Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 142783 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 714(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 142783 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 714(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
My eyes dropped closed. “Really fucking deep.” I opened them, bitterness getting ground up in the clench at the back of my teeth.
“But she ended up with Jarek?” Jud issued it like he was processing it, too, though his voice was tinged in understanding.
“That’s right.”
“Shit,” Trent said low.
“And last night you ended up sitting across from her husband at a shady table at one of your client’s places,” Jud added like fact, scratching at his beard.
I was sure by the look on his face that he’d come to the quick conclusion that revenge was the sum I’d been aiming for.
“That is correct, brother.” I swallowed around the landslide of jagged rocks that tumbled down my throat. “He and I were the last men standing. His stack was depleted fast.”
I drove my fingers through my hair. “I just wanted to push him. Shame that motherfucker. So when he pressed to go all in, I called for his girl instead.”
My girl.
Jud all but groaned, flopping his big body back in the booth. “You are a twisted fuck, you know that, Logan?”
A short shot of laughter rumbled out. “Made me crazy, her standing there with him.”
I hadn’t even acknowledged it then. The way I’d wanted to climb right over that table, put a bullet between his eyes, and take back what was mine.
“I thought I’d prove a point. Get him on his knees. But I didn’t think for a second he’d bite. But I already knew the bastard was a snake, so I’m not sure why I was surprised. Asshole lost, obviously. Let’s just say Aster was not pleased by me trying to claim my prize.”
“Tell me she knocked you clean flat.” Jud cocked a smirk.
I smiled with a rough chuckle. “Girl wanted to claw my eyes out, that’s for sure. She ran upstairs instead, saying she wasn’t going anywhere with either of us.”
Sweet savage that she was. Fierce and defiant and soft and pliable.
My throat thickened. “The prick took off after her. He put his hands on her, so when I stepped in and distracted him, she bolted. I found her walking her ass through the frozen forest. Long story short, she asked for a place to stay until she can figure out a way to get free of him. I agreed.”
All in a night’s fun.
“And you agreed to help her? After this chick, who you never should have touched in the first place, broke your heart?” Trent added all kinds of emphasis in the areas that stabbed at my guilt.
“When you put it that way, it makes me sound like I’m the fool here.” I cracked it like a joke.
“Sound like it?” Jud arched a brow.
“What’s her end game?” Trent cut in.
I gave a halfhearted shrug. “She wants out.”
“Out from under Jarek or her father?” Trent’s jaw was working like mad. He’d always considered himself the protector of the family, like because he was the oldest, it fell on his shoulders. He’d forgotten our father’s blood ran through all of us.
Vengeance.
Cruelty.
Greed.
Unease twitched the muscles at the back of my neck. “Not sure how far she wants to take it. She just said she needs to prove to her father that Jarek has turned on the family.”
Dread poured out of him like a sieve.
“This could get messy.”
I took a sip of my drink. “It always does.”
“You trust her?”
My spirit shook. “I shouldn’t,” I admitted.
Trent eyed me, seeing way down deep the way he always did. “Think the most important question here is what your end game is, man. Why are you doing this? You want a revenge fuck, or does it go deeper than that?”
A disorder burned through my body.
Possession.
Hunger.
It all rose from a well to swill with the loss.
“I’m going to fight for her. The way I should have then.”
The truth of it plowed through me like a cry for victory.
“Is she worth it?” Jud’s voice was soft, filled with empathy.
I ran my finger around the rim of my glass, staring at it while I contemplated, my mind flashing through a thousand memories.
In all my rage, I’d almost forgotten how the girl’d been so fucking sweet.
“I might regret it, but yeah, I think she is.”
Jud gruffed an incredulous laugh. “Chances are you will, man, chances are.”
My exhalation was heavy. “I don’t see how there’s anything else to do.”
“So that’s how it is then?”
“Yup.”
Chuckling, Jud lifted his beer. “To the love-fucked. Believe me, brother…” He looked between me and Trent. “Trent and I would be there in a heartbeat if it were our girls. Get it. Just fucking be careful. Watch your back. These people are not to be toyed with.”
Trent took a sip from his tumbler, lifted his, too. “And know we’re always here. No matter what you need.”
I ducked into the hallway that read Employees Only and headed for the exit that would dump me in the staff parking lot.