Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 124451 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 622(@200wpm)___ 498(@250wpm)___ 415(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 124451 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 622(@200wpm)___ 498(@250wpm)___ 415(@300wpm)
“Shit, he really got off?” Damien questions, glancing up at me again before trailing his gaze to Addison beside me who studiously stares out the window, pretending she can’t hear the conversation around her. I nod and Damien cringes. “Fuck, that sucks.”
Jensen continues. “Yeah, there’s no fucking question Jacobs did it, so your sister’s boyfriend took it into his own hands like the dumbass he is and got himself locked up for a forty-eight-hour hold—”
“Wait, what?” Damien says, now looking at Tanner. “How the fuck did you manage that?”
A sly grin cuts across Tanner’s face, his eyes sparkling with the memory of his fist slamming against Orlando’s jaw. “Let’s just say Channing won’t be able to eat without thinking of me ever again.”
Jensen chuckles, knowing just how right Tanner is. “You should have seen my old man after he took that hit. I’ve never seen him so angry. Man, his jaw was messed up, but not as messed up as Jacobs after he stabbed the girls and Jax.”
Damien slams on the brake, the car screeching to a halt as traffic weaves around us, laying on their horns and hollering abuse out their windows as they barrel past us, but all I can do is cringe, especially as Damien whips around to gape at me. “What the fuck did he just say? Stabbed, Brielle? You got fucking stabbed by that bastard?”
I cringe some more before adjusting myself in my seat and raising my hips. I pull up the hem of my shirt and push my pants down just enough to show him the angry red scar still causing havoc over my body. Damien’s eyes bug out of his head before shifting to Addison who does the same, pulling up her shirt to see the scar high on her ribs.
“Holy fuck,” Damien breathes, shaking his head. He whips back around, sitting in silence before the rage takes over and he slams his hand down over the steering wheel. He shoves his door open in the middle of the road and gets out, pacing in front of the Mustang and creating abstract shadows as he cuts through the headlights.
I take a heavy breath and as cars zoom around us, a strange awkward silence fills the car. Jensen reaches across and turns on the hazard lights, the irritating click, click, click of the flashing lights grating on my nerves. I clench my jaw before finally letting him have it. “Really?” I demand. “You had to go and tell him we got stabbed?”
Jensen shrugs unapologetically. “How was I supposed to know you failed to tell your brother you were dying in the hospital from a stab wound? Seems to me like the kind of information people usually share.”
Addison nudges me. “He’s got a point.”
“Damn it.”
A moment passes before Damien comes striding back to the car and drops into the driver’s seat, putting the Mustang back in gear and turning off the hazard lights. “Okay,” he finally says, hitting the gas simply to give himself something to do other than bitch me out. “We’ll be at Riley’s place in less than three minutes, and you have until then to tell me every fucking thing that’s happened here since I’ve been gone, and after that, I’m getting fucked up.”
Sounds like the best fucking plan I’ve ever heard.
The next three minutes are horrible as we go over everything from the stabbing to Tanner putting Colby in a coma, which I’m not surprised to find that Damien is thrilled about. We explain how the few days after that went down, and how I moved into Tanner’s place with Jax to heal. And just to throw salt on the wound, I tell him about Orlando’s plans for me and how we believe Mom trapped herself to save me. Hell, Addison also makes a point to tell him about Tanner’s baby daddy issues, which naturally, is also news to Jensen. Though surprisingly, Jensen doesn’t seemed shocked about his father’s desires to fuck me at all.
By the time every last word has been said, all secrets divulged bar one, Damien is pulling up in the center of Riley’s extravagant driveway. He cuts the engine and gets out before holding the door open for me and Addie as though he’s some kind of perfect gentleman. He fixes me with a scathing glare and it’s only then I realize just how much trouble I’m really in.
Thank fuck for alcohol.
Chapter 18
TANNER
The second I can, I snatch the keys to my Mustang right out of Damien’s hands. Don’t get me wrong, I’m more than happy to let the guy drive her. Sure, he likes to fuck around, but when people’s lives are in his hands, especially his sister’s, he ensures they’re safe. Besides, he’s not a bad driver, but from the sound of it, he’ll be in absolutely no state to drive home tonight.