Page 105 of Fighting the Odds

I raise my eyebrows as I think, shit it’s close.

“October 16th.”

“Really. That’s like two and a half weeks from now.”

“Yeah, I’ll be the big eighteen.”

“What do you want for your birthday?”

He asks me the one question I don’t have to think about.

“I want to be able to see my sister and have her back home with me. And you asked two questions in a row, sir.”

He laughs, then hits a particularly tender spot on my foot and I can’t help the moan that escapes.

“You’re good at this. Did you do it for all your girlfriends?”

He tilts his head away from me. “I didn’t really have a girlfriend. When I was in foster care, it was hard, then when Dad adopted us, I just dated around, not really settling on anyone. Now I think I was searching for someone, and that person just so happened to not be there. I had to move to find her. And judging by the moan my girlfriend just let out, I think she likes my foot rubs.” He turns his head back toward me and winks.

“Girlfriend. That has a nice ring to it. Now, can I see those nail polish colors?”

“Yes, you can.” He releases my feet and reaches into the bag beside him, pulling out two bottles. One green and one blue. Odd choices. I know green is my favorite color, but what’s the blue for?

“Is blue, by chance, your favorite color?” I ask, already seeing what Sam has done, that sneaky little girl.

“It is. She told me I could paint one of two ways. I’ve just decided which one it’s going to be, so just lie back and be patient. Let me pamper my girl before she needs to go to work. I’m sure you want to take a nap."

“I do. I need to be there at eight. But can you take a nap with me?”

“I would love that.”

He sits the polish down on the table and pulls out a piece of foam made to go between the toes to separate them. Once they’re in place, he picks up the green bottle and opens it. He pulls the brush out and begins to paint, starting at the big toe on my right foot. It’s like he’s trying to paint a masterpiece as he glides the polish across my nails, skipping every other toe.

He moves to the other foot, except this time, he skips the big toe and starts with the one after that. Once he’s done, he puts the green on the table and picks up the blue, doing the same process on the unpainted nails.

He’s not the best; some of the paint has ended up on my skin, but the way his face twists as he focuses makes my heart warm. He’s trying so hard and I love it.

Yeah, this one is definitely carving out his place in my heart.

Chapter 49

Rico

Ihang up the phone. It took every ounce of my control to not fucking go off on the bastard. He has a special place in hell ready for him, and I want to be the one to send him there.

Picking up the notepad I threw in anger off the floor, I hand it over to Bash. “This is the address the asshole wants us to send Sierra to. I’m not familiar with the building, but I do know the address is on the upper scale side of town.” Bash, Colin, and Sam are sitting in my office, so we can iron out some more details.

“We got it. Colin, you and Ryker take a couple of the prospects with ya and go scope out the place. Make sure we know every inch of the place and where to put the cameras.”

“Want us to go ahead and put some up, save another trip back? That way, we can see who comes and goes tomorrow?” Colin asks.

“Yeah, go ahead,” Bash tells him as he takes a picture of the address and types something into his phone. When Colin’s phone buzzes, I figure out he sent him the address.

Guess that’s important. He can't check out the place if he doesn’t know where he’s going.

“Be careful. They may already have camera equipment up, especially if he’s into recording his attacks. Sierra could have been a one-time thing, but from what the boy said, it’s a game for these fuckers,” I add in.

I know they’re good at what they do, but I can’t risk anything fucking up this plan. The asshole needs to go down.

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