His Young Queen: (Steel Jackals MC #1) Read Online Free Page B

herself, and she could see he was growing edgier by the second, more hostile.
    Or maybe she didn’t know him anymore. They said prison changed a person. Could it have changed Josh? She wouldn’t have thought anything had the power to do that.
    “I don’t know if you cut Nick off too…?” She looked at him hopefully. She really didn’t want to be the only one who’d been banned from seeing him.
    He dashed her hopes by neither confirming nor denying her inquiry. Damn. She knew that meant her uncle had been to see him.
    “Okay, uh, then you probably know my mom has gone off the rails and isn’t around much anymore. She drops in the odd time but doesn’t stay long.”
    His expression closed up. “Nick failed to mention that.”
    Yup. Her uncle had been gifted permission to visit. “Oh, well, she shows up and wanders around for sometimes a few hours or a day.” Tish was happy to be able to share something with him, even if it was about Rachel. “She doesn’t meet my eyes because she knows how I feel about what she did, and then she’s gone again.”
    Nothing. He looked like a sculpture. He’d always been standoffish, but not with her. Almost as if they were magnetized, she drifted to where he’d ended up in front of the stove. His jaw tightened, and he moved away. She tried not to be hurt by that, but she was. She didn’t let him see it as she took up his vacated position and leaned her ass on the oven’s door handle. She knew she was still staring, but he had to forgive her. She just couldn’t help it.
    “It’s good that she doesn’t stay long,” she continued when the quiet got to her. “I know that sounds terrible for me to say about my own mother, but after…” Would he get upset if she brought up what Rachel had done to him? She went in a different direction just in case. “I don’t appreciate coming out of my room in a rush to catch the bus for school, only to find her dealer sitting there.” She pointed to the table. “Let’s just say I’d much rather live alone and be a little spooked at night than to have to put up with that.” She shuddered and crossed her arms under her breasts.
    “Her dealer was in here? Alone? With you?”
    She nodded, thankful that he’d responded. At least she knew he was listening to her. “Rachel was likely passed out downstairs, so I guess we weren’t completely alone.” It struck her as sad that the telling of stories like these didn’t faze her. They should. “One other guy was in here a few months ago. A pimp, I think. Well, I guess I don’t have to think since he told me outright he was looking for more girls before asking if I needed ‘representation.’ ” She air quoted, and then gave him a look that said can-you-believe-that ? “It was creepy as hell. After work that night I made sure to call my uncle for a ride. I told him why I was afraid to come home by myself, and he was pretty angry. When we got here, the twins were already out front. I was left with Ethan, and Nick brought Gavin in here to make sure Rachel and her buddy were gone. I think he felt bad because he picked me up from work and slept in the spare room for a full week after. Wasn’t that sweet?”
    “Did he bring you the cocksucker’s still beating heart after he ripped it from his crushed chest?”
    It was her turn to still. She barely breathed as she waited for him to indicate he was kidding. He didn’t. “No. He, uh, didn’t bring me anything like that.” She rubbed at the goosebumps that had sprung up on her arms.
    “Then there’s nothing sweet about that .” He had his phone out and pressed to his ear. “You want to tell me what the fuck happened to the pimp who offered your niece a goddamn job?” he barked when Nick, presumably, answered. He looked over at her, his eyes molten. “Yeah. I’m here now. Oh. Good. Should’ve known. See you later.” He hung up and slipped his cell into the back pocket of his low-slung jeans. The wallet chain he’d always worn