Mine to Keep (NOLA Knights #3) - Rhenna Morgan Page 0,10
been founded in disregard for tidiness as well. Everything else seemed perfectly normal, albeit worn and sparse.
Roman opened a window blind along the far wall and studied the empty lot outside. Not a soul stirred on the street. In his periphery, Bonnie planted her elbows on her knees and rubbed her hands together, making the stack of beaded bracelets on each of her wrists delicately clink against the silence.
“I came over to talk bills with my dad,” she said. “I’ve been working with the people at the hospital and arranged some payment options so he can get another treatment scheduled.”
Cassie cocked her head then twisted it like she was replaying their arrival. “Where’s your car? I didn’t see it outside.”
Bonnie grumbled. “Down for the count again, so I took the bus.” She shook her head. “Anyway, when I got here, Kev and Dad were yelling at each other. Dad called Kevin a shit for brains. Not sure why he called him a shit for brains—though, I gotta admit, with Kev it could be anything—but then Kevin threw something back about me not having enough money to pay Pauley back this time.”
“Who’s Pauley?” Cassie said.
“Pauley Mitchell. A loan shark Dad’s used to get out of scrapes for years. Calling him a loan shark is really kind of a stretch. He’s more like a pawn shop owner without a storefront. If you don’t pay him, your shit starts disappearing until you fork over the money plus interest.” Bonnie paused only a beat, but the anger in her voice when she spoke again was fresh. “Took me six months to get his last debt paid off. I swear to God, if he’s in with that loser again, I’m gonna shoot him.”
A spunky woman. One apparently not afraid of speaking her mind and who didn’t mince words when she did—so long as he wasn’t the one staring her down. Her father sounded like a wastrel, though. A user. No man should rely upon a woman for money, let alone his own daughter.
Roman pulled the blind back in place, turned and paced to the tiny kitchen adjacent to the living room.
“So, your dad and Kevin were going at it,” Cassie said. “Then what happened?”
Bonnie ran it down while Roman studied the rest of the house and the surrounding views outside. How someone had showed up in front of her father’s house and her brother hadn’t wanted her presence known. How they’d hid her in a gun closet at the back of the house and the heated exchange she’d overheard. The raised voices that had escalated to some kind of physical exchange and subsequent silence.
Confident no one was watching the house, Roman stalked back to the living room, stood near Cassie and casually tucked his hands in the pockets of his dress pants.
“And then you came out and everyone was gone?” Cassie said.
“Yep.” Bonnie waved at the recliner. “The only thing different was that chair knocked out of whack and the blood on the door.” She shoved to her feet and paced the width of the room. “It doesn’t make sense. I mean, Kev’s always getting into something, and brawling is an any-day occurrence around here, but something about this feels wrong.”
She turned and made a lap in the opposite direction, fisting her thick hair on the top of her head as she went. The action lifted the hem of her jacket, giving him an admirable few of how perfectly her jeans molded her ass.
An exceptionally nice ass.
One a man could savor and appreciate in the most tactile fashion.
Cassie cleared her throat.
Roman shifted his attention to Cassie and found her narrowed, assessing gaze on him.
Not good.
Doubly not good if she drew too much into what she’d seen and hatched any of the matchmaking plans she and Evette were known for.
“Why didn’t you call the police?” Roman asked as a means of diversion.
Bonnie startled at the question. As if his deep voice had jerked her free of her tangled thoughts and rudely dropped her back in reality. “With my family?” She planted her hands on her hips. “I was afraid I’d make whatever this is worse. Knowing my luck, Kev would go from being kidnapped to locked up in jail. Plus, the cops would drag me into everything. I stay squeaky clean for a reason, thank you very much.”
An interesting comment. Telling in a way he doubted she even realized. “And why is that, Miss Drummond?”
She dipped her chin and glared at him the way an irritated