Total pages in book: 50
Estimated words: 47524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 238(@200wpm)___ 190(@250wpm)___ 158(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 238(@200wpm)___ 190(@250wpm)___ 158(@300wpm)
“Make amends. Just leave me alone, that’s all you need to do.”
“I heard the Italian restaurant is a great place to go,” Road said.
Dinah sighed, looked at him, and shook her head. “No, thank you, and last time I checked, I don’t believe leather is on the acceptable dress list.”
“Come on, you have got to give me a chance here.”
“No, I don’t have to give you anything. First, you attack me for no good reason. Then, you invade my home by breaking and entering, and I can’t even call the cops on you. Trust me, I don’t have to do anything.”
He wouldn’t move away from her door.
“Please, I just want to go home.”
“How about a drive-thru, but let me by you dinner?” he said. “You’re clearly exhausted and if you go home, you’ve got to make your own food. Unless you want me to cook for you.”
Dinah couldn’t believe she was even considering this. Her mother had always been a stickler about how unhealthy drive-thru and fast food was. She avoided it as it was her mother’s wish to never eat it. Her mother was raised on good food, as was her father, and Dinah would be as well. Even to this day, she’d never gone for a drive-thru burger.
She didn’t trust Road, but if he was going to keep coming around and pestering her, she needed to figure out a way to stop him.
“Fine, you can cook me dinner,” she said.
“Wait, what?”
“You heard me. My mom would never allow me to eat at one of those places, as she said it was unhealthy. A good, home-cooked meal was ideal, and she always made sure she had the time to cook. Well, guess what, I’ll take you up on your offer to cook for me.”
She had a feeling he was bluffing. Either he’d leave her alone, or he’d cook for her. Both options were a win for her. If he left, then she would put money on him never returning, and if he cooked her dinner, she got a meal out of it.
Road stepped out of the way, and seeing as he already knew the way to her home, she didn’t even wait or offer to have him follow her. Turning over her ignition, she started up her baby and took off, heading home.
She didn’t check in the rearview mirror to see if he was following her. Dinah didn’t know if she even cared if he did or not. There was no way she was going to think about Road, not in any way other than a man who clearly had a very short fuse.
At least they did have something in common—their hatred of Sergey Golubev. She had lost so much of her life hating a man she had never met, but had been living with the consequences of what he did. If she ever did meet him, she had played over and again what she would say or do. It didn’t matter, though, because none of it did.
Sergey had hurt her mother, and Dinah believed it had caused her to lose the will to live. She rubbed at her temple as she pulled into the drive of her mother’s home—her family home.
Climbing out of the car, she heard his bike and she watched, expecting him to ride past her, but instead he pulled onto the driveway beside her.
“You’re going to do this?” she asked.
“Yeah, I don’t see a reason not to.”
She pursed her lips and then shrugged. “Fair enough.” She walked around to the trunk of her car and popped it open, but Road was there to grab her bag. She didn’t argue with him and waited.
“Thanks,” she said.
She attempted to take it from him, but he wouldn’t let her.
“I’ve got it.”
Dinah wasn’t used to having anyone help her, so it was next to impossible for her to accept it. She didn’t know how she was able to, but she gritted her teeth and then went to her door, sliding her key into the lock. Stepping over her threshold, she moved out of the way, allowing Road to enter.
“You know, it has just come to my attention that you and I have not been formally introduced,” he said.
“True.”
“I’m Road.”
“Dinah.”
He held out his hand and she put hers in his.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Dinah.”
“I am not going to say likewise.” She offered him a smile. “I’ll show you the way to the kitchen.”
“You’re really going to make me do this?” he asked.
“I’m not going to make you do anything you don’t want to do. This is all up to you.” She went to the fridge and grabbed herself a bottle of water. “You offered, I accepted, now tell me, Road of the Evil Fallen Bratva MC, are you going to keep your word?” she asked, taking a seat.
For several seconds he stared at her, and she truly thought he was going to back out, but then he clapped his hands, removed his leather cut, placed it on a chair, and headed to the fridge.