Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 67975 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67975 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
“Don’t even think it’ll be that easy for her. These men are fuckin’ clever, but more than that, they’re dangerous. They’re managin’ to get girls to do exactly what they want, that’s a terrifyin’ fuckin’ thought in itself.”
“Yeah,” she agrees. “Yeah, that is scary. It’s scary because I often wonder how bad these girls lives must be, if they’re willing to let themselves get tangled up in that sort of thing, and yet at the same time, I think Magnolia was in there, and Sally-Anne, and I know they didn’t have bad lives. So, how did this man manage to convince them to stick around?”
“Magnolia was lookin’ for answers about your momma, she was smart.”
“Not smart enough,” she whispers. “She’s still gone. And that only leaves me with more questions. What was Mom doing involved in it? Was she having an affair with Dax? Or is there someone else involved? Or was she looking for something? Someone? There are so many loose ends, and I don’t know how to tie them all up.”
I take her hand, squeezing it. “That’s exactly why we’re sendin’ Waverly in, because we need to find them so we can get those answers.”
“Alarick, can I ask you something?”
I nod, staring at her.
“What happened to King?”
It feels like a punch to my chest when she asks me those questions, those questions that lead to nothing but lies and betrayal. Those questions that I can’t answer without her knowing that what she thinks happened to King, and what actually happened are two different things. I can’t go down this road with her, not now.
“We’ve been over this, Briella. Don’t really want to get into it right now. It’s been a long day.”
She looks disappointed, but she doesn’t argue, she just nods and leans over until she’s pressed against me. I lean back on the couch and adjust her so we’re both comfortable, and we lie there, in the silence, both of us wondering what the fuck is going to happen next.
“I love you, Flick,” she murmurs.
“Love you, too.”
Fuck.
Please let this go right.
9
BRIELLA
I stare around, my heart thudding. I’m scared. I shouldn’t be out here alone. I’m supposed to have one of the club members with me at all times, but I needed to see King. I needed to have him explain whatever the hell is going on right now. The only way I could meet up with him, like we planned, was for me to sneak out in the middle of the god damned night while everyone is asleep.
If Alarick wakes up, and I’m not there, he’s going to flip.
He’s going to lose his mind.
If he does that, he’s never going to let me out of his sight again.
Still, I had to get my answers.
I sit on the park bench, terrified I’ve been followed, terrified that this will be the last damned place I’m ever seen.
I glance around, and when I hear the rustle of some leaves in some bushes nearby, I look over to see a dark figure emerge from the path that runs behind those bushes. King comes closer, and I exhale a sigh of relief. I stopped breathing there, for a moment, I stopped breathing. The whole world seemed to close in around me.
King approaches, glances around, and then sits down beside me. For a moment, we both sit in silence, not sure who should start first, but I decided we don’t have long, and I need to ask him so many things. “Why did you fake your own death?”
The most obvious and yet the most important question.
King exhales, “I had a feelin’ you were goin’ to lead with that.”
“I came here for answers, King. I didn’t come here to chit chat about your day.”
He chuckles. “You’re just like your momma sometimes, you know that?”
I go silent, and an ache forms in my chest. An ache, a longing, a desperation to see my family again. To feel my mom hug me, to laugh with my sister. Tears spring to my eyes, and I can’t stop them as they roll down my cheeks silently.
I know I have the club, but sometimes, it feels like I’m so damned alone in this world.
So damned broken.
“I miss her too, honey. Every fuckin’ day,” King says into the darkness, and then his hands reaches out and curls around mine. His big, rough hand. “But you got me. You’ll always have me. When this is over, I won’t leave you again.”
I cry harder.
God dammit, this is not what I came here for.
This is not how it’s supposed to feel.
King jumps right into it, and I’m thankful. I need something to distract me from the crippling pain in my chest right now.
“I faked my death because it was essential Dax thinks I’m not here anymore. If he thinks I’m not here, I can look around and ask questions and get closer than I’ve ever been. He knew I was lookin’ for him, and he knew I wasn’t goin’ to stop. He would have brought that entire club and everyone I loved down if he thought I was still alive. I had to do it.”