Total pages in book: 39
Estimated words: 36216 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 181(@200wpm)___ 145(@250wpm)___ 121(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 36216 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 181(@200wpm)___ 145(@250wpm)___ 121(@300wpm)
“I’m scared.” I whispered the plea against his lips like he’d spoken to me.
“You’d be a fool if you weren’t. You want me to lay this out for you so you know what we’re up against?” Atlas was deliberately referring to us as a team.
“That’s a tactic to get me involved in whatever you’re doing. Or at least what you want me to think you’re doing.”
“It is.” It surprised me that he didn’t try to deny it. “As much as I want you out of here and to safety, I can protect you if you do exactly as I say. There are other women here -- like the woman in the clubhouse -- and I can’t help them all.”
“Tell me, and I’ll judge for myself.”
Keeping my leg around his hip, he rolled us to our sides, so his back was to the chair he’d indicated. “This club is deep in negotiations to move women and children into a trafficking ring. I’m trying to stop them.”
“How?”
“I have people in place ready to act as the buyers to get these women out, but the bigger plan will take longer. I’m embedded in this club for the long haul. My goal is for them to lead me to the buyers Dutch is really trying to hook up with. If I call in my team, they rescue this group of women only. Taking down the men Dutch claims to know will set free dozens of women and children in several different counties.”
“Can’t you get us out and continue on after that?”
“That would mean putting more women at risk of being abducted by Dutch and his men in the meantime. Right now, he’s got all he can safely handle without risk of discovery. I think he’s close to getting the meet he wants. Once he does, my team will know who to target and, once they confirm they have all the innocents to safety, they can come in and kill these motherfuckers.”
“A permanent solution?”
He nodded slowly, his eyes narrowing. I knew what was coming. And, really, if Atlas was on the up and up, he needed to know who I was.
“That doesn’t faze you. Does it.” It wasn’t a question.
“I’m afraid not. I’m not used to being around MCs all the time or, especially, ones as black as this one seems to be, but I know how they operate and that they usually make their own rules to suit their own moral code.”
“Tell me what you’re hinting at, girl.”
I took a breath and leaned in closer. “If anyone finds out who I am, we’re both dead. At least, we are if you meant what you said about protecting me with your life. Telling you who I am makes me incredibly vulnerable.”
“Not askin’ again, girl.”
“My name is Bellarose Dane-Petrov.” I let it linger there, waiting to see if he had a reaction at all. If there was any way to keep from voicing out loud that my father was one of the owners of the most powerful tech company in the world, I’d like to take it.
He was silent for a long moment, staring at me with his brows knitted together. Then he jerked back like I’d struck him before rolling over on top of me again. “Are you fuckin’ kidding me?” His snarl made me cringe, and I had to bite back a whimper. I was on this man’s good side so far, but if that ever changed, I was going to be in a hell of a spot. Atlas wasn’t a man I ever wanted to cross. “If you’re fuckin’ lyin’ to me, I’ll beat your ass, girl.”
“Alexi Petrov is my father.”
“Stepfather.” My gut was churning as he tried to clarify my actual relation to the infamous leader of the Shadow Demons. The look on his face seemed to ask, “Could this fucking night get any worse?”
“He adopted me and has never treated me as anything less than his daughter. I don’t remember my biological dad, so he’s the only father I’ve ever known. How did you know my relationship to him?”
“My club has a dialogue with the Shadow Demons. Your name has been mentioned from time to time. Bellarose is a unique name, but they usually call you Bella. Don’t they?”
“Yes.”
“Fuck,” he swore softly before rising and turning away. He went to the bathroom and shut the door, not saying another word to me. The music still blared, but I didn’t dare get up to turn it down. I got the feeling Atlas was riding a fine line at the moment. I didn’t blame him. This had to be his worst nightmare. When my dad found out about this, he was going to crush everyone in the vicinity and fuck the collateral damage. I knew my dad. He’d have no remorse if it meant I was safe.