Total pages in book: 39
Estimated words: 36216 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 181(@200wpm)___ 145(@250wpm)___ 121(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 36216 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 181(@200wpm)___ 145(@250wpm)___ 121(@300wpm)
Bellarose didn’t say anything else. Instead, she followed me outside and climbed on my bike when I told her to, and we took off. My cabin wasn’t far from the main house, but close enough to the woods and the outer perimeter that I could get out if I needed to. Theoretically.
I knew there were men watching me, but I’d managed to gain enough trust with Dutch, and I’d pointed out some of the men wanting leadership of the club. That had reduced the number of eyes on me considerably. Reminding him tonight of the dissension in the ranks had been all about reminding him I’d had his back. We weren’t friends by any means, but he’d brought me in to do a job. Root out the dissension and help set up this pipeline of human trafficking. To Dutch, it looked like I’d done exactly that. What he didn’t know was that the people who were in place to help move his cargo were plants either from my own club or the Shadow Demons.
I didn’t say anything as I helped her from the bike and took her hand to lead her inside my cabin. Music was blaring from the inside. The place was fucking crappy, but I kept it as clean as I could and was thankful I had the cabin instead of a room inside the clubhouse. We’d have been lucky to last the night staying in the middle of the club. At least this way, I had better control. I could get a warning if anyone tried to break in.
Thanks to Sting, our president, we’d negotiated some micro cameras from Giovanni Romano with the Shadow Demons. I had them set up all around the house. I had the app he’d developed set to alarm me if anything got within fifty yards of the house. I occasionally got passersby, but for the most part, anyone close enough to be picked up by the app was too fucking close.
I shut the door and locked it. It only had one deadbolt, but honestly, the door was shit. Just like the cabin. If anyone wanted in, they were getting in. The only reason I locked it was to give myself precious extra seconds if it became necessary. Instead of turning around, I rested my forehead on the door, trying to get myself under control. If I turned around and saw her right this second, I wasn’t sure I wouldn’t try to kiss her again. If I kissed her in the place I’d called home for several months, I was definitely fucking her.
She was quiet, not even breathing hard. Was she scared? What was I thinking -- of course she was scared. Who wouldn’t be in this situation?
I walked over to a radio I had sitting on a shelf over the counter next to the stove, turning it down slightly. I always had some obnoxious metal playing. The guitars screamed like chainsaws, and the drums were heavy. Any lyrics were screamed and exceedingly loud. It wasn’t comfortable, but it kept out prying ears.
Rose scrunched her nose. I got it. Not only was the music loud, but it grated on every single nerve a person had. I basically tuned it out most days, but she wasn’t used to it.
I put my finger to my lips, indicating for her to stay quiet. She nodded once, and I took her hand, leading her to the couch. I put my arm around her shoulders, and she looked up at me, a mixture of fear and longing etched in her lovely face. I felt sure she expected me to kiss her and wasn’t sure how she felt about it. For the briefest of moments, she’d enjoyed my kiss. I knew I could make her enjoy more than kisses, but not like this.
“You’re basically my prisoner, Rose. I’m not kissin’ you again.” I spoke softly. The whole point of the horrid “music” was to cover anything I said or did.
A brief flash of hurt passed over her face, and she looked away, a blush creeping up her neck to her cheeks. She shook her head. I wasn’t sure what she meant, but I took it to mean that, yeah. No kissing.
I leaned in and put my lips at her ear. “Never talk freely anywhere inside the compound. You’re always watched and listened to. Understand?” She shivered but gave a short nod. “We need to get our story straight. Dutch will question you at some point, though I’ll be with you. You are not to say a word. Nothing. You nod when I tell you to. You never speak.” Again, she nodded. “Good. I called you to meet me at the entrance to that road. You arrived early and didn’t want anyone to see you parked there, so you drove down the road a short way to hide your car. That’s it.” Another nod. “Good. Next thing is, if I leave this cabin without you, you are to stay inside. You do not answer the door. You stay out of sight of the doors and windows when you can. If someone breaks in, you’ll have a panic button of sorts. It will let me know there’s trouble, and I can access cameras inside and outside the cabin and see what you’re up against so I can be prepared before I enter.” Nod. “Last thing, and I’m repeating myself because it’s important. Say. Nothing. If you’re not sure what to do, look to me, but no matter what, you say nothing.”