Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 143842 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 719(@200wpm)___ 575(@250wpm)___ 479(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 143842 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 719(@200wpm)___ 575(@250wpm)___ 479(@300wpm)
A prickle of unease skittered across my flesh, lifting the hairs at the back of my neck into spikes.
I didn’t know what it was, but I was instantly on guard, watching it in my periphery while I swiped my card, flipped the lid and unscrewed the gas cap, then situated the nozzle.
The car just sat there idling, while a rash of shivers rolled. I stuffed my hands into my jeans’ pockets and leaned against my truck, all casual like, though I kept watch.
A minute later, the door to the car finally snapped open, so fucking slow.
Agitation blistered, and I straightened in the same second the bastard rose from his car.
Wearing gray slacks and a light blue polo and this expression on his face that claimed he had the right to be there.
Tall and thin, but Pruitt didn’t vibrate with the kind of power Ryder did, and I was surer than ever that he wasn’t the actual one who’d attacked me on Tuesday.
Still, rage thundered, a ferocious pounding that licked through my veins.
A firestorm.
An eruption.
I barely kept myself from storming across the space to snap his neck when I spat, “What the fuck do you think you’re doing here?”
That was right when a stir of energy blasted through the air, and the passenger side door of my truck swung open and Hailey flew out.
She rounded to the front of the truck so quickly I had no chance to stop her before she was halfway across the lot, though I did my damned best to get there.
I’d made it to her by the time she stopped midway, and I stood a foot behind her, ready to attack if this motherfucker even inched in her direction.
Hailey’s hands clenched and unclenched, her breaths ragged, her horror palpable.
She angled his direction, her words shards of animosity and hate. “What the hell do you think you’re doing, Pruitt? Did you follow us here?”
“I need to talk to you.”
“You need to talk to me?” Her voice was half frenzied, an accusation and incredulity. “Here? At the gas station? Twenty minutes from my house?”
“You’re never alone for me to find a better opportunity.” He sneered it, glance cutting to me.
A growl got free of my chest. “Guess what, asshole, she isn’t alone now, either.”
The scrawny prick scoffed, lifting his chin, tossing his arrogance all over the place. “I’d advise you to stay out of this.”
Scorn ripped up my throat, and I took a menacing step forward. “Yeah, well that’s not going to fucking happen.”
Hailey put a hand out toward me, asking for a minute, before she turned the full force of her revulsion on him. “I want to know how you knew I was here. Did you follow us all the way to my friend’s house?”
“My daughter is in that truck.”
It wasn’t lost on me that the asshole didn’t answer the question.
Derision whipped from Hailey’s mouth. “Don’t use her as an excuse. You and I both know she doesn’t mean anything to you, and I will no longer let you use her or myself for your selfish purposes. Just leave, Pruitt, leave while you still can.”
She lifted her chin in what was a clear warning.
A gauntlet thrown.
Questions and dread spiraled through my being. I wanted to demand that she tell me what the hell that meant. What she was holding over him. If it put her in danger. To trust me.
But this definitely wasn’t the time or place to do it.
So I remained towering off to her side, leaving no question for this bastard what was going to happen to him if he even thought of trying to get to her.
“Don’t make threats you can’t keep, Hailey.” He issued it like she was pathetic. One to be manipulated.
“You said the same thing when I told you I was leaving you.” She lifted her head higher with the challenge, and damn it all, if I didn’t want to give her a high-five and celebrate because my girl was fierce and strong and so goddamn brave, but it was clearly not the time for that, either.
Disdain filled his voice. “I chose to let you go to give you space. To give you time to come to your senses. You took it too far, Hailey.”
“No. You are the one who took it too far, Pruitt.” She tried to keep the trembling out of her voice. “You sent someone to attack Cody? I want to know. I want you to tell me the truth.”
The sound he let go of was mocking. “If only I could take credit. Now get our daughter and get in the car before you regret it.”
“You can be sure I regret it.” Her words tremored. “I regret every moment I’ve ever spent with you. Every day. Every hour. Every second. You won’t get one more.”
The scumbag’s jaw clenched, and I could feel his fury sizzle in the air. His eyes darted between her and me, his overinflated ego unable to accept that she was standing up to him.