Total pages in book: 30
Estimated words: 28300 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 142(@200wpm)___ 113(@250wpm)___ 94(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 28300 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 142(@200wpm)___ 113(@250wpm)___ 94(@300wpm)
Lucius nodded.
She turned toward them. “I er, I hope this is okay. I texted Lucius about us coming here for Christmas and that it might be good for him to join us.”
“I can leave,” Lucius said.
“Don’t be silly,” Angel said.
“There’s always room,” Lash said, giving her hand a squeeze. They had all experienced loss in their lives.
One look at Lucius, and she saw that he was still struggling with losing his best friend. She leaned against Lash, hoping she never had to feel what Lucius must be feeling.
****
Anthony gritted his teeth as, for the hundredth time, Daisy ignored him. She treated him like he didn’t exist, and it was starting to piss him off.
“Are you just going to pretend I’m not here?” he asked.
Daisy stopped. She had stepped a few feet behind him. He saw her hands clench at her sides, and he had to wonder what was going on in her head.
“Do you want me to leave?” he asked. “Is that it? You want me out of your life so I stop causing you so much trouble?”
She turned toward him. “What do you want from me?”
“I want you to fucking talk to me.”
“I’m talking to you, Anthony, or am I talking to a brick fucking wall? Is that it?”
“You’re not talking to me, and you know it.”
She took a step toward him. “I don’t think I am. I think I’m talking to a guy who is so blinded by something that he cannot see what he risks. The lives he puts in jeopardy.” She turned her head left and right and kept her voice lowered so only he would hear.
“They don’t deserve to live. You know that and you agree with me.”
“And what about everything else? It’s not as clear cut as they’re the bad guys and should be killed, Anthony. There are more lives at stake, and you’re not seeing that. You’re too damn blinded by your love for Tabitha and righting the wrong that happened to her to see clearly. Maybe you should consider your place in this club and follow her like the loving little puppy that you are.”
Anthony frowned as he looked at Daisy.
His love for Tabitha?
Loving little puppy?
Righting the wrong?
What the fuck was Daisy talking about?
Yes, he cared about Tabitha. She was his friend and had always accepted him for being different. She hadn’t tried to force him to be different to fit in, or to appear normal. They were close. Always had been, and he had no doubt they always would be. He wasn’t in love with her.
Not even close.
Loving little puppy? The only person he had ever followed around with complete and utter devotion like a loving fucking puppy was the woman right in front of him. Daisy was his world.
She was everything to him. Since they were kids, he had loved her. There was no one else. It was always Daisy. Always her. No one else.
He grabbed her arm as she went to walk away, but all of a sudden, his name was called.
Anthony saw his dad standing there.
“My office, now.”
He looked toward Daisy, and he hated that she looked relieved at the interruption. Not good. Pressing her up against the wall, he slammed his lips down on hers, kissing her hard and deep, feeling her hands as they moved toward his chest, but she didn’t push him away. He would’ve stopped if she tried. It would have been hard for him to do, but when it came to Daisy, he would do anything.
“This is not about Tabitha. This is about you and me.”
He took a step away, and he couldn’t look back. Walking away from Daisy was not what he did. Not ever.
Lash stood in his office, leaning against his desk, arms folded. “Close the door.”
Anthony did and then stepped a few feet into the room.
“Take a seat.” Lash pointed at the sofa, and Anthony lowered himself to it.
Lash grabbed a couple of items off his desk and then moved toward him. “I don’t want you to say a word. I know you hate conversations, so we’re going to keep this short and sweet. I’ll be the one to do the talking, and you can just listen.”
A small leather cut was placed on his lap. Anthony recognized it as his young boyhood cut. The one they all had gotten as kids as a present. He’d loved the cut. It had made him realize at a young age that he’d wanted to be like his father. A member of The Skulls, earning his patch. Being a fully fledged member. He didn’t care that it meant his life would potentially be in danger or that someone was going to want to kill him all the time. None of that had mattered to him.
None of it had. All he’d cared about was being a Skull.