Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 73680 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 368(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73680 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 368(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
“Enough!” Dad shouts, pulling everyone’s attention and folding his massive arms over his chest. “I’m making a fucking plan and I’ll do my best to save your girl, but I’m not going to hand you over for her. You can’t ask it, and I won’t allow it.” He scans the crowd. “Snark! Work your magic to figure out where that signal is coming from so we don’t have any surprises. Viking, get the Cleanup Crew ready to roll out. As soon as we know, we go.”
“Fuck yeah.” Viking pounds his chest with a fist.
“King, start putting together squads. Pull in every-fucking-one. The Pit Vipers are going to learn how goddamn dangerous the Screaming Eagles can be.”
King nods. “On it.”
“And Alpha, Ripper and Blade? She goes nowhere without you, got it? I’m not letting her go put herself in danger, so if anything fucking happens to her, I’m holding the three of you responsible.”
Alpha gives a curt nod. “Strike Team Motherfucking Alpha, reporting in. You can bet your balls we’ll keep her safe.”
With a warning glare in my direction, Dad nods back. “Good, because I see the way you’re looking at her and I’ll fucking take yours if you don’t.”
25
RIPPER
The compound is a hive of activity. Guns are being checked and cleaned, bike engines trimmed and the common room is filling up as members from all over are being called back to base. It reminds me of when I was deployed, that moment where anticipation and dread mingled into something that was almost fun. In a fucked up sort of way I wish we were going with them.
Faith isn’t happy, I can tell, but her only plan was to walk in and give herself to Crow and that was fucking never going to happen. Not while we still draw breath. She sits down on a chair and hangs her head.
I kneel down next to her and look up into eyes that are staring blankly into the distance. “Breathe. This will all be over before you know it.”
“You okay?” Alpha comes up behind us, putting his hands on Faith’s shoulders. “Actually, fuck that. Come on.”
He gestures for us to follow, then walks out of the common area and to his own room. On the other side of the door, the chaos and noise fade.
Faith throws herself down on Alpha’s bed, stretching out. “I’m okay. I just need a break from the chaos.” She draws a long, slow breath, and I can’t help watching the way he makes her breasts swell under her t-shirt.
“You’re not okay. Why they fuck would you be?” I ask. “This shit is fucking killing you.”
“My best friend is getting knocked around by a psychopath right now, and my entire job is to sit here and stay safe.”
I sit down on the mattress next to her and pull Faith’s head into my lap. “You’re a fucking bookstore owner, not a commando. What do you think you can do that your father and his men can’t?”
Faith closes her eyes and turns into me. “Care about Nicky. But that makes me stupid. I guess. Sorry.”
Alpha growls deep in his throat. “Never fucking apologize for being loyal. I love that you’re brave and crazy enough to want to do anything for your friend, but you aren’t alone. It might piss you off, but in this world? Talk is cheap if you can’t back it up. We’d break the fucking world for you, so you can’t ask us to trade you like a bargaining chip.”
“He’s right,” says Blade with that icy calm of his.
Faith looks up at me, with her father’s steel gray eyes. “I hate feeling helpless. Am I supposed to just sit here and wait to find out if my friend dies? Or Dad?”
“Fuck no. You take that feeling and you squeeze it into a ball and form it into the knife that you’ll eventually bury in Crows fucking face. You’re not alone.”
“It feels it,” she whispers.
“Then we’re not doing our job,” Alpha says, raising an eyebrow.
“You think she’s ready to take on the whole team?” I grin at Alpha and Blade. “We have ways to help you relax.”
“How can you think about sex at a time like this?” Faith sits up just in time to see Alpha hanging his cut on a chair and peeling off his shirt. In spite of her protest, her cheeks turn pink and her eyes follow him closely.
Not to be outdone, I strip mine off as well. Faith licks her lips. “Guys, you don’t have to have sex with me every time I’m not feeling quite stable.”
“Are you worried about all three of us?” Blade puts his hands on his belt. “Don’t. You call the shots with this. If you want me to leave—”
Faith shakes her head. “No, I… I don’t know how to do this, but I’m not going to pick and choose between you.”