Total pages in book: 43
Estimated words: 39540 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 198(@200wpm)___ 158(@250wpm)___ 132(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 39540 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 198(@200wpm)___ 158(@250wpm)___ 132(@300wpm)
The voices of the men outside the door got louder. I recognized Gunnar’s voice, even though I hadn’t had a real conversation with him. I doubt I’d ever forget his voice.
“Oh, for heaven’s sake.” Exasperated, Mama stomped to the door and yanked it open. “What the fuck is going on out here?” She closed the door firmly behind her.
I sat up, turning to let my legs hang over the side of the small bed. My head still had a few cobwebs but the conversation with Mama had helped. Other than kind of being sick to my stomach, I didn’t hurt anywhere else. Though, I was pretty sure I looked terrible and smelled like shit. I thought it funny that I felt safe enough to worry about my appearance and personal hygiene given everything I’d gone through.
Of all the people I expected to make any kind of appearance in my life, Knuckles hadn’t been on the Bingo card. Of course, my mother had told me about him, and I’d be lying if I said even the thought of Knuckles didn’t terrify me, but given the circumstances, if he’d sent Gunnar to rescue me, then I’d trust him and Gunnar until they proved to be untrustworthy.
Besides, I was fairly certain Knuckles would do whatever he had to, to get me to safety. He’d told me once he’d always watch over me. Now, I knew exactly which parent I could trust to have my back. But only Gunnar and Knuckles. Everyone else could kiss my ass and lick the hole. Even Mama. She projected nothing but calm and reassurance, but it wasn’t hard to see there was something dangerous about her. Even though she had to be in her seventies, she wore a tank top that showed her arms and a flash of midriff when she moved. Sure, her skin was aging and not as tight as a younger woman’s, but Mama was more fit than most women less than half her age. She was definitely not someone I wanted to underestimate.
Mama opened the door, tugging Gunnar with her by his upper arm. “Inside, Gunnar. Go sit with your woman.” OK, that tone of voice from Mama was new. She’d seemed like the soft-spoken grandma type. Not so much now. She gave a little shake of her head. “Hard-headed bastards. All of ‘em.” She fixed her gaze on me and pursed her lips. “I’m sorry, Pippa. We’re not usually so unwelcoming to newcomers. Especially when they come to us with one of our own.” Her tone was back to being gentle and sweet, but now that I’d seen that small peek of who this woman really was, I couldn’t unsee it.
“I don’t want to cause problems. Especially not with family.” I wanted to look at Gunnar, but couldn’t bring myself to do it. If I saw regret or condemnation in his eyes, it might well be my undoing. And I really had no idea why I’d latched on to this man. Because, logically, I knew it was the idea he represented. The black knight on a white steed. The bad guy tempered with the smallest bit of good. A man who could keep me from ever getting kidnapped again, and who would punish those who took me in the first place. That was Gunnar. I knew I could trust him, no matter what.
“Trust me when I tell you, Pippa, my dear, none of this is your fault. It’s this one refusing to let his family help him when he was little more than a child, and those knuckleheads out there for being knuckleheads.” Her dry tone was the perfect reflection of the look she leveled on Gunnar. “Now. Here’s what’s going to happen.”
“Uh-oh.” Gunnar dropped his head. “Here it comes.”
“Excuse me, young man?” If there was ever the stereotypical image of a cross Catholic nun, Mama looked every inch of her. Well, except for the tank top displaying toned, leathered skin, the thick, steel-gray hair in a long braid down her back, the leather pants and motorcycle boots. But hey! The pants were black and the top white. Same colors.
Gunnar raised his hands in surrender. “Nothin’, Mama. Nothin’ at all. Please continue.”
Mama let her disapproving stare linger on Gunnar until he lowered his gaze in surrender. “Pippa.” When she turned her focus back to me, her gaze was once again warm and welcoming. The sweet little granny about to impart the most insightful advice imaginable. “You go take a shower and clean up. I’ll help with your hair when you get out. We’ll get you feeling more like yourself in no time.”
Gunnar sighed heavily. “Mama --”
“No arguments, Gunnar. This is happening.”
“You know why I want to get us out of here.”
“I do. And it’s time you sucked it up and told your father and mother what happened. Not for yourself, but for Hannah. She isn’t the type to keep anything from Cain and Angel and her guilt has been eating her alive for fifteen years. And not just because she didn’t tell them what happened. She stabbed a man to death. Sure, he was trying to rape her, but she took his life. Up close and personal. Because you told her not to say a word, she felt like she owed you whatever you asked of her. Hannah’s kept everything bottled up inside. She’s going to destroy herself. I know you tried to take all the blame and the punishment, but she lost the same fifteen years of her life as you did.”