Page 45 of Kiss Kiss Bang
“Oh, I hope it’s okay. She said she wanted spaghetti so we made an order. One of the guys should be back soon with the food. We also ordered a couple of lasagnas and baked ziti, we figured you all would be hungry,” Megan said.
“Thank you, that’s her favorite.” She turned to Sophie. “How about a quick shower while we wait for dinner?”
“Oh man.” The girl’s shoulders dropped, and her pout was so big she looked as if she would melt right into the floor. “I don’t wanna . . .”
“Sophie.”
“Please, Mommy. I don’t wanna.” The girl’s eyes filled with tears.
Olivia straightened, probably to scold her daughter, but there was a noticeable wince and she grabbed her midsection.
“You know, princesses always smell nice for dinner.” Joey interjected.
“Not true. Mommy doesn’t always smell nice.”
“Sophie Alexandra!”
Everyone laughed, even Olivia, who was a little red in the face.
“It’s true,” Sophie added.
“Well, maybe your mommy isn’t a princess, but I thought you were. But if you don’t want to be a princess, I understand.”
“No! I wanna, I wanna.” She took Joey’s hand and pulled. “Princesses play with lizards too, you know.”
“I do know. Remember you told me.” Joey winked down at her.
“I’ll help you so you don’t have to bend down,” Winnie said following the two to the back of the house. “You make sure no one touches my spisghetti, okay?”
Joey nodded. “Aye aye, captain.”
The little girl giggled and disappeared into the bathroom with her mother saying, “Mommy, I’m a captain, Joey said so.”
“How’s she doing?” Jax asked when Joey walked back into the kitchen and sat down.
“She’s scared. Nervous. A little too agreeable.”
Megan laughed. “Probably just the shock. I doubt she takes well to orders.”
“Which is why I’m shocked she agreed to stay here.”
“Well, we better get shit tight at her house quickly. I suspect within forty-eight hours those two females are going to go stir crazy in this compound.” Jax chuckled.
Megan shook her head. “I give it twenty-four hours, max.”
* * *
“I can’t, Joey. I can’t. I swear to God, I love her, but I’m going to take these scissors and cut off my own ears!”
It had taken thirty hours.
Joey chuckled and took the scissors out of Olivia’s hand and then went to the living room and turned down Peppa Pig. He’d never heard of the show before but in the last thirty hours he’d heard it over and over and over and over again, and he was ready to scream too.
“Hey, freckles, watcha think about going on a little trip?” he asked and then turned to Olivia. “A little fresh air?”
“Yes, please! Is it safe, though? Where are we going to go?”
While they’d been holed up in the house, ICS, together with the police, were trying to track down the bank account the guy had given her. Joey had barely slept a wink using all his free time to search those goddamn numbers. They’d also been looking at the videos from the gym cameras and the ones on the exterior of the gym.
