Total pages in book: 50
Estimated words: 46500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 233(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 233(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
Like hell would I be the least bit inebriated just to get rid of some pain. Definitely not with my woman here with me.
A light knock sounded on the door, and then Alejandro stepped in. He was wearing a pair of black slacks and a black, button-down shirt, the top two buttons undone. An expensive ass Rolex sat on his wrist.
“To what do I owe this visit?” I grumbled, wincing again as I tried to get comfortable.
He shook his head and waited for me to get comfortable again before he spoke. “Jessie showering?”
I nodded once. “Got about five minutes before she’s done,” I warned him. If he asked that, I knew he had something to tell me that he didn’t want Jessie knowing.
He crossed his arms over his chest. “Word on the street is that you’re dead.” I snorted. Dumb fucks. “Now, they want your woman alive.”
I gritted my teeth. Anger sparked in my veins. “Over my dead body,” I growled.
Alejandro snorted at the irony of my statement. Joey stepped into the room and quickly shut the door behind him. He strode over to my bed. “Who in the fuck have you pissed off, Ink?”
I shrugged. “Fuck if I know,” I told him honestly. “Far as I knew, my enemies were your enemies as well.”
Joey shook his head. “Makes no sense they targeted you and are now targeting my little sister if it was an enemy of mine.”
He was right. It didn’t make fucking sense, and I hated the fact that I had dragged Jessie into whatever shit I was currently neck-deep in. She didn’t deserve this hell, didn’t deserve to constantly have to look over her shoulder.
But like fuck was I letting her go.
I racked my brain, but no one came to mind. I huffed, shaking my head. “I don’t fucking know, brother,” I confessed. “No one comes to mind.”
Alejandro grunted. “Well, in the meantime, I’m upping the security around here. Going to put more men on this hallway and around the hospital. You’re under my protection, and I’m not allowing fucking shit to happen, especially not to Jessie.”
I gritted my teeth. The only woman he’d ever gone above and beyond for like this was Elaina, and the fact that he was doing it for Jessie had my blood boiling. “You got something you need to tell me, Alejandro?” I snarled.
He cast me a dark look. “You think I’ve got feelings for your woman, Ink? I don’t. I respect her. I know she went through some tough shit. The shit I’ve heard? Not a goddamn soul on Earth is coming out of that shit unscathed. And yet, despite how fucked up I know she is, she still does her damnest to face each damn day.”
I relaxed. With that, he strode from the room. Joey looked down at me. “We’ll keep our ears to the ground,” he assured me.
I nodded once. “Thanks, brother.”
Jessie emerged from the bathroom a few minutes after Alejandro and Joey left. She was towel drying her hair, a pair of loose sweats and a t-shirt on. With a heavy sigh, she set the towel aside and sat beside me on the bed, crossing her legs.
“I thought I heard my brother and Alejandro.”
I nodded. “You did.” I heaved a heavy, weary sigh. “Got some shit to break to you, my girl.”
She frowned at me. “Well, what is it?” she demanded when I remained silent. I didn’t know how to break this to her, wasn’t sure if I wanted to. But she couldn’t watch her back if she didn’t know. I wasn’t one to keep vital information from people, especially someone I cared about and loved so deeply.
I grabbed her hand in mine, lacing our fingers together. “Word on the street is that I’m dead.” She sucked in a sharp breath, pain flashing in her eyes as she remembered the time just a few days ago when she thought I truly was going to die. I squeezed her hand. “There’s a reward out for you. Whoever shot me wants you alive.”
She jumped off the bed, jostling me though I knew she didn’t mean to. I swallowed vomit at the pain, not wanting her to know she’d just hurt me. If I knew anything about Jessie, the thought of her causing me pain would send her spiraling. I didn’t want that; she was doing so fucking good.
I heard her throwing up a moment later, and I cursed myself for being confined to this goddamn bed.
She emerged a couple of minutes later, tears in her eyes, her face pale. Every part of her body basically screamed that she was terrified.
“Come here,” I roughly commanded, holding my hand out to her.
She hesitated for a minute before she finally walked over to me and placed her smaller hand in mine. I pulled her a bit closer to me until she was forced to sit on the bed again.