Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 123155 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 616(@200wpm)___ 493(@250wpm)___ 411(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 123155 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 616(@200wpm)___ 493(@250wpm)___ 411(@300wpm)
Forrest’s nod was almost imperceptible as he turned to Leo. “I’m a doctor,” he told Dragon, who was staring at his son helplessly, his hands outstretched but frozen, like he wasn’t sure where it was safe to touch. “Help me turn him to his back.”
All of my attention was on Cecilia as she started to stir, eventually opening her eyes. When she saw my face close to hers, she jerked and then moaned in pain.
“It’s okay, baby,” I said, brushing her hair back from her face. “Where does it hurt?”
“My back,” she croaked, tears leaking from her eyes.
“She bleeding?” Lu asked as she ran toward us. “I think she was hit.”
“You saw it?” Casper asked as he helped me roll Cecilia quickly to her side. I winced as she groaned in pain.
“Saw the piece of shit aim for her,” she said, skidding to a stop on her knees beside me. “I couldn’t tell if I got off my shot before he did.”
“Is that what that was?” Cecilia asked breathlessly. “Huh.”
“I need to feed Olive,” Cecilia said, cutting into the memory as she shuffled past me, handing me the sweatshirt she’d been wearing. It was covered in Leo’s blood. “And then we need to get to the hospital.”
I followed her back to the bedroom, where Charlie was laying with Olive on a blanket spread out on the floor, cooing and playing with the baby’s feet.
“Hey,” Charlie greeted, leaning up on her elbow. “You’re okay?”
“I’m fine,” Cecilia said, kneeling beside the girls. “Thanks for keeping an eye on her.”
“No problem,” Charlie replied, watching her sister closely. “Mom wanted to go to the hospital with Lily, so she said to hang with Olive on the floor until you came to get her.” Charlie rolled her eyes. “I think she was worried I’d drop her or something. I changed her diaper, though, ’cause she was poopy. It was yellow, FYI.”
Cecilia smiled and ran her head over Charlie’s hair. “You did a good job, kid,” she told her. “Once Olive’s a little older, you can watch her for real. I’ll even pay you.”
“Sweet,” Charlie said, grinning. Her expression slowly fell. “Is Leo okay?”
Cecilia didn’t reply as she picked Olive up. She shifted her clothes a little and started nursing the baby before she looked back up at Charlie. “I’m not sure,” she said softly. “He was in pretty bad shape, but he was breathing.”
“What happened?” Charlie asked hoarsely.
Cecilia glanced at me helplessly.
“He wrecked his bike,” I answered for her, sitting down on the edge of the bed. It wasn’t exactly a lie—but it wasn’t the whole truth, either. We’d found Leo’s bike less than half a mile from the club’s property, and Leo had definitely gone down with it, but we were all pretty sure that he hadn’t been responsible for the crash.
“That’s crazy,” Charlie said in disbelief. “Leo rides every day, he wouldn’t just lay his bike down like an idiot.”
I held a smile back as I nodded. “We’ll have to ask him how it happened once he’s awake.”
“Hopefully, he’s okay,” Charlie said, pushing herself up to sit cross-legged. “Gray already lost his mom. I mean, he has Lily now, and I don’t think he even remembers, but still.”
“I bet he’ll be okay,” Cec said, laying her hand on Charlie’s knee. “He’d never leave Lily and Gray if he could help it.”
Charlie looked at Cecilia curiously, and I imagined little hamster wheels spinning inside her head. I knew where the conversation was headed before she spoke.
“Why doesn’t anyone like you?” she asked Cecilia, her words blunt but not unkind. “I thought it was because you liked Leo, but—” She gestured to me and shrugged. “It can’t be that.”
Cecilia huffed out an uncomfortable laugh. “You get right to the point, don’t you?”
“Sorry,” Charlie replied, chastised.
“No, it’s fine,” Cecilia said. She pulled her hand away from Charlie’s knee and grimaced as she got more comfortable on the floor. “So, you know how our family was attacked before you were born?”
“Yeah,” Charlie said, nodding. “Mom was pregnant with me.”
“Right,” Cecilia replied. “Well, I was a teenager, and I didn’t deal with it very well.”
“You weren’t hurt though, right?”
“No,” Cecilia said.
“Yes, she was,” I said at the same time. I ignored how Cecilia glared at me. “She had a graze, right here on her shoulder.”
“It barely bled,” Cecilia said. “It was more like a burn, really.”
“It scarred,” I countered. “It’s why she has that tattoo on her arm.”
“That’s not why.” Cecilia widened her eyes at me in the universal sign to shut my mouth.
“It’s there,” I said stubbornly, looking at Charlie. “You just can’t really see it anymore unless you’re looking.”
“This is all beside the point,” Cecilia said stubbornly to Charlie. “After all that happened, I didn’t react well. I was…mean. I was mean and hateful—that’s why they don’t like me.”