Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 72931 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72931 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
I pull Dragon’s hog into the garage beside mine and then shut off the engine. The sound is deafening, echoing off the concrete as all the guys pull in around me. I pat Hadley’s thigh, indicating for her to get off the bike. Once she’s standing beside me, I climb off and then grab her wrist.
“I’ll show you to your room where you’ll stay until we find your dad,” I grunt over the loud sounds of motors running.
She follows me inside. There’s a pep in her step that instills an inkling of satisfaction inside me. I’m sure a place like this is much different than what she was used to. Putnam’s clubhouse reeked of piss and stale old biker balls. We did the state of Arkansas a service by burning that shit to the ground.
“You’re back—oh!” Stormy rounds the corner, her tits all but spilling out of her top, with a shocked look on her face. “Who’s this?”
“Hadley, meet Stormy. She’s the cook.”
I smirk when Stormy’s lip curls up and her eyes flare with anger. “I’m Filter’s girlfriend,” she bites out. “And you’re…”
“Just Hadley.”
I shrug off Stormy’s confused look and then set to showing Hadley all the rooms in the house. It smells like motherfucking apple pie today and fuck if that doesn’t make me smile. This home is my sanctuary. My fucking peace in a violent and emotionally painful life I’ve been forced to live for the last decade.
At the end of the hall between my room and Filter’s is an empty room. It’s smaller than the others but has a great view of Keystone Lake. Stormy didn’t want it because she wanted to shack up with Filter. I think she just wanted more room for all her clothes and makeup and shit.
“This is you,” I say, rapping my knuckles on the open door.
“Until when?”
I cross my arms over my chest and lean against the doorframe. “That’s up to you, little girl. You could help me out here.”
Her eyes narrow.
“Or,” I grunt, “you could continue to be a stubborn bitch. Just know the only person you’re punishing is yourself.” I smirk at her. “I’m well versed in dealing with a teenage brat. You, on the other hand, look as though you haven’t been daddied properly in quite some time.”
With a hateful glare, she stomps past me and slams the bedroom door in my face. My palm itches to waltz right in there after her and spank her disobedient ass. I’ll have that girl straightened out in a week.
“I don’t tolerate disrespect around here,” I growl through the door. “That’s your one and only warning. You pull that shit again and I’ll take my belt to you.”
Silence.
Good. She heard me loud and clear.
I leave the girl be and go find Payne. He’s in his room, taking apart his Glock.
“You headed to the gate?”
Sure, we have cameras and security, but Payne likes to stay on the gate as often as possible just in case. He’s a paranoid motherfucker.
“Unless you need me around here,” he grunts.
“I do.”
He frowns, his brows curling together in a villainous way. “Yeah, Prez. Whatdya need?”
“The girl. Hadley. I can’t fucking babysit her while I deal with Putnam shit. As soon as we can return her, we will. In the interim, I need someone to shadow her.”
His face sours. “Bermuda? Bizzy?”
“She’ll walk all over Bermuda. And Bizzy is ADD as fuck. I need someone…less obvious. Someone she won’t interact with. I need you.”
He squares his shoulders and runs his palm over his buzzed head. “I can do that. I won’t take no shit talkin’ from her, though. You know that.”
“I already warned her. If she gets too mouthy, come find me. I’ll deal with it. You don’t have to take that shit, but I also don’t want you punishing her. This girl is barely eighteen, man. A runaway. Not some club whore like Stormy or her dumbass slut sister she brings around here sometimes. Just let me deal with it.”
“On it.” He cracks his neck. “Who’ll watch the gate? With Putnam slipping through our fingers, we need to be on high alert. I doubt he’s ballsy enough to come here, but you did gut his kid.”
“Nees is still on my shit list. I’ll send him out there with Katana. We’ll have our guard up. While they play defense, I’m going to find where the fuck Putnam has gone to.”
He clasps my shoulder and nods. “Ten years, Prez. We got your back. We always do. Everything’s finally coming to a head. And the moment we end that fucker, maybe you can retire.”
“Retire. I don’t think guys like us ever do.”
I find Dragon, Copper, and Halo all sitting in our boardroom with their laptops open. When I owned my own company, the guys who worked for me were geeks. Polos and khakis and twitchy awkward types. Now, they wear leather and have tattoos and cuss a lot.