Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 64751 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64751 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
“He was going to kill me,” I say softly, “but there is a girl there, and she promised to dance for him if he let me go. He wants her so badly, he agreed. I want to get her out, Fury. She deserves freedom.”
He squeezes me. “One thing at a time.”
Right.
One thing at a time.
Hang in there, Ellie.
“OH MY GOSH, I’M SO glad you’re okay,” Bonnie cries the second we step through the clubhouse gates.
She throws her arms around me and squeezes me until I wince, then pulls back mouthing sorry before making her next hug a little less forceful.
“Hope, sweetheart, come here.”
Pulling Hope into a hug, Bonnie squeezes the little girl, the relief evident on her face. Her eyes meet mine and the smile she gives me is so full of gratitude. Fury has thanked me, over and over again, for saving Hope. I did what I had to do, what anyone would do. There was never a moment I was going to leave that little girl there, even if it cost me my life.
We make our way into the clubhouse and the second I step in, Acacia comes over. She puts her hands on my shoulders and gives me a sympathetic smile. “I am so sorry you had to deal with Marek. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” I tell her. “He didn’t hurt me.”
“You’re lucky, then. Don’t worry, he won’t touch you again.”
“We need to come up with a way to retaliate, without starting a war,” Bonnie tells me. “He is the last person this club needs to be fighting with.”
“Since when did you become the boss,” Western murmurs to his woman, putting an arm around her shoulder and bringing her close.
“I mean, I’m just saying what we’re all thinking. I know you don’t want a fight with someone like him.”
“She’s not wrong,” Colt agrees, walking into the room with Myla by his side.
She gives me a hug before joining in the conversation, too.
“You got a plan?” Western throws at his father, and Colt gives him a look.
“I’m thinkin’,” Colt mutters.
“Think faster,” Western growls, “because that fucker isn’t goin’ to mess around. He will come in here and he will blow this place to pieces.”
My eyes widen. “Literally?”
Fury chuckles beside me. “Not literally, babe. But he will do some kind of damage.”
Oh, thank gosh.
“Even with our manpower,” Mex chimes in. “It’s nothin’ on his. It’s a war that will crush us.”
“You think I don’t fuckin’ know that?” Western snaps.
“Maybe we’re looking at this the wrong way,” I dare to say.
The club has no reason to trust me, especially after I ran off and got them into this situation, but they’re thinking with violence and violence isn’t always the answer. I’m certain for them, it might be, but there has to be another way. A smarter way. A way that will let Marek know the club isn’t going to sit back and do nothing, but something that won’t end in bloodshed.
“I’m listenin’,” Western crosses his big arms and stares at me.
God he’s intense.
“Well, I already know you’re not going to sit back and do nothing, but what if you attack from a different angle. Give him so much drama that he won’t be able to focus on the club.”
Bonnie tips her head to the side. “Well, you’ve got me intrigued.”
“Give him the USB, take a copy and give it back to him. Return the money. Make sure there is nothing else he wants from you.”
Western opens his mouth to argue, but I put a hand up.
Risky, I know.
“Please, hear me out. If you keep it all, he won’t stop until he gets what he wants. That is going to cause bloodshed. Give it to him but take him down in a different way. Nobody knows what Marek does behind closed doors, and that’s because he has higher ups working for him. The thing about life is, it doesn’t matter how powerful you are, if the public knows the kind of person you are, you’re done.”
Bonnie’s eyes widen as she begins to catch onto what I’m saying.
“He has a girl there, a girl who has people that love her. We need to tell her family where she is, then, we need to report it to every media outlet we can that he is stealing girls. Once the world knows what he’s doing, it won’t matter who is on his side because the sheer size of the public outcry will be too much to handle.”
“You’re a genius!” Bonnie claps her hands. “I can get something written up, and I know exactly how to get it all printed. We can expose him, let everyone know what it is he’s doing, and he’ll be crushed. You can’t have power if nobody wants to go to your shows.”
“Exactly,” I say, grinning. “He’ll know it was us, but he’ll have that much to deal with, it won’t be the focus of his attention. You might get yourself a war, but I’m thinking it’ll be less likely this way.”