Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 77528 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77528 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
“Don’t you ever fucking make a deal with Emily. Do you understand? Whatever you want, you get?”
Drake rubbed at his jaw. “You got what you wanted, didn’t you?”
“Not because of you.”
“Oh, please. That woman was on her high horse and she needed a fucking wake-up call. Guess what? I provided it. Damn. You sure know how to hit.”
Caleb lifted his fist. I didn’t make a single move to stop him.
“You made a deal with Emily?”
“It was an agreement, and in the long term, it helped your buddy out, but I guess he doesn’t like having his dick sucked.” Drake groaned. “I stated some facts to her. If she didn’t like it, it’s not my problem. Fuck.” He tested out his jaw. It wasn’t broken. “You going to kill me?”
“I should.” Caleb looked ready to shoot him in the head.
“Then get on with it, or if you don’t mind, I’m going to do my job and make sure she lives past you getting to Earl Valentine. Or do you want her brains splattered over the bedroom walls?”
“What are you talking about?”
I raised a brow at my best friend. “You finally got your time with Emily?”
“Are you slow?” Drake asked.
I looked at Drake. All throughout high school, I hadn’t liked him. There were times I still didn’t. He acted without thought half the time, and he had a lot of parental issues. Whenever we had parents to deal with and took Drake along, it always got messy. I accepted it, but that didn’t mean I liked it.
One thing I couldn’t deny, he was damn good at his job. Keeping Emily alive while we dealt with Valentine’s betrayal was something we needed him for.
“In the past twenty-four hours, Drake’s gotten word of three men entering our town. They’ve got the appearance of tourists, but Drake’s not buying it. He’s gone to check them out, and they’re not tourists.”
“How do you know?” Caleb asked.
“I know how tourists act, okay? This is my job, to keep Emily safe, and I’m telling you, she’s at risk right now. Whatever deal you made with Valentine, either he did betray you, or your fathers have got some swing even from the inside. My suggestion is Earl helped you guys.” Drake pointed at the file he’d given me. He always liked to create files for his work. Of course, he also enjoyed getting a nice big reward for a job well done. I couldn’t fault him. His work was always flawless, for the most part at least.
“If Earl hadn’t done his job, I believe we’d have already experienced multiple hits. Instead, we’ve got men traveling to our town. I think they are your fathers.”
I didn’t like this. If it was one of our fathers, it meant someone within our team, which was an extremely short list, was betraying us.
Caleb took the file from me and began to look over the report Drake had compiled. I’d give the fucker one compliment, he was always thorough and so far, he’d saved our asses multiple times. I often had to wonder why. Why did he want to save us when we’d hated his guts during high school? We still hated him at times, but still, I wouldn’t get rid of him just because I couldn’t stand him.
“I want Gael and Vadik,” Caleb said. “They’re going to deal with these men. Drake, you’re on Emily watch, but this time, don’t piss her off, and don’t make any kind of deal with her. I can handle my own problems. River, you’re with me.”
“We going to our fathers, or having the short list of traitors coming here?”
“We’re going there, and they’re coming to us.” Caleb slapped the file into Drake’s hands. “Whatever she wants.”
“And if she wants this body of mine?” Drake ran his fingers through his hair.
“You’re begging for a beat down,” I said, already walking away toward my car. I was itching to stab something, anything. I didn’t like being betrayed. It left a bitter taste in my mouth, not to mention it also pissed me off in a big way.
We’d worked hard to get where we were.
Taking over from our fathers hadn’t been easy. We had to be united against them, and that had taken time. We’d had to kiss their asses, all while plotting to bring them down. We’d put our lives at risk every single day until we finally changed the allegiance of the soldiers and minions, and overruled our fathers. Our mothers were all off enjoying spa days and travel. I’d even sent Amelia, my sister, out of town for the foreseeable future. This was no place for young girls. They were never to set foot in Crude Hill again. If they did, we’d kill them. We had given them an out that no one within our world had ever been granted. Of course, they didn’t argue. Why would they?