Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 75406 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75406 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
A low, throaty groan from the corner punctuates his question. I must be beet red, but I shake my head with conviction. “Not even a little,” I lie. “I don’t know why you guys brought me here instead of straight to the police, but I’m not like you. I don’t see this kind of stuff every day and I’m hanging on by a thread, okay? If I get down on my knees, it’s going to be to pray that this was all a bad dream and not to suck your dick. Got it?”
I wasn’t aware of how loud my voice had gotten by the end of that until I realize everything’s gone quiet around me. Even the music seems to pause to maximize my complete embarrassment. I slap a hand down on the bar and take a long gulp of soda, pulling in one of the cherries and biting down to get the satisfying gush of sugar syrup mixed with Coke.
Tank throws his head back and laughs. “I like you. You’re pretty and mouthy.”
“We miss something besides Kaylee not wanting to blow you?” Nitro asks from behind me.
He and Wraith join us at the bar along with the burly old biker they were talking with. His short cropped hair is pure silver with only a sprinkling of dark, and his mustache is thick and bristly. He walks with the easy confidence of a man who knows he’s in charge and doesn’t have anything to prove. His tanned, leathery skin is furrowed, and close up, his pale white eye isn’t any less unnerving. It doesn’t make him look less focused—if anything it makes the shrewd calculation in his good eye more obvious. Even if I didn’t have any other clues to tell me he’s the boss around here, you couldn’t mistake him for anything else.
“So you’re Kaylee,” he says, watching me closely.
I nod.
“My boys tell me you’ve had a rough day, honey, so I’m going to keep this short. What happened at the gas station is unfortunate, but this is our territory and we’ll handle it. You should go home and do your best to forget about all this. Do you understand me?” His tone is friendly, but there’s an implied threat in there that is impossible to miss. “I’ve had a chat with Gabriel, and he tells me that you were inside with him when everything went down. It’s a miracle you both made it out through the back safely.”
“Oh, no. The way got blocked and I had to go out the front, so—oh, right.” I’m naive, not stupid. I know what that look means.
“Are we going to have any problems?”
Wraith puts a hand on my shoulder and squeezes. Support? Or a warning?
I shake my head, scared silent for the second time today. “No, sir.”
“Drink’s on the house. Finish up, go home and get the fuck on with your life. If anyone asks, you tell them what I just told you. Got it?”
I nod and he watches me for a long moment before nodding back and walking away. My shoulders slump and it takes another cherry before I manage to speak. “He’s terrifying.”
“Who? Eagle-eye?” Tank asks. “He’s a teddy bear as long as you don’t get on his bad side.”
“What happens if I do?”
They all share a look. “How about you don’t,” Nitro says softly.
“Those men. The ones who were shot. Someone will pay for that, right? I need you to tell me that all that won’t just get swept under the rug. I’m not a little kid. I know this city is messed up and you guys are… who you are. But it’s wrong if people die and nobody cares. Right?” I look up into Wraith’s eyes.
He nods slowly. “You have my number. Promise me that if you start feeling funny about this or you need to talk, you call me and nobody else.”
I trust him. I don’t know why or if it’s stupid, but I do. “Okay.”
The world they live in scares the crap out of me, but my gut tells me that while the three of them might think it’s funny to shock me, they would never hurt me, not on purpose.
This time, I get to ride behind Nitro as they escort me home. It’s a lot less awkward than straddling the front of him, and there’s something nice about having my arms wrapped around his waist and hiding from the wind behind his broad torso. It’s actually kind of fun, especially with Wraith and Tank flanking us like an honor guard.
It’s dark by the time we stop in front of my parents’ house. The air is cold and the wind sends fallen leaves swirling over the sidewalk. Wraith helps me off the bike, and before I can stop myself, I stretch up on my tip toes and press my mouth against his. I only meant for it to take a second, but his arm goes around me and he nips my lip, making me open for him.