Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 76812 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76812 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Kincaid frowns in my direction when I point at him. I don't know why but the disappointment in his eyes makes my chest ache a little. He's been so generous to me, making sure I was safe and giving me a place to stay for the last month.
"If we put you on the stand, we're going to ask you about the sexual assaults," the woman says as if she were the one given the task of relaying this information because of her gender.
I can say her delivery is absolute shit.
"What?" My voice is weaker now. "This is supposed to be a case for all the people he's hurt."
"You're the only victim we have."
"Your entire case rests solely on me?" Fear swims through me.
"We thought you knew this," one of the male attorneys says.
I glare at him, tears burning my nose, but I'd never cry in front of these people. I know once the floodgates open, they'll never close again.
"Because I've had so many conversations with anyone in this office?"
The woman stands a little taller before speaking. "Everyone you talk to either disappears or ends up dead."
"Ruby," the man says, putting his hand on her shoulder, and it's then I see the fear in her eyes.
She shrugs off his touch, holding her hands up at her ears. "I can't. I won't."
She walks out of the room. The woman has every right to be scared, but if Nathan sees her name attached to anything related to his case, he won't care that she quit before she faced him in the courtroom.
"They're ready," the receptionist that was outside the office says when she sticks her head in the door.
I wish I could just walk out of here like Ruby did.
All it takes is a look from Kincaid and his men activate as we leave the office and walk toward the courtroom. My hands are trembling so badly, I can't hide it. I squeeze my hands into fists over and over, but it doesn't help. I try to discreetly shake the tension from them, but it makes no difference either.
I look ahead of me, allowing my eyes to drift toward Beck for the first time today, and I hate knowing that I had something to do with the darkness under his eyes. When he locks his gaze with mine, I see darkness in them too, but it looks like fear and heartbreak, not the anger and hatred I'd expect after the way I treated him last night.
He stands taller but pulls his eyes away quickly so he can say something to Kincaid. The president of Cerberus MC turns his attention to me, his eyes searching mine before he walks up and stops in front of me.
"Do you need a minute?" he asks.
I nod, knowing I need more than a minute, but I'll take what I can get.
He indicates the ladies' restroom across the hall, and to my surprise, no one follows me inside. I imagine had Ruby not just thrown her career away, she'd be in here with me.
I take in the silence, closing my eyes after stepping up to the sink. My stomach rolls, the threat of getting sick right now is very real.
I can't face him.
But I have to.
I'm their only witness. It all rests on my shoulders.
I can't be in this position. It would be bad enough to even walk into the courtroom. To be the only witness in a case against him? The man could die, and his spirit would still seek revenge against me. There's no fucking way this works out in my favor.
I snap my eyes up when a door on the other side of the restroom opens.
"Sorry," a lady in an ill-fitting suit says before she goes into one of the stalls.
She doesn't seem like a threat, but I can never tell with Nathan. He has the ability to convince the most innocuous people to do his bidding.
I keep my eyes locked on the mirror, the stall door in my line of sight until the necklace Beck gave me last night pulls my eyes to it.
It's a survivor necklace, and although I always wanted one, I never imagined myself as a survivor.
"We'll never make it to twenty-five." I can't count the number of times Xan whispered those words in my ear. I do know it was enough that I started to believe it. Surviving Nathan Adair doesn't happen.
What I can't figure out is why I'm so scared to die. It's something that I always knew was coming.
The necklace means nothing, but when I wrap my hand around it, I just can't rip it from my throat. It's foolish of me to imagine a life where I could be normal and loved.
"You deserve to be loved."
I hated him when he said that to me.
"Everyone you talk to either disappears or ends up dead."