Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 115933 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 580(@200wpm)___ 464(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115933 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 580(@200wpm)___ 464(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
Rider? You certain? I signed.
Ky shook his head. “Not a chance he’s the rat. He’s got no family but us. Best damn rider we got. Does anything asked, always stitching us up after fights, works next to me in deals, goes on any run given, never questions shit. He doesn’t deserve our doubt just ’cause he’s young or that he’s quiet. You’re only twenty-six, brother, twenty-five when you got Prez. No one questioned your age or the fact that you don’t talk. Brother may only be twenty-four but was recruited just before twenty and been a fuckin’ golden asset ever since.”
I jerked my chin.
Point made.
Ky kept going. “Smiler—lifer. Bull—loyal as fuck. That only leaves Flame, who we both know is fuckin’ psycho. The only thing keeping him from murdering a packed mall on a Saturday is his love for this club. Only leaves Pit or the new hang arounds. They got no intel. Never get word on details. Brothers are good with Pit, wanna patch him in soon.” He shook his head and hit the back of the chair in frustration. “FUCK! Who could it be? Gotta be Feds or some cunt—tapping cells or using hidden surveillance.”
For once, I didn’t give a fuck about any of it. My mind was back in my room with Jane Doe.
A hand slammed on my desktop. “Styx! Christ, man. Get it the fuck together!” Ky was scowling right in my face.
My eyes narrowed and he tried to hide his flinch. Don’t. First and only fuckin’ warning, I signed.
He pushed out his palms and backed the hell off. “Fine. Look, your head’s not straight with the bitch here. Let me do some groundwork, set some feelers out under the radar. Keep it just between us.”
I exhaled. Yeah. Need to know who’s new to running guns in Texas.
Standing up, I walked to the door, turning back to sign, Going back to my place. Beauty should be done by now. Not waiting all fuckin’ night.
Heading through the lounge, around the back of the compound, I climbed the stairs and knocked at my door. Pushing it open, I saw Beauty was in my bathroom, washing her hands. She looked up as I walked in.
You done? I signed.
“She’s clean. I’ll bring clothes tomorrow after my shift at the store, she’s got on a robe for now.” Walking beside the bed, she looked up at me, shaking her head. “She’s slim, Styx. Too friggin’ slim if you ask me. The girl don’t eat shit by the looks of her.”
I finally let myself check out the bitch on the bed. Damn. She knocked the breath right outta me: smooth complexion, freshly washed and dried black hair free of blood and dirt.
Hell. It had to be her…
Beauty gathered her things. With a small smile, she paused to say, “She looks like Snow White, Styx. Dark hair, pale skin, red lips. She’s fuckin’ stunning, not a scratch of makeup, but still looks like that. Shit! Not fair! No wonder the club sluts are bitching ’bout you keeping her back here to yourself. They’ve got fuck all on her.”
I released a pent-up sigh.
Snow. Fuckin’. White.
I could feel Beauty looking at me funny, her hands twisting together as I stared in a damn trance at the bed. Her gaze dropped, nerves pulsing from her awkwardness.
Frowning, I signed, What?
Beauty closed her eyes briefly and opened them on a sigh. “She has a hell of a lotta scars on her body, Styx.”
I stilled, heart pumping, rage building, and asked, Where? But Beauty’s eyes were fixed on the bed. Spinning her around by her arm, I signed, Where?
“Mostly her back. Look like pretty severe lash marks. They go from side to side like someone’s whipped her good. But… who the fuck would do that? Who gets lashed nowadays?”
I raised a questioning eyebrow as Beauty’s gaze saddened.
“Has some on her inner thighs too. Look like old cuts, blade marks… or… something worse.” She didn’t go further, letting the implication hang in the air.
Fuck.
Beauty walked toward the door, laying a hand on my rigid arm as she passed. “I hope she pulls through, Styx. Looks like she deserves a better life than the one she’s got.”
I couldn’t respond. Couldn’t think. Scars on her fuckin’ inner thighs…
I sat on the chair next to the bed, watching the bitch’s chest rise and fall. I leaned in, took a deep breath, working my throat like hell to manage a whisper.
“I-i-if you c-can hear m-me, p-p-pull through. W-wake the f-f-fuck up. I’ve b-been w-waiting on you coming back to me for f-f-fifteen fuckin’ years. No d-dying on m-me now, you hear me?”
Chapter Five
Salome
A long sleeveless flowing gown of white stared at me as I huddled against the cold wall on the floor of my room with my legs pulled firmly to my chest.
A gown. A white marital gown mocking me, teasing me, telling me by sundown today I would be married. The seventh wife of Prophet David. The wife revealed to him by God. I would be the one to bring eternal blessings to all in The Order—his chosen people. I would help redeem the status of the Cursed, absolve us of our sins.
Leaning my head against the gray brick wall of my quarters, I closed my eyes, imagining what it would be like to be free. What was life like outside of the great fence? Were people truly evil out there? Did everyone on Earth want to inflict harm on us? Did men really just want to possess and ruin women?
I did not know. Sometimes I doubted Prophet David’s teachings, but I would never say that out loud. No one questioned the teachings—at least those who wanted to avoid punishment. I knew nothing of life beyond these walls, and after tonight, my duty would be as head wife. I would never be able to leave.
Rubbing my shaking hands down my face, my stomach flipped. I just could not do it. And worse, I had no idea where my oldest sister was. My blood sister, Bella, who disappeared weeks ago—no sign, no contact, simply vanished. No one would tell me where she had gone. After too many days of silence, I had begun to fear the worst. Brother Gabriel knew something. The way he looked at me, smirking, almost gloating, gave it away. He had grown obsessed with Bella over the years, but she never returned the sentiment. You could see in his eyes that he wanted her to pay for her indifference toward him.