Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 69610 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 348(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69610 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 348(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
“Yes.”
“You got contacts to get you onto the streets, amongst it all, without lookin’ like you’ve just popped up and makin’ everyone suspicious?”
“Yes.”
“Then, welcome to the team, Charlie.” I reach out, and she takes my hand. I squeeze it. “And remember, you might have dealt with people like me, but you haven’t dealt with me. If you betray my club, or me, I will personally make sure you suffer.”
She holds my eyes. “Clear. Now let my hand go before I break yours, and believe me when I tell you, I know how.”
I let her hand go.
“Dakoda here has my number. I’ll wait for your instruction.”
With that, she’s gone.
I look to Koda. He looks to me.
“That girl is fuckin’ dangerous, and yet I can’t figure out how,” Koda mutters. “Never seen a woman who doesn’t flinch bein’ in a room with two bikers.”
“You’re right about that,” I say, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it. “Charlie has some demons, except hers are dangerous. Just haven’t figured out if she’s dangerous.”
“What she is is fuckin’ determined. Guess we’ll see.”
Indeed, we will.
~*~*~*~
NOW – AMALIE
“Everyone here loves you,” I tell Scarlett later that night as we sit around the fire that Maverick and Boston lit.
“They love you more. I think we’re kind of like guests of honor.”
I laugh softly. “Yeah. It isn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Everyone is really nice.”
Scarlett nods. “I think people put the bad image on clubs, and club life, but I think behind it all, they’re just a family. Like anyone else.”
I nod. “Did you see Boston and Maverick?” I lean in a little closer just in case anyone hears.
Scarlett nods, leaning in, too. “They really hate each other. I’ve tried to get Maverick to mend the bridges between them, but he refuses. I know what Boston did, but I don’t know why Maverick won’t hear him out. He looks ...broken.”
I glance over at Boston, and he’s sitting a little away from the group of now rowdy bikers, laughing and smoking. He’s holding onto his drink, staring at nothing. He’s carrying the weight of whatever happened between Maverick and himself on his shoulders, and little by little, it’s weighing him down. He looks haunted. Empty. Broken.
“Imagine what it would be like,” Scarlett says, when I look back at her. “Living with the knowledge that because you made one little mistake, someone lost their life. It would be awful.”
I stare at Boston again. What I feel every day, he must feel a thousand times harder. My heart goes out to him, because I can’t imagine what it would be like to live with that kind of monster. I barely make it with my head above water, let alone what he’s experiencing.
Poor guy.
I look back at Scarlett. “Who was the redhead Malakai and Koda took into his office earlier?” I ask.
Scarlett shrugs. “I’m not really sure, but she was gorgeous, don’t you think?”
My heart twists a little, and I realize after a few seconds it’s jealousy. Something I haven’t felt since I was in my teens. A green-eyed monster that’s coiling around my heart and squeezing. Why would I be jealous that Malakai took a woman to his office? He’s not mine. Hell, we’re barely even friends. So, why would it bother me what he does?
But it does.
And I can’t shake the feeling, no matter how hard I try.
“Maybe she’s Koda’s girl?” Scarlett suggests, brown eyes searching my face.
I know what she’s doing. She’s not stupid. She can probably see the jealousy written all over my face, and she’s trying to make me feel better. She doesn’t have to, though. I have nothing to be upset over.
“Probably,” I say softly.
“Where did you and Mal go before?”
“He took me to a park, we talked a while. My mom made somewhat of a scene when we left. She wasn’t a big fan of me leaving with a biker.”
Scarlett frowns. “Oh, no. Are you and your mom close?”
I shake my head quickly—probably too quickly. “Not at all. Not even a little. She’s nothing like me. Sometimes, I think she only stays in my life because she thinks it’s something she has to do because she gave birth to me. Like a job.”
Scarlett smiles warmly. Sympathetically. “I’m sorry, Amalie. That sucks. What about your dad?”
I smile. “I’m very close to him.”
“I’m glad. So, your mom wasn’t happy about you leaving? I’m sure Mal would have ate that up.”
I laugh. “Yeah, he did, but he also shot her down. He stood up for me. Which was ... so nice.”
“Aw.” Scarlett wiggles her brows. “He likes you.”
“We’re not in high school, Scar.” I giggle.
“Okay, he wants to” —she makes a thrusting motion— “get jiggy with you.”
I burst out laughing, so loudly the entire group stops talking and they all look at me. I rarely laugh like that, mostly because I don’t know how it sounds, so I taught myself not to do it. My cheeks burn when I see everyone’s eyes on me, and I wonder if that laugh was awful and they’re all staring at me out of horror.