Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 118333 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 592(@200wpm)___ 473(@250wpm)___ 394(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 118333 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 592(@200wpm)___ 473(@250wpm)___ 394(@300wpm)
“Tanner?” I shook my head, and then those eyes were right there in front of me once more. But this time they were real. My hands were shaking, and my neck was so tense I thought my tendons were gonna snap. My eyes squeezed shut as hellfire took me over, fucking eradicating any sanity, any good, that was left inside me.
“Tanner . . . please . . .”
Adelita’s pleading voice made my eyes slam open, and I was across the room in seconds. My hand fisted into her hair—hair that, after all this time, I still remembered the feel and smell of—and I glared into her eyes. I didn’t look any lower. If I saw that fucking wedding dress again I wasn’t sure what I would do.
“You betrayed me,” I snarled, desperately trying to keep a check on my rage. “You fucking betrayed me.” My voice barely made a sound at all, but it was dripping with poison.
The tears that had been building in Adelita’s eyes seemed to vanish in an instant, replaced by a spark of rage. She opened her mouth to speak, but the door to the room opened.
“Tanner?”
I spun around, unable to hold back my anger. “Get the fuck out of here before I kill you.” Slash, Zane, and Ash’s eyes widened, and the three of them hurried back from the door. Their faces were confused, like they didn’t know what the fuck was happening. But I’d lost it. I didn’t have it in me to explain. I was done trying to be the Tanner they all knew. The one who kept his temper in check. The one who tried to pretend he wasn’t a stone-cold fucking killer. The one who kept back the part of him that was fucking tapped.
I pulled my knife from the back of my jeans and made sure the gun in my holster was loaded. “Fuck!” I spat, knowing my brothers would be here soon. Knowing the shit was about to go down. My muscles vibrated as I waited for whoever was gonna come through that door. Because they would. And even though these men were my brothers, if they tried to get anywhere close to Adelita, I’d fucking ruin them.
I didn’t have to wait long. Minutes later, Bull, Tank, and Beauty rushed through the door. I fisted my knife and stood in front of Adelita. It was Tank I focused on. He took one look at me and his hands went into the air. “Tann? What the fuck?”
“Get back,” I warned. My voice was pure threat. Bull stepped forward around Tank. “I said get the fuck back!”
“Tann! Shit! What the hell is happening?” Tank blocked Bull from coming any closer. Bull’s face was laced with fury as he watched me like a hawk.
“Tank, get the fuck back. I won’t ask again.”
“Tann, I don’t know what the fuck is happening here. But speak to me. I’m your best friend. Tell me what the fuck is going on! You planning on taking her somewhere? This about your bitch?”
My eyes darted around the room. I had to get Adelita out of here. I had to protect her. No one was touching her. The thought of Shadow taking her from her room, or whoever had tied her to the chair binding her hands and feet, almost pushed me over the edge. My vision was misting with red at the thought.
The door flew open again, and Ky, Styx, Vike, AK, and Rudge barreled through. I locked onto Styx. He was my biggest threat. More brothers piled in. Cowboy and Hush and Smiler. The prospects I’d threatened. The blood in my veins flowed like rapids now, my ears echoing with the adrenaline that was surging through me.
Ky stepped to the front. “What the fuck is going on?”
“Get back,” I said, slowly, so the fucker would know not to test me. Ky blinked in shock, then tipped his head to the side. I knew that look on his face. I’d pissed him off. Before he, or any of them, could speak, I said, “I’m warning you. Any of you try to get to her, I’ll fucking kill you. No one will touch her. Just fucking try me.”
“Finally!” a voice said. I found Vike. Fucker was smiling. “The beast has awakened. The fucking White Prince is here. The beast we’d all heard of. I was wondering where he’d been all this time.”
Ky took a step forward. “I mean it!” I warned. “I don’t wanna hurt you, but I will if you try me.”
“Tann?” Tank pushed Ky back and kept his hand on the VP’s chest to hold him off. Then something flashed across Tank’s face. “The bitch . . .” he said, and I saw he was trying to piece shit together by the look of concentration on his face. He tried to see Adelita behind me. I blocked her from view. “It’s not the cousin in that chair, is it?”