Total pages in book: 162
Estimated words: 154728 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 774(@200wpm)___ 619(@250wpm)___ 516(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 154728 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 774(@200wpm)___ 619(@250wpm)___ 516(@300wpm)
“Everything,” I repeated. “I’ve made calls to ensure you won’t work for anyone in our industry ever again. You’ve been blocked from all clubs, all parties, all those fuckin’ lists you were desperate to get on.”
I looked at my brother. “And I’ve had some help to ensure that all of your bank accounts are no longer bursting with money you’ve hoarded or embezzled. There’s enough there, to survive on.” I looked him up and down, sneering at his $1,000 loafers. “If you know how to survive without caviar and fuckin’ champagne.”
I shook my head. “I know how superficial you are, how fuckin’ shallow. I know all you care about is status and money. And with all that being gone, that’ll be worse than death. I sentence you to a life where you mean nothing to no one, and you’ve got no way of hiding what a piece of shit you are.” I paused, my eyes scanning his face. “On second thought…”
My fist plowed through his nose, savoring the satisfying crunch of it breaking. I reveled in the pain my knuckles felt from the contact with bone.
Brax fell onto the dirt, out cold.
“Thought you were taking the high road, no violence and all that,” Knox commented.
I shrugged. “What can I say? The low road feels good sometimes.”
Knox’s head bobbed up and down in a slow nod. “Yeah, it does.”
My brother’s voice sounded haunted, underneath that steel, emotionless tone he’d perfected. They were tattooed in there, those ghosts, those demons. Because of the road he’d taken. And fuck if I felt helpless to see it, my brother getting further and further away from me.
We walked toward our respective vehicles, leaving Brax unconscious in the dirt. Knox was going to drop him somewhere far away from Jupiter, inform him of what might happen to his balls if he thought about selling my location to the press.
“How’s Avery?” Knox asked.
I massaged my hand. The ache was dull, satisfying. I thought about the woman waiting at that cottage for me, with a dog, a fucking dog she’d said she’d never get, a dog that the most authoritative woman I’d ever met couldn’t control.
I thought of the ocean, that kitchen, the warmth of that house that already felt like a home.
“She’s good,” I replied. “She’s fuckin’ gorgeous pregnant.”
“Don’t doubt it,” Knox replied as we reached my bike. “You got a due date?”
I flexed my knuckles. “Don’t have all those details, yet. Things have been a bit … messy.”
“I can imagine,” he said, his normally impassive tone showing a hint of amusement. “You find that out, send me the details. The number you’ve got for me is clean now. If it isn’t, you’ll hear from me.”
He paused, looking at my face—really looking. Despite him being my brother, I felt a prickling at my spine under his gaze. I could recognize a predator too.
“How you handling it, being out?” he asked, tone as soft as was possible for a man like Knox.
I gritted my teeth. He was worrying about me. Yet again. He’d seen the state of me after I got out of prison the first time around. It wasn’t pretty.
“I’m handling it,” I told him.
It wasn’t a lie. Yeah, I wasn’t sleeping. Yeah, when a room got even a little balmy, my blood pressure skyrocketed. Yeah, I was stripped raw from feeling like that helpless fucking kid again. But it was all still fresh. I’d get over it. I had to get over it. I had people to take care of.
“It’s a lot,” he pushed. “Shit that goes with being in. And out. And with you being a dad—”
“I’m handling it,” I cut him off, not ready to open that can of worms.
Knox nodded, respecting the boundary.
“Thank you.” I didn’t miss his flinch when I clapped him on the shoulder. Knox wasn’t good with human contact if it wasn’t violent. “For making sure I didn’t get shanked or anything in there.”
I watched as Knox gritted his teeth, causing a muscle in his cheek to tic. “Well, someone had to. You’re too fucking pretty for your own good.”
I shook my head and laughed. “Seriously, brother. Know you probably had to call in some markers.”
“Worth it,” Knox replied. “That’s the reason I collect markers after all.”
I knew that he was shutting down the conversation. It was getting too close to specifics related to his life in the underworld. One he was diligent about protecting me from.
Not for the first time, I grieved for the life my brother might’ve had, the relationship we might’ve had.
“You sure you’re good, taking care of that asshole?” I motioned back to where Brax was lying in the mud.
“Oh, yes. Consider it my baby shower present,” Knox’s eyes gleamed. “Now get back to your woman.”
I was already aching to. It had been less than an hour, and anxiety was building in the back of my spine. What if something happened? What if she’d fallen? Gone into labor early?