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)
Soon, that’ll be fucking nothing.
Hadley
The house is quiet.
Too quiet.
I’ve been lying in bed all day, fighting sickness, but by evening it fades and I’m left feeling antsy. My curiosity gets the better of me and has me exploring Koyn’s massive home. Though I’m checking out the rooms of the other guys, my mind isn’t on them. It’s on me. I’m pregnant. I still can’t believe it, though it’s not completely shocking considering Koyn’s inability to use a condom or pull out. The thought of my stomach swelling to accommodate our baby has my heart stuttering. Absently, I stroke my nearly flat stomach through the hoodie I’m wearing.
“Everything’s going to be okay, little one.”
I peek my head in a room that must be Dragon’s. Everything’s been painted black and there are knives of all variety sticking out of the sheetrock. It makes me wonder if Koyn cares that Dragon has destroyed the walls. Knowing Koyn, he doesn’t care.
All Koyn cares about is revenge.
The thought is paralyzing because I’m a part of his revenge plan. I’d much rather be a part of his happiness. I’m carrying his child after all. My eyes water as I think about my near future. Dad will find out where I’m at since they took me and he’ll find a way to take me back.
And I can’t go back.
Never again.
I need to talk to Koyn. To convince him to let me stay and not as his prisoner.
As I wind my way through the house, I eventually hear the murmur of voices behind a closed door. I’m just turning the corner to find Stormy hovering near the door.
“They started the meeting without us,” I joke as I approach.
She nearly jumps out of her skin. “You scared the shit out of me, brat,” she hisses and smiles broadly at me.
I fall into her embrace the moment she opens her arms. After the year I’ve had, it feels really good to just be held by a friend. Stormy is a good person and I like her.
“How are you feeling?” she asks, stroking her fingers through my hair, but not pulling away.
“Better.”
“Good. Did Koyn hurt you?”
I squeeze my ass cheeks. Yes, I’m sore as hell after the way he took me earlier, but he didn’t hurt me. “We had sex. It was typical Koyn sex.”
She pulls away to frown. “Consensual?”
“Yes, Detective Nosy.”
Her eyes roll so hard I think they’re going to fall out of her head. “I just worry about you, kid.”
At least someone does.
“Why do you stay?” I ask, my brows knitting together. “With Filter, I mean. Is it that serious?”
Her gaze darkens. “I do what I have to do.”
“Because you want to be his old lady?”
“Maybe,” she says, a far cry from what she told me before. Before, she said she loved him and was trying to get him to commit. I wonder what’s changed.
“Do you still want to be his old lady?”
“No.” She pauses, seemingly flustered over her admitting it to me. “I mean, I want to be someone’s old lady one day. I just don’t know if Filter and I will last.”
“How come?”
She shrugs. “He doesn’t want to commit. He keeps me at arm’s length. Always has.”
“So why not break up with him and date someone else?”
“Like Koyn?” she taunts, her lips curling up on one side.
“I was thinking his brother.” I smirk at her.
My words throw her for a loop because she presses her lips together and her nostrils flare. “No. Why would you think I would want Copper?”
“Because he’s hot…” I say slowly. “And he’s Koyn’s brother. Next best thing, I guess.”
“Oh.” She lets out a sharp breath and laughs. “Oh. Hmmm. Guess I never thought about him in that way.”
“Better scratch him off the list then,” I tease. “What about Bizzy?”
Her lip curls up. “He’s a manchild. No.”
“Dragon?”
“I’d like to live to see thirty-two.”
“Thirty-two?! Damn, Stormy, you’re old enough to be my mom!”
She slaps my shoulder. “Bitch!”
We both giggle. The door we’re standing in front of flings open. Both of us snap our heads to meet the amused face of Bermuda.
“Can you take the slumber party elsewhere? You’re distracting as hell,” Bermuda says, his brow lifted and a familiar smile tugging at his lips. He was so cold, but right now he seems more like himself. It warms me to my soul.
“Actually,” Koyn calls out from the room, “Hadley can come in. Bermuda, take Stormy and cook us some fuckin’ grub.”
Bermuda does a playful salute and then escorts Stormy away. As soon as they walk off, I close the door behind me, eyeing each of the men sitting at the conference table.
Intense.
Brutish.
Mean.
All of them stare at me with accusation in their eyes. As though I’m enemy number one. I shuffle on my feet, shooting Koyn a questioning look. Where the others look angry, his eyes are alight with madness. A predator about to kill. He seems victorious as though he’s conquered something big.