Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 70716 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 354(@200wpm)___ 283(@250wpm)___ 236(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70716 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 354(@200wpm)___ 283(@250wpm)___ 236(@300wpm)
“Who?” Alarick growls.
Powerful, that’s the word I’d use to describe myself in this moment. I’m calling the shots. I’m the one who has the information they so desperately need. I’m the one who holds the cards right now, who is leading this game. I’m not going to give them absolutely everything they need, not right now, not until I get what I want in return.
Cohen.
This club.
All of them taken down.
“I’m not sure I’m ready to give you that information,” I say, my voice careful and calculated.
Alarick looks confused, like he hasn’t heard me correctly. “What are you talkin’ about? You came here, tellin’ us you had what we needed ...”
“I also said I wanted something in return.”
Cohen flinches.
Here I go. I’m about to throw a god damned wrench in the works, I’m going to cause chaos in their club, make them lose their footing, make them wish that they never let me in. Only, they’re not going to know it’s me. No. I’m just the broken girl, right?
“What do you want exactly?” Alarick asks, his voice far more skeptical now.
“I want answers, Alarick. I want answers about my family, I want answers as to why he killed them all—” I point a finger at Cohen “—and I want answers as to why he sent me way the fuck away, with a dangerous man, to ensure I’d never return.”
Alarick flinches and turns slowly, glancing at Cohen. Everyone in the room is staring at him now. He has no choice but to give them the answers they want. He has no option but to finally speak the truth.
“You sent her away?” Mykel asks.
Cohen’s face is hard, but he only makes eye contact with Alarick. Nobody else in the room, even me, matters to him right now.
Fair call.
He has a lot of answering to do.
My heart tightens in my chest as I wait for his answer, as I wait for his truth.
“I don’t know what she’s fuckin’ talkin’ about. I did kill that family, at King’s command. You don’t believe me, go fuckin’ ask him. As for the rest of it, I had nothin’ to do with any of that. No idea where she got that idea.”
Wait, what?
He can’t be serious?
King doesn’t know it’s Cohen, I’m sure of it.
Is he hoping they’ll just let it go if he tells them to go and ask him?
What the hell is he playing at?
Rage fills my chest, and I cry, “You’re a fucking liar! I saw you that day, I stood in front of you and you shoved a needle into my neck and told me to disappear. When I woke up, I was with a man I didn’t know, that sent me away to someone else, someone who wasn’t so nice, and I was with him for years. Don’t you dare act like you didn’t know, don’t any of you act like you didn’t know!”
Alarick looks confused and more than a little agitated. “Hold up a fuckin’ second, firstly, Cohen, what the fuck is she talkin’ about? You killed her family?”
Cohen nods sharply. “King’s order. Was between me and him.”
“He never fuckin’ told me that. I find it hard to believe he’d call a hit like that.”
Cohen stands strong. “You got a problem, Pres, you take it up with him. I was doin’ what I was instructed to do.”
Alarick exhales. “Fuck me. I’ll deal with that part of it later. What is she talkin’ about that you sent her away?”
“Don’t know what she’s fuckin’ talkin’ about, she’s fuckin’ nuts. She saw me kill her family, and she’s had it out for me since.”
I shake my head in clear and utter shock. “You’re not serious? I saw him, Alarick. I saw him there that day after he killed my family. I was getting some things out of the safe, and he took them, then he knocked me out and sent me away. Whatever he was covering up, I couldn’t be around for it. He’s lying to you.”
Alarick looks between Cohen and me, his face tight. We’re both telling a different story, we’re both going against each other. Who is he meant to believe?
“Gotta tell you, Aviana, you haven’t been here long and Cohen has never been disloyal to me. Findin’ it hard to believe what you’re sayin’.”
My entire world crashes around me. Every plan, everything I needed to happen, is being thrown back in my face. Alarick doesn’t believe me. He doesn’t think I’m telling the truth. Of course he fucking doesn’t, he’s going to defend his club.
“Samson was loyal too,” I spit. “Look how that ended. People do stupid shit when they’ve got something to protect.”
Alarick jerks a little, and I know my words affect him. I don’t fucking care. I want him to ache, to hurt, to burn. I will make them all burn. Fuck them all.