Total pages in book: 35
Estimated words: 33555 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33555 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
Chapter One
Nate Smith watched as Carly Andrews sat at her lonesome table, waiting for a date that would never arrive. He’d already seen to it that the man who was supposed to be meeting her wouldn’t make it.
It wasn’t because he was cruel, he simply didn’t want any other man to have her. No one deserved the kindness that was Carly. Out of the whole group, Carly was the nicest. He was the cruelest, and then there was Sarah, who to put it mildly, was the slut. Reese, Dalton, and Mitch were players, but altogether they made their own little family.
Carly was the youngest. While he, Sarah, Reese, Dalton, and Mitch were all thirty years old, they assumed Carly was twenty-nine, but no one knew Carly’s real age. She had come to the foster home when she was young, and from the information they had gotten, she hadn’t come from a good environment. Rumors of being locked in a cage had circulated.
Several other kids had tried to taunt and harm her, but he, along with his buddies, took her under their wing, and they’d been inseparable since. That was over twenty years ago. None of them had ever gotten adopted, and they’d been able to stay together from one home to another, much to their surprise.
He watched as Carly glanced down to check out the time once again, and then looked around the restaurant. There was no way he could leave her to deal with the humiliation of being stood up again. Not that any of her dates intended to stand her up, or leave her alone—that was all on him.
Entering the restaurant, he ignored the maître d’, even as he called toward him, “Sir.”
Carly didn’t pay him any attention until he was standing by her seat.
“Hey, Carly,” he said.
She looked up and smiled. “Nate, oh my, what a surprise.” She got to her feet and instantly embraced him. This was Carly all over, ever the hugger. She always wore her emotions on her sleeve. She was so easy to read.
“Miss, is this man bothering you?” the maître d’ asked.
Clearly the bastard was asking for a death wish, because no one said that kind of shit to him and got away with it. He may have come from nothing, and been told all his life that he was a worthless piece of shit, but he was the total opposite.
When people said his name, it was mingled with fear and respect. No one dared cross him. He was the one with the power—a king—and those who betrayed him, well, they didn’t breathe for long.
Reese, Dalton, and Mitch were his closest allies, and he rewarded them well.
No one had what it took to overthrow him from his throne. Kingpin, crime lord, street king, gangster, it didn’t matter what label they gave him, he was the one that ruled the underbelly of the city, and he liked it.
There was nothing better than having nothing, then having it all.
“No, of course not. Would you like to join me?” Carly asked.
“I’d love to.”
The smile on her lips made him happy. There were a lot of things in his life that made him happy, but real joy only came from being with Carly for just a few moments. He didn’t know how she did it, only that she did.
Whenever his rage took over, when he couldn’t gain control, the only person who was ever safe around him was Carly. She brought him back from the brink time and time again. He’d lost count. She made him sane.
The maître d’ grumbled, and he made a note to have a word with the little shit. No way was anyone going to embarrass him in his own restaurant. He owned a great deal of businesses, legal and not so legal.
He knew the only way to stay on top was to have his hand in a lot of different pies. The cops ate out of the palm of his hand, and, well, he had a lot of deals in process, and no one could get anything past him, which was exactly the way he liked it.
“Have you ordered?” Nate asked.
“Nah, I was waiting for my date.”
“A date? Would you like me to leave?” He pretended to stand but Carly reached out and placed a hand on his arm.
“Please, don’t. I … my date didn’t show, and I’ve been waiting around for a good forty minutes. It’s sad, I know. I should have left after ten, but you never know.” She shrugged. “I’m hungry and I’m tired.”
“Would you like me to have this son of a bitch killed?”
Carly rolled her eyes. “No, it’s fine. Standing someone up is no cause to lose a life.” She smiled and he didn’t know how she did it.
She’d always been too forgiving, too nice, too gullible. This was why he made Sarah share the apartment that he’d also purchased for Carly. She paid next to nothing for the rent, and Sarah had no choice but to keep an eye on Carly. Not that Sarah minded, but Nate had started to pay the other woman to constantly keep an eye on Carly’s whereabouts.