Page 50 of Tore Up

“Fine. I’ll call him then,” she replied.

“You do that,” was his response, and then he handed me the note. “Give this to Than when he’s out.”

I took it. “All right.”

The door closed behind Alora, and he gave me a skeptical look. “You sure this is a good idea? I know Bane isn’t aware you’re here.”

I held the paper tightly between my thumb and forefinger. “I’m not trying to cause problems. I just wanted something to do. A job.”

He licked his bottom lip, and there was a flash of metal that surprised me. Was his tongue pierced?

“All right, well, that’s your call,” he informed me. Then, the corner of his mouth quirked up just a touch. “And it’s nice to meet you, roomie.”

While the other guys I’d met in the family were all attractive, this one had movie-star good looks.

“It’s nice to meet you too,” I told him.

Without another word, he headed back to the door and left.

I looked down at the note in my hand. “Need two LiquidHales.”

I placed the paper on the counter beside the messages. There was a strange flutter in my stomach, and I looked down to study it. What was that?

There were no more females that dropped by, but I did take eleven messages by the time they got out of their meeting. Ransom stopped by the counter, and I handed him his messages.

“Alora came to see you,” I told him.

He glanced up at me with an irritated expression. Uh-oh. Maybe I was supposed to go get him after all.

“I, uh, told her you were in a meeting, and then Oz came in and explained that you were busy and she needed to leave a message.” I stopped before I continued and it turned into rambling.

“Tag, you’re it.” Than smirked at him, picking up the two messages that had been left for him.

“Shut up,” Ransom snapped, then gave me a nod. “Thanks,” he told me before turning to leave.

“You look worried,” Than said to me.

“I wasn’t sure how to handle the Alora thing. I hope I didn’t make him mad.”

Than shook his head, reaching over to get the stack of mail. “That scowl was about her, not you. He made the mistake of fucking her a couple of times, and now, she’s thinking they have something going on. Before him, it was Gathe.” He held up the stack. “Let’s start with this. They need to be separated into different categories, then put into the correct mailboxes on the wall over there.”

I walked over for my lesson.

He studied me for a minute. “Other than Alora, how was it?”

“Easy,” I admitted.

“Good. Let’s add a little more work so you don’t get bored,” he teased.

I listened carefully to his next set of instructions.

Twenty-One

Bane

“Adalee, what time is Brighton Farms supposed to be here?” I asked, pausing at the door to the stables office.

I’d thought it was at noon, but it was already past one now. Brighton Farms had purchased War Pilot, a yearling that had been sired by Vladimir. Right now, we couldn’t be sure just how fast Pilot was or if he would be like his father. In Vladimir’s maiden race, he had come in third, then gone on to win the next seven races he was in, including the Kentucky Derby. He was retired now, living his best life in the stables.

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