Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 76365 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76365 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Troy hummed and checked the thick silver watch on his wrist. Did he think we were wasting his time or something? Like he had better places to be? I gritted my teeth to keep from ruining our best chance of saving Smiley’s.
“An interesting idea,” he said, “but not my favorite.”
“Look, all the weaklings coming after Bones right now don’t mean shit,” I responded. “He can lay them out flat in a few minutes. Bring some real competition, and people will come crawling. Especially, if it’s a big name.”
“Like you?” Troy looked at me with an amused grin and fixed the front of his gray suit jacket. “If Freakshow joined the docket, I wonder how many people would show up to bet against you.”
“That won’t be happening,” Ari immediately answered. I was glad because I knew if I opened my mouth, I’d be joining Nero wherever the fuck he was. “Name your price, Troy.”
“I have a soft spot for your gym, you know.” Troy stood from his desk and straightened out the bottom of his coat. “I don’t know how you got Bones to join your team, but you have him to thank for my generous offer.”
I tried not to roll my eyes. Of course, this douche would consider a business exchange to be “generous.”
“And?” I questioned.
“All you have to do is agree to whatever fight I choose.”
Ari raised her eyebrows. “That’s it?” Clearly she was as skeptical as me. It was far too good to be true for the likes of Troy Godwin. Too easy. He must already have something in mind.
“We won’t agree until we know what the fight entails,” I snapped. “You don’t walk into a fight without knowing your opponent. It’s suicide.”
Troy glanced at his watch. “Then you have two minutes to decide if you’d like to commit suicide or not. I have another meeting.”
“Take your offer and shove it—”
Ari set a hand on my upper arm and squeezed so hard, I thought she might pop my muscle. Her entire body was straining with how tightly she gripped me. I winced. When had she gotten so strong? Or had Freakshow grown weak? To be fair, I was always weak when it came to Ari. It came with the territory of having such a badass beauty to call mine.
“We’ll agree once you give us the terms. I feel like that’s a fair trade. You make the deal, and we’ll see if it’s worth our time.” Ari smiled, all poise and grace now that she’d shut me up. “You’re a businessman, Mr. Godwin. You know good and bad deals when you see them. You wouldn’t walk into a blind contract either, would you?”
“Heathens Hollow is a different kind of business,” he countered with a greasy smile. “One I’m sure you know quite well by now.”
“And we all want that business to thrive. Don’t we, Frankie?” Her glare at me told me to keep my actual thoughts to myself, so I nodded once. Her grip on me loosened, and she drew a deep breath. “The terms, Troy.”
“You’ll have them within a week. Anything else?”
“The money?” I asked. If we were agreeing to this bullshit, we were going to need the money to fix up Smiley’s and be prepared.
“If the terms are agreeable.” Troy didn’t even look at me, his eyes focused solely on Ari. “And I’m sure they’ll be just as agreeable as you look today, Ari.”
Heat boiled my blood. I was standing up when Troy snapped his fingers, and two guards standing by the front door approached us. Troy’s bodyguards were mean-looking motherfuckers. As much as I wanted to knock in Troy’s teeth, I would be dead before the ambulance got me to the hospital, and Troy would have some alibi to get him off scot-free.
The only thing I could do was grab Ari’s arm and stomp from the fucker’s office.
The car was dead silent as I pulled out of the parking lot and hopped back on the highway. I gripped the steering wheel so hard, I could probably yank it from the column with a simple tug. We weaved in and out of traffic as I sped back to Smiley’s, Troy’s smug-ass laugh ringing in my ears.
“Frankie, would you calm the hell down?” Ari yelled. When I glanced over, she was gripping the handle like a lifeline. “I don’t want to fucking die today!”
Shit. I looked down at the speedometer and saw I was pushing 100. That rat bastard had turned me into a street racer with one flirtatious line. I slowed down, but a hot anger still pumped through my veins, so I pulled off at the next exit and into an empty bank parking lot. I left the car running but sank back into my seat with a frown.
“I fucking hate this, Ari.”
“I noticed, asshole.” She let go of the handle, and her hand was warm when she set it on my shoulder, even through the fabric of my polo, but the bite of her nails was anything but caring. “Joyride on your own time. I don’t have time to plan my own funeral.”