Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 59738 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 299(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59738 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 299(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
The intro is long, but the first two minutes pass in a blur of uncoordinated chaos. The intensity of the stage lights makes it difficult, but I can still make out Conor’s form in the back watching me from the shadows. I wish that I could see his face while the other men chant for me to take it all off.
The worst thing is there’s a part of me that wishes he would save me from this too. It’s silly and stupid and entirely impractical to want for such things. He isn’t my prince charming and I can’t allow hope to bloom where none exists. I’m nothing to Conor. We are married in name only, and he won’t hesitate to kill me just like he threatened if I step outside of the invisible boundaries.
My throat works to hold back too many emotions as I untie the strings of my bikini top. The crowd gets louder as they shout encouragement, and the shadow I was focused on has disappeared into the fray. I’m on my own now. As alone as I’ve ever been.
I focus on Archer and the dream I’ve always had. Just me, and him, and the cape. Someday, this will be a distant memory while we build sandcastles by the sea. That’s what I tell myself as I allow my top to drop to the floor beneath me.
My stomach is a riot of nerves, and then without warning, there’s a riot around me. Someone shouts something and the music stutters before two huge hands grab me from behind and yank me back into the shadows, tossing a coat over my body.
“Conor?” I blink.
“For fucks sake.” He stares at me like he doesn’t know what he’s doing either. “This is over. I won’t have my wife making a mockery of herself up on stage like this. It’s done.”
Before I have a chance to answer, our night gets a whole lot worse. Because now Crow is here, stage side, looking up at Conor like he’s lost his fucking mind.
“Would ye care to tell me what the bleeding hell is going on here?”
We follow Crow down the hall and into his office where he tells some of the other lads to get the feck out. They offer me a pitiful look before they scramble, and Crow instructs me to take a seat across from his desk before turning to Ivy. “You can wait in the hall.”
“No.” I look him dead in the eye. “She stays in here with me.”
He stares at me like I’ve gone mad, and I suppose I have, talking to him that way. But I don’t trust having Ivy out of my sight for a second right now. I need his word that no harm will come to her, and in the meantime, I need her where I can see her, so she doesn’t try to run off on me.
“Chrissakes.” Crow yanks another chair out and gestures for her to sit down too. “By all means, don’t listen to me.”
He slams the office door shut and pours himself two fingers of whiskey. “What have ye done, Conor? Just fucking spit it out. I already know I’m not going to like it.”
The disappointment on his face is worse than the possibility of confronting my own death. I hate that I’ve gone and trampled all over his trust. If it weren’t for Crow, I wouldn’t have anything. I’ve thrown it all away for a woman. But when I look at her, hands trembling in her lap while my jacket practically swallows her whole, I know I’d do it all over again. And Crow might say otherwise, but he would too.
“The thing is, I know what ye asked me to do,” I tell him. “And I had every intention of following through on that. But there was a complication.”
Crow narrows his eyes. “What sort of complication?”
“She has a son. A wee one. And she’s the only parent he has left.”
Ivy shoots me a look like I’ve just betrayed her, but she doesn’t get how this works. This syndicate is a family, and we protect our own. Especially the wee ones. Family is something Crow understands, and I recognize that when he drains his glass in a hurry.
“Fecking Christ. Goddammit motherfucking—”
Ivy flinches as he begins to pace around the room. She’s jumpy around him for good reason. I just can’t figure out why she isn’t like that with me. Crow glances at her and for a split second, he looks sorry for scaring her. But Crow isn’t one to let his emotions get in the way of what’s best for the brotherhood.
“Tell me what ye know.” He points at her. “Whatever it is you saw, and don’t leave anything out.”
Ivy chews on her lip and looks to me for reassurance. I won’t have her lie to Crow. There’s no sense in that. I signal for her to go ahead, and she jerks her attention back to him.