Total pages in book: 177
Estimated words: 176345 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 882(@200wpm)___ 705(@250wpm)___ 588(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 176345 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 882(@200wpm)___ 705(@250wpm)___ 588(@300wpm)
Kai licks his lips. “Cute. Matches your black soul.”
“Are you getting up?” I ask, trying my best to put on the jeans under his scrutinizing gaze.
“I’d much rather watch you stumble around.”
“Stop looking at me like that,” I say as I put on the top.
“Like what?”
“Like you want to pounce on me,” I reply.
Big mistake, because the shit-eating grin that follows makes my heart throb in a way I never asked for it to throb.
“Maybe I do.”
Suddenly, his phone buzzes, and it breaks the spell between us as he picks it up. The look on his face darkens with every passing second.
“What’s wrong?”
He jumps out of bed and immediately dials a number. “Nathan? Where is he?”
I have never heard his voice this unhinged.
Kai
“Who is it?” Lana asks, walking closer so she can hear.
“In the clinic? Okay, I’ll be right there,” I say, and I close the conversation and snatch my pants and underwear off the floor.
“What’s wrong?” she asks, but I’m far too busy getting dressed as quickly as possible.
“Milo’s been attacked while he was out with Rory.”
Her eyes widen. “What?”
I can’t explain this right now. “He’s in the local clinic, Nathan’s with him, waiting until he gets out of surgery. I have to go.”
As I march past her, she latches onto my hand. “Let me come with you.” Our eyes connect. “Please.”
My Adam’s apple moves up and down, the weight of her words not to be taken lightly.
Goddamn, that please nearly kills me.
I swallow again and nod. “C’mon.”
She nods, and we bolt down the stairs, headed straight for the door. Several girls exit their bedrooms and look at me like they’ve seen a ghost walking, but I don’t care or feel the need to explain. We’ll deal with any fallout later. Right now, we need to get to Milo and Nathan.
He left so many messages and called me a million times, but my phone was on silent because I didn’t want anyone to disturb my precious time with Lana.
But fuck, I wish I’d at least kept it on buzz now.
I throw open the door and say, “My car’s back at the society house. We gotta run.”
“No,” Lana says, and she picks up a helmet from a box in the yard in front of the house. “We’ll take my bike. It’s faster.”
I frown as she hands the helmet to me. “I can’t drive that thing.”
She smirks as she puts on her own helmet. “No, but I can.”
I watch her jump on the bike and rev the engine before she coaxes me with those claws of hers. “Jump on.”
Gripping the helmet tight, I hesitate for a moment.
It’s just a bike. Jesus. How hard can it be?
Clearing my throat, I jump on behind her and put on the helmet.
“Hold on tight,” she says.
I’m surprised she knows where to go, but I guess that comes with the territory of being a Rivera. This clinic is only accessible to those on the criminal path.
When she races off, I’m not prepared for the speed, Jesus fucking Christ, the way she whizzes across the streets, zigzagging from left to right as if it’s child’s play to her. I hold on tight, her body tensing when my fingers splay against her belly, and I grumble into the helmet from how good it feels. Her delicious scent wafts into my nose, and I take in a breath to get high on her smell.
It doesn’t even register with me when we finally arrive at the clinic. That’s how obsessed I’ve become with being close to her.
She parks the bike, and I get off so I can hand her my helmet, but she throws them to the side and grabs my hand, dragging me along. “Where is he?”
“I don’t know.”
When I see Nathan in the hallway, I run over to him. “Is he alive?”
“He’s in the recovery room,” Nathan says, his eyes red and his face twisted with emotions. “He’s alive, but no thanks to you.”
“I’m sorry,” I say, shaking my head.
“You weren’t fucking there! I was the one who found him!” Nathan yells, shoving me away. “I called you, and you didn’t fucking pick up!”
“That’s my fault. He was with me,” Lana says.
Nathan aims his ire at her. “Five fucking gunshots. FIVE!”
Despite his flaming rage, she pulls him in for a hug, tightening her grip around him while he fights her every step of the way until he finally caves in and grieves against her, wrapping his arms around her.
“I almost lost him,” he mutters. “I almost lost Milo.”
She blinks and glances my way before patting Nathan on the back. “It’s going to be okay. He’s strong. He can survive this.”
“God, I wish I could’ve been there,” Nathan says.
“What happened?” she asks.
“He tried to give me time off and took Rory to the playground when some fuckers ambushed him,” he says, leaning away to look at me. “They took Rory.”