Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91786 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91786 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
I draw in a steadying breath, and when I look to Cairstina, she’s frowning at the door, shaking her head. She points to it insistently.
“I know, I know, I agree.”
I knock again, louder this time.
“Go away!”
If I have to bloody break this door down, I will.
“Got something to ask you,” I say in a tight voice, trying to sound pleasant but failing miserably.
The door opens, and this time he’s unfastened the latch, probably so he can intimidate me. He’s a good-sized bloke, but even if I wasn’t bigger and stronger than he is, I’ve got enough adrenaline pumping through my veins to fucking murder him.
“Just need to ask you some questions,” I say genially, and when he relaxes a hair, I shove the door open, push my way inside, and hear shouts. He’s not alone. The sofa’s filled with guys that look like footballers, four of them. They get to their feet and come toward me.
“Who’s this fuckin’ prick?” one asks, cracking his knuckles. I hold up my hands. Even though I want to beat his arse, I don’t want to have a fight. I want to get Paisley, and I want to get home.
“Said she went home,” the guy says, his eyes narrow. “Now get the fuck out before I call the police. If you’re not out in three seconds, that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
Then a plaintive voice yells weakly to me from the other room. “Leith?”
Paisley.
As soon as he hears her voice, he’s after me. In one quick move, he grabs a knife from the kitchen counter and brandishes it, but I don’t even let that break my stride. I kick it out of his hand, grab him by the shirt, and throw him against the wall.
“Get him!” he yells to his friends, when Tate and Mac enter in behind me.
“Oh, excellent,” Mac says with a grin. “We’ve come to the fight party?”
Someone grabs me from behind, and Tate’s after him with a roar.
“Cairstina, go get her!” I shout to her, but she’s already halfway down the hall.
The guy from the door comes at me, but I deck him, relishing the feel of bone snapping when my fist connects. I grab him by the shirt and haul him up in front of the others. Tate’s got one on the floor and he’s savagely kicking him, and Mac’s got another in a headlock.
“Who’s Jack?” I ask, my voice deadly calm, when I see Cairstina and Paisley. I nearly lose my fucking mind.
Paisley’s covered in a sheet, and she’s got a fat lip. Cairstina’s enraged, I can tell by the way her face is splotched red.
“Who’s Jack?” I roar. They all point to the man in my hands.
“Don’t kill him, brother,” Tate mutters, breathing heavily from nearly fucking killing the douche on the floor. “But you can make him wish he was never fucking born.”
I hold him up by the shirt. “What did you do to her?” I turn to Paisley. “Did he do this to you?”
She nods.
I see fucking red.
I kick him in the stomach and when he doubles over, I knee his jaw. His head snaps back, and he groans, but I don’t fucking care. I hit him again, and again, until blood splatters on the floor and wall with every sickening blow.
“Leave him, brother,” Tate says, his own attacker passed out in a pool of blood. Mac’s got the third still conscious.
“You tell your fucking friends you will forget her name,” I tell him. “And you write this date down. You remember this well. This is the day you almost fucking died.” I give him one more vicious kick and he slumps against the wall. He could be dead, and I don’t fucking care.
I turn to Paisley. She’s gripping Cairstina, her shoulders shuddering. She looks at me warily, as if she’s afraid I’m going to lecture her for coming here, for putting herself in danger, and God if that isn’t the first time I finally realize I have been too strict. She thought it necessary to run away. She doesn’t know that all I want is for her to be safe.
“C’mere,” I say, my voice choked with emotion and from the effort it takes to control myself. I take her from Cairstina and embrace her, holding her to me. She’s so little, so young. Mum never planned on having another child and calls her the bonus bairn, the one she never thought she’d have. She’s so much younger than I am and Jesus, I may’ve overstepped my damn role.
“Let’s get her home. Do you have your things in another room?”
She nods, but Cairstina’s already after them.
The bloke I beat lies on the floor, his eyes partly opened. I point my finger at him as I take her home.
“If you ever come anywhere near her again, I’ll kill you. Slowly, and painfully.” I mean every fucking word. I don’t care about the consequences. He’s lucky he still draws breath.