Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 33767 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 169(@200wpm)___ 135(@250wpm)___ 113(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33767 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 169(@200wpm)___ 135(@250wpm)___ 113(@300wpm)
“We’ll get it ready. You bring her home, and we’ll take care of her.”
“Thanks, Lemon.”
“We’re family, Bullet. We take care of our own.”
As I ended the call, I shook my head. I honestly wasn’t sure that I got what Lemon had been talking about until this very moment. I was Air Force. I’d had brothers in arms and we were very close for a while. I hadn’t had that relationship with anyone since right before I’d been recruited by the CIA. After that, I learned the less said the better. To protect CeCe, I’d take all the help I could get.
“Why’d he call you Bullet?” CeCe’s words were slurred, and she could only open one eye. Probably the pain meds. She was on a pain pump, which I’d have to transition. No way I was doing the kind of paperwork it would take to get that thing and the meds out of this hospital. Once we left here, she was going to disappear off the face of the fucking Earth.
“It’s my road name, honey. Long story, but we’ll have all the time in the world to talk about it. Just not now. Right now, I need to get you ready to move.”
“Where’m I goin’?”
“Home with me. My real home with all my family. They’re all gonna protect you, and I’m going to kill the son of a bitch who did this to you.”
Chapter Six
Cecilia
My world was foggy and disjointed. I thought Atticus had told me he was going to kill someone, but that couldn’t be right. I hadn’t seen Atticus since I’d left him after that one night. I think the pain in my heart was worse than the pain from the beating I’d gotten later.
I was sure I’d wake up with Marco or one of Ettore’s capos standing over me. No. Not a capo. I wasn’t that important. It would be one of his soldiers ready to pick up where Marco had left off. The only question was, how long would this go on before they let me die?
“Yeah. I have everything ready. She’s not ready to leave yet, but I don’t think we have a choice.”
I wasn’t sure who was speaking, but I thought it sounded like Atticus. But that was crazy. I knew it wasn’t Ettore. He’d never take the time to come to the hospital over a whore. Marco either. Like he gave a shit. Ettore finally let him do what he wanted to me and it had been everything I’d expected. My only surprise was that I wasn’t dead. Yet. Likely an oversight on his part.
The conversation continued, but it was one-sided. Was someone talking on the phone? “No. I can take care of her at the compound. I can get everything I need other than narcotics. She had a small brain bleed, but the CT they took this morning just came back. It’s improved and she doesn’t seem to have any motor or speech deficits other than what was caused by the pain medicine. Kid’s a fuckin’ lightweight, but that’s actually a good thing. Means it will be easier to keep her pain under control until it’s manageable.” Another pause. “Yeah. Be here in an hour. I’ll have everything ready by then.”
“Who’s there?” I tried not to sound like a scared kid, but my vision was still kind of blurry and I couldn’t tell who was in the room with me. It sounded like Atticus, but I couldn’t tell for sure.
“Hey, honey.” The voice that had been so hard-sounding a few moments ago was now soft and friendly. The bed beside me dipped and he took my hand in his. I thought he brushed his lips over the backs of my fingers, but I wasn’t sure. “It’s me. Atticus.”
“Bullet.”
There was a silence before he spoke again. “You remember that?”
“The doctor from before called you that. You said it was your road name.” I was struggling not to slur my words, to clear my head when it felt like it was stuffed full of cotton. “Are you…” My breath caught in my throat. If he was part of the mafia too, I wasn’t sure I’d survive this. Ettore likely thought I was dead, which meant if I could manage to get out of here without him knowing I was alive I might be able to leave Florida and go live a normal, quiet life under a different name somewhere the mafia didn’t give a shit about. “Are you in a gang or something?”
“No, honey. Well, I’m part of an MC, which you’re going to find out about shortly.”
“A m-motorcycle club?” I knew my voice was basically a whimper, but I couldn’t keep the dread and sheer terror out of my voice.
“Shhh… baby. Just relax. I swear it’s not what you’re thinking.”
“I can’t go back to that life… I can’t do…”