.
“Luke—”
“Lottie,” Mo’s hand came again to the small of my back, “go get dressed.”
I looked up at him. “I’m not leaving you.”
“It’ll be okay. We have to have a chat,” he replied.
My spine snapped straight. “I’m not leaving you, Mo.”
“You need to put some clothes on,” he retorted.
“I’m practically wearing a smock,” I fired back.
“It’s sexy AF and not helping anything,” he returned.
It was not.
Was it?
“It isn’t.”
“Lottie, I would know,” he pointed out.
“I would too, my eyes are burning,” Luke muttered.
“Babydoll nightie, Christ,” Vance bit out.
I looked down at myself.
Okay.
Maybe it was cute.
And a little hot.
I turned to the men. “You’ve seen me strip. All of you.”
Luke’s gaze bored into mine. “Don’t remind me.”
“I might hurl,” Hector mumbled to floor.
Holy smokes.
They were totally my big brothers.
“Lottie, go put clothes on,” Mo rumbled.
And there was the Brook No Argument Voice.
I glared at him. “Fine.” I turned my glare to the men in the room. “But no one hurt him while I’m gone.”
“We’re not gonna hurt him,” Ren said.