Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 96612 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 483(@200wpm)___ 386(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96612 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 483(@200wpm)___ 386(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
I let the road do its thing, clearing my head and bringing everything into focus.
I’d always wanted a family. Kids. And from the beginning, I’d known that those kids would come from Trix.
When I was young, my mother, younger brother and three little sisters died in a house fire. One night, I was staying at a friend’s house and the next morning I’d walked home to find a burned out shell of metal and ashes where my home had been. I hadn’t understood it at first. I’d been confused, so I’d walked to Casper’s apartment because his place had been the closest.
It hadn’t been until later that everything sunk in.
My dad was alive. He hadn’t been home during the fire. And after my mom was gone? Dude was a whole different person. Sneaky and furtive and fucking mean.
I’d eventually learn that he’d gone completely around the bend. Lost in his own little world where everyone owed him something and if they didn’t give it, he just fucking took it.
He was the first man I ever killed. I’d shot him with Farrah’s gun through the headrest of the passenger seat in her car.
He’d kidnapped her and little Cecilia. I hadn’t had a choice.
There was no choice.
Didn’t mean that I ever felt okay with it, though.
I pulled over to the side of the road and grabbed a pair of gloves, stretching out my hands before sliding them on. It was cold as fuck outside, and as I glanced around, I realized where I’d ended up.
The woods were familiar. I’d been up there a few times in the past couple of years, especially when I had shit on my mind—usually Trix. If I drove a few more miles up the road, I’d hit gravel. Couple miles past that and I’d find the property that I’d inherited from Tommy, my first dad.
The same clearing where I’d killed him.
And yeah, it was fuckin’ weird that Grease and Callie named their son Tommy, too—probably weirder for everyone else, since I’d always called the guy Dad. But they’d named their son after someone else—I didn’t remember who.
You didn’t name your kid after a traitor. They don’t deserve the honor.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and checked for missed calls. Nothing. Trix hadn’t even tried to contact me after I’d left the house hours ago.
I sniffed, pulling a handkerchief out of my saddlebags to wipe my runny nose. Fuck, it was cold. Swear to Christ, even my eyeballs felt frozen.
I fired up my bike and made a U-turn, taking my time driving back down the mountain. I was in no hurry to get home, but I needed to warm the fuck up before my balls became permanently imbedded in my stomach, where they’d crawled a couple hours before.
I didn’t want to see Trix. I didn’t want to look at her. I’d tried not to think about the situation as I’d ridden around, tried to just let my mind wander instead—but it was no use. Only thing I could think about was my kid in her belly.
It was my job to protect him. It was my job to protect them both—but this was a fight I couldn’t even step into the ring for. I was damned if I did, and fucking killed if I didn’t.
I got back to the apartment as the sun started coming up, and my body was so fucking tired I had a hard time climbing the stairs.
“Hey,” Will mumbled from the couch as I let myself in. “All good?”
“Yeah, thanks, brother.” I pulled my gloves off as I moved into the house, and my hands started to burn as they heated up. “You want coffee?”
“Nah, I gotta get outta here. Couch fuckin’ sucks—gonna go catch some sleep in a bed.”
“Why didn’t you sleep in the spare room?” I asked, turning my head to look at him as I filled the coffee carafe with water.
“Wasn’t offered,” he answered with a shrug. “I’m out. See ya later at the shop.”
“Thanks again.”
“Anytime.”
I walked over and locked the door behind him, checking it twice before I finished making the coffee. After the first cup, I knew it was no use. My eyes were heavy and my movements sluggish as I headed toward the spare room, barely glancing at the closed door Trix was sleeping behind.
I crashed on top of the blankets, barely kicking off my boots before I was asleep.
Sometime later, Trix crawled in beside me. I woke up enough to realize she shouldn’t be there, her head on my chest and the rest of her body curled so tight that her knees pressed up against my side. I was livid with her.
I wanted to fucking shake her. I wanted to lock her in a room so that she couldn’t go anywhere near a doctor. I wanted to push her off the bed.