A Dirty Business (Kings of New York #1) Read Online Tijan

Categories Genre: Contemporary, Forbidden, Mafia, New Adult, Romance, Suspense Tags Authors: Series: Kings of New York Series by Tijan
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Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 126580 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 633(@200wpm)___ 506(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
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We’d turned the back office into our new bedroom as well. Mine and Trace’s. We used it when we stayed here. The relationship with my mother was still in a delicate balance, so we stayed here a couple nights a week, for times when I wanted to spend the evenings with my mom or if I wanted to paint late into the night. All the other time was at Trace’s downtown place.

A whole host of other renovations was also happening on the house. My first paintings were paying for some of it. The other part was a gift from Trace, but it felt nice. The house was being taken care of, and this way my mom had a choice. She could sell, because in my mind, she was still the owner. Or I’d sell, if that’s what she insisted. It was a nice conversation to have. We had options. Both of us and she wasn’t hating me. I mean, I knew there were people out there who believed in working through family trauma, et cetera, whether it was done to us or done between us, but that wasn’t who we were.

We kept trucking forward, and if apologies were made and felt along the way, then even better. We were those kind of people, but something was going on.

I could hear my mom’s voice, and it went up a whole octave. She’d been like this all day today.

I don’t know what was happening, but I assumed it had something to do with Trace since she was also so insistent on cooking a whole feast for tonight. And she’d told me to dress nice too.

What was that about?

But she was happy. I was happy. Trace was happy with me, and he would get there with the rest, with whatever he decided, because I didn’t think he’d fully decided. He said after tonight, he’d have closure, and he could decide if he’d take Ashton up on his offer.

My mom was pacing, her footsteps going all around the kitchen.

I could hear Trace’s voice; he was more calm.

He wasn’t coming down, so I went back to my painting.

Chelsea made pasta, rolls, every dish of vegetables there was. Mashed potatoes. Yams. She was trying the vegetarian route, so we had a lot of meat that wasn’t meat, but it still tasted like meat, so I didn’t care.

My mom carried the conversation that night. She was talking a mile a minute, her eyes darting to Trace every thirty seconds.

After twenty minutes, I’d had enough. “Okay.” I scooted my chair back. “What’s going on?”

Trace went still.

My mom gasped and started chewing on her bottom lip.

I narrowed my eyes, looking between the two. “Something is obviously going on. You asked me to dress nice. You’re wearing a dress. Trace, well, you look the same since you always look good.” And he did. A Henley and jeans, and his hair was messed up in a seriously hot way that was speaking to my vagina.

“Well.” Trace stood up, his hand going into his pocket.

My mom gasped.

I frowned, but then my phone started ringing.

“Leave it.” Chelsea waved a hand at it.

But, no. It was Val.

I showed Trace the screen, and he nodded. If she was calling, it was important. We weren’t friends that phoned.

I answered. “What’s up?”

She let out a nervous breath.

That was my first clue.

I straightened, all focus on this phone call now. “What’s wrong? The baby?”

“No, no. This little kicker is still in me, but uh . . . I gotta tell you something.”

That was my second clue.

“What? In person?” I was racking my mind, but I couldn’t guess what it was about.

“Uh. We could do that, but this news is going to spread fast, and I want to make sure you hear it from me first.”

“Now you’re worrying me.”

“I know.”

That was my third clue. There was no reassurance. Nothing.

My stomach officially dropped, and I closed my eyes, preparing myself. Or I was trying.

I felt Trace next to me.

“Just tell me, Val.”

“Two bodies were found up north in New York. No one was notified down here because it’s not our jurisdiction. But they asked me to be the one to tell you.”

I was going through the list.

Who was here. Who wasn’t.

No, no, no.

I knew, I knew as she said it.

“DNA matches. It’s Kelly and Justin.”

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