Total pages in book: 28
Estimated words: 26820 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 134(@200wpm)___ 107(@250wpm)___ 89(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26820 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 134(@200wpm)___ 107(@250wpm)___ 89(@300wpm)
“You fucked up.” Animal clears his throat. “I should have been at home with my wife, waking up with my kid. Instead, we get security footage of you and Lily entering Flesh.”
“So? We like to get freaky,” Lily calls out.
Animal glares at her, punching a fist toward her. “Shut the fuck up. You cause nothing but havoc. Thank your lucky stars Jameson is your brother. Otherwise, you'd be out on your ass for this shit.”
Jameson bristles, and Rage’s jaw ticks.
Turning his fury on me, Animal barks, “Everything you fucking caused tonight was for nothing.” He steps up to my brother and slaps him upside the head, and my spine straightens. If he decides to kill him, there’s nothing I can do but watch.
“Tell him where this girl is.”
Tears fill Leo’s eyes. Snot drips from his nose. “Dead.”
“He doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He’s been off his meds since she left,” I inform them. Animal knows how Leo can get.
“When we went to his house, we found him digging in the yard.”
The hairs on my arms lift. I scan Leo’s body. There’s mud caked all over his knees. “I’m sorry, Zane. My mind kept playing tricks on me.” He sniffles.
“He has nightmares,” I defend, taking a step toward him, the curse to protect him forcing my hand.
“She was in the hole,” Animal informs me, and I stagger backwards. Mom’s rantings play back to me.
“Why did you do it?”
“Why did you put her out there?”
Leo’s dreams. He fucking killed her.
“I don’t remember doing it.” He begins to sob.
“Clearly, he’s mentally ill. Why do you have him tied to a chair, Animal?”
“Don’t fucking question me in my own club! I have him because you went on a rampage with one of our own!” he bellows, spit flying from his mouth. “What happens next is on you! I warned you.”
Rage grabs Lily’s arm, and she thrashes in his grip. “Don’t…please…” she pleads.
“It’s okay,” I call out to her, my eyes clashing with hers. “I wouldn’t change a moment with you.”
I accept my fate if it’s death. When four brothers surround me and grab my arms, panic seizes my joints. “Wait—what are doing?” I can’t move. They’re restraining me.
No.
Not Leo.
No. No. No.
Footfalls come from behind me. A man in a navy-blue suit strolls into the room. Awareness crackles through the brothers, a silent respect.
“Do you know who I am?” he asks with a British twang. His eyes find Lily. Tilting his head, he sweeps his gaze over her. Blood and grime soak her dress. Red speckles coat her skin and hair.
She still looks stunning.
“Don’t make me ask twice,” he warns, dark eyes turning on me.
“Arlo Aire?” I guess. Animal warned me Ronaldo had family. I knew he used his connection to plant fear in people, but I didn’t expect them to actually show up for him. He was a dick.
Aire dusts lint from his sleeve then looks at me, a sinister smile taking over his features. Not many men get a rise out of me, but this fucker chills my blood.
Opening his jacket, he pulls something from the inside pocket.
My heart thunders in my chest. I jerk in the brothers’ hold, but they don’t give an inch. “When I was thirteen, my father gave me this.” He flips open a knife. It’s a small pocketknife, the type you have as a multi-tool on a keychain. “He told me when someone wrongs you, they pay with pain so they remember never to cross you again. Pain lasts. It imprints fear.”
“Nooo!” I scream, my voice breaking as he stabs the small metal blade into Leo’s neck.
My legs give out, and I collapse to the floor, my arms still held above me. Palming Leo’s forehead to keep him in place, Aire rips the knife down his artery. Blood spurts out, splashing to the floor.
Leo’s eyes expand, and his mouth gapes.
Tears blur my vision. My throat goes raw as I yell out for him.
All I ever wanted was to keep him safe. His gurgling breath rips my heart in two. There’s a flash at the corner of my eyes then everything fades to nothing.
CHAPTER
TWENTY
Lily.
“You bastard!” I cry out when Halo clocks Zane with the butt of his pistol, knocking him out cold.
“It was a mercy.” Halo rolls his shoulders and cracks his neck, moving away from Zane.
“It wasn’t even him. I killed Ronaldo!” I screech.
Rage tightens his hold and growls into my ear. “Shut the hell up.”
“And I’d do it again! He was a pig,” I add, ignoring Rage’s warning.
“Lily,” Jameson and Animal bark in unison.
Aire holds a hand up to stop them, a smirk tugging his lips as he studies me. “Let her speak.” He towers over me, matching Rage in height but not stature. The suit fits his frame like it was created around his slender form. You can tell when a man takes care of himself. Hair coiffed to perfection. Leo’s blood the only blemish on his skin. This man is tailored, expensive, cared for.