Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 88580 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88580 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
“I understand,” Tony says through his plastered-on smile. “You prick.”
“Good boy.” Adler releases him and Tony hurries off. He sighs and leans up against the bar, flagging the waitress for a whiskey. “I really thought owning him would be more fun than it is.”
“Still wish you had killed him a year ago?”
“Don’t think he’s out of the woods yet.”
“Oh, Adler, my big, scary husband.” I grin and lean against him. “Everyone’s trembling when you’re around.”
“They tremble with fear. You tremble with something else.”
I roll my eyes. “I love you. You know that?”
“I love you too.”
“If Tony’s a problem, I give you permission to sink him to the bottom of the Atlantic. With all due respect.”
“Thank you for permission.” He kisses me softly. “Now, let’s go watch the returns come in. I think our boy’s going to win.”
“He’s already up by ten percent and almost everything’s reported. Pretty sure it’s a landslide.”
“We’ve created a monster.”
“No, we own a monster.” I take Adler’s offered hand and get to my feet. “Your mother’s here, over at the slots. Gambling.”
“Donating to the cause.” Adler squints toward her. “Should we say hello?”
“I will. You go on ahead.”
“You sure?”
“Positive.”
He kisses me again and walks off toward the televisions. I sigh, shuffling over toward where Adler’s mother is jabbing at the electronic slot screen with her manicured finger.
“Good evening, Casey,” she says, glancing at me. “How is the baby?”
“The baby’s fine. How are you?”
“Tired. Sick of all the commotion. I remember when the Sunrise was a respectable place.”
“That’s not how Adler remembers it.” I sink down in a chair at the machine next to hers. “I’ve been thinking. We don’t have a name for the baby yet, and if it’s a girl, I was maybe going to name her after you.”
Her eyebrows raise and her finger hesitates over the spin button. “Really? Why?”
“Because Adler would like it and it’d be nice if our child had half the strength you do.” I’ve gotten to know his mother very well over the last year, and though she still doesn’t fully accept me, things are better than they were. And now I feel as though I understand what she went through as the wife of Adler’s father.
“I’d like that.” She jabs the screen, lips pressed together. “Aren’t you up late, dear? You’re pregnant. You should be resting.”
“Yes, I know,” I say, getting to my feet again. “Lovely speaking to you.”
“Yes, I’m sure.”
I walk off, smiling to myself. I pause in the crowd and look around—at the casino, at the people moving through it, and at Adler standing among them like he could control the flow of humanity with a finger. My grin gets bigger, and I approach him, getting up on my toes to kiss his cheek.
“I’m happy you hit me with that car,” I whisper.
He grimaces. “That’s not funny.”
“Well, I am.”
“And anyway, Tony did it.”
“Then I’m happy you were there. Otherwise, I don’t know where I’d be right now.”
“You wouldn’t be in pain.”
“Overrated.” I kiss him again. “Now how about escorting your wife back to our apartment? Your mother says I need to rest and that’s excuse enough for me to ditch out on this.”
“Happy to oblige.” He offers me his arm, and I take it.