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)
With that, I take her hand and lead her out of the bathroom. We order some lunch and eat it, then we head back early. Tomorrow, we’ll be meeting with Benedict. Tomorrow, Aviana will put the plan into motion.
Now more than ever, I don’t like it.
I don’t like the fact that she’s going in there without protection.
She assures me she knows what she’s doing. The club assures me they’ve got her back. But if one thing goes wrong ... it’s over for her.
Surely, by now, it’s our turn for something to go right?
Fucking surely.
“YOU’RE CLEAR ON THE plan?” Alarick says to Aviana as we arrive at a new motel in the town where she is going to meet up with Benedict.
“I’m clear on the plan, you don’t have to worry,” Aviana tells him, tucking her hair up into a ponytail. “I’ll get this done. I’ll make sure we get hold of him and I’ll come out alive.”
“We’ll have eyes on you at all times, but if somethin’ goes wrong ...”
“It won’t,” she assures him.
Then she looks to me, I know my face is hard, I can feel just how tight my jaw is right now.
“It’s going to be okay,” she tells me, reaching out to squeeze my hand. “I’m tough. I’ve got this.”
“Last time we sent a girl in, it ended very fuckin’ badly ...” Mykel tells her.
“Hey!” Waverly slaps him on the shoulder. “I did good.”
He meets her eyes. “We all got into a lot of fuckin’ trouble because of that. Kendric still has to go to court and could very likely be charged if we don’t finish this now. We have to do it right.”
“We’re doin’ it right,” Kendric mutters.
“We’ll be waitin’ to back you up if you need it,” Samson tells her.
She smiles at them all, giving them the kind of look that would soften any man. “Thank you all. I’ll be okay.”
We settle into our rooms and Aviana gets herself ready for her meeting with Benedict tonight. She claims to know where to find him, and I’m certain she probably does. She hasn’t told me a lot about how she knows him, but she has told me she remembers a place he owned and was often at, especially on a Saturday night. So, we can only fucking hope that he’s there and she can manage to lure him away.
We’ll be waiting.
“Well, hey!”
I turn to see Zariah striding toward us, suitcase in hand. She was never not going to be part of this. She, more than most, has good reason to want to be there when we take this operation and fucking destroy it. She’s been on the island, she’s been used by Blanche and more than that, she is the only one of us to have met Samson’s daughter. Because of that, she’s invested.
“How’s it goin’?” I ask her, shielding my eyes from the sun.
“It’s good, Cohen. How are you?”
I nod. “Livin’.”
She smiles and then looks to Aviana. “How are you, honey?”
“I’m doing good.”
“Well, you’re doing a pretty incredible thing for us tonight.”
Aviana smiles and then lets us know she has to start getting ready before disappearing inside. Kendric comes out of his room at the sound of Zariah’s voice and, in minutes, the two of them are back in there. The way he just looked at her, tells me he’s going to be fucking her in less than five minutes.
“You good, brother?”
I see Mykel walking down the path, cigarette in hand.
“I’m gettin’ there.”
“She’s goin’ to come out of this,” he says, stopping and leaning against a pole, inhaling deeply.
“How many chances are we goin’ to get here? We’ve fucked up so many times, and so far we’ve kept everyone safe. What if she’s the end of that lucky streak?”
“You’re thinkin’ out of fear. Aviana is smart, and you have to believe she knows what she’s doin’. Gotta trust her.”
I cross my arms. “Ready for this shit to be over. Rather go back to runnin’ fuckin’ drugs and weapons. At least you always knew what you were dealin’ with.”
Mykel chuckles. “Fuckin’ A, I hear you.”
“You find much out about your parents in New York? Haven’t even had a fuckin’ chance to talk to you about that.”
“Bits and pieces, not enough to give me anything I can use. I’ll get there. Club business is more important right now.”
“How are you and Waverly travelin’?”
Mykel grins. “Fuckin’ wild, that girl, but I wouldn’t have her any other way.”
I chuckle. “She fuckin’ sure is.”
He claps me on the back as he pushes off the pole. “It’ll work out, brother. We’ve got you covered.”
Yeah, yeah, they do.
But right now, I don’t fucking know if that’s enough.
It has to be, right?
It just fucking has to be.
18
NOW – AVIANA
I walk into the bar where I’m praying Benedict will be. Considering he owns it, or at least half of it, I’m hoping he’ll be here. The few times I was brought here, it was always a Saturday night and he would always be in his office, just watching everyone, his eyes scanning the crowd. Benedict is an incredibly powerful man, and he has his finger in a lot of pies, so to speak.