Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 60165 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 301(@200wpm)___ 241(@250wpm)___ 201(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60165 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 301(@200wpm)___ 241(@250wpm)___ 201(@300wpm)
Annabel’s silent for a moment, still staring at us.
“Forgive me for asking,” she says slowly. “But what did they possibly hope to achieve? There were only five of them, while your entire crew is almost thirty men. The crew was going to come back from the raid at some point, and see the mutiny. Plus, why didn’t they just kill you? It seems dangerous to leave someone like you alive,” she whispers.
I let out a bark of a laugh.
“That’s right, sweetheart. If you get a chance to kill us, then you better take it because it might never come along again,” I rasp. My brother adds his two cents.
“By knocking out the leaders and raping their woman,” Bruce explains, “they hoped to claim you and establish leadership over the ring. Death isn’t necessary for that. We would have been expelled, the way beta males are expelled from a wolf pack. The other criminals would have fallen in line behind the new leadership. Unfortunately for them, they didn’t expect us to get free and mount a counterattack.”
“Thank fuck,” I growl.
“You see,” explains Bruce, “Burke and I don’t kill for the most part. There’s no need because we’re thieves, first and foremost. But tonight, all of that could have changed.”
“And when the rest of the ring came back and saw what had happened? Well, let’s say they weren’t happy and made things right.” Annabel’s eyes grow round as plates.
“What did they do?” she asks, her gaze innocent and pure as a child’s.
“They took care of it,” I say simply, shrugging my shoulders.
“Meaning?”
“They took them outside,” evades Bruce.
“To do what?” she asks, genuinely not knowing. My brother and I are silent for a moment before looking deep into her eyes.
“Again, we’re primarily thieves, Annabel. We don’t traffic women. We don’t deal with children, drugs, or anything of the like. As a result, violence generally isn’t necessary in our line of work. But sometimes, there are exceptions, and one of those exceptions occurred tonight.”
She gasps, realization dawning in her eyes as her hands tremble. I seize them and press them against my heart.
“The only thing you need to know is that you’re safe now. You don’t need to worry about those five assholes ever again because frankly, you’ll never see them again. Guaranteed.” She nods slowly, her curvy frame still trembling with the import of my words.
“Do you trust us?” asks my twin, looking into her eyes. She nods, smiling.
“Of course I trust you,” she whispers.
“Good, because it may take getting used to, living here with us,” says Bruce, now fully patched up. “But with a little adjustment and a lot of love, we can make it work, sweetheart. We want to make it work, and we want to raise the baby here, with you.”
She smiles tremulously.
“Annabel,” I say, gripping her wrist as I stare into her beautiful brown eyes. “You are our main priority going forward. You and the baby. From now on, everything we do is for the happiness of our family.” She smiles tremulously, and then looks at us with eyes full of love and sincerity.
“Bruce, Burke,” she whispers. “I’m right where I want to be. Even with what happened tonight, I never want to go back. I want to be with you. We both do,” she adds with a smile, her hand going to her belly. And that’s when I know we don’t have to worry about losing Annabel. There was reason to be afraid, after all: we brought a gorgeous, pure, little girl into our lair in order to protect her from harm and keep her close. Yet within the first hour, we’d almost gotten her hurt and god knows what else.
As a result, if she wanted to leave, my brother and I would have let her. In fact, I half-expected Annabel to ask us to go live somewhere else as a family. But she didn’t. Instead, this pure, angelic creature has continued to trust us, put her faith in us, and bring out the best in us. Come to think of it, my brother and I are so different from when we first met her that I barely recognize myself now. We appreciate the loyalty of our men, and the safety of our stronghold. We’ve taken steps to broaden our enterprise, expanding beyond mere criminality. And most of all, we appreciate the goodness and innocence that resides within Annabel. Her giving ways and sweet nature have touched our souls, and we’re better men because of it. After all, Annabel was initially our “victim” so to speak, and the target of our criminal ways. But now, the curvy girl has turned everything upside down, and we are the targets of her heart.
Epilogue
Annie
I’m covered in oil, my glistening skin reflecting the candle light from the soft glow of the chandeliers above me. This is a fantasy Bruce wants to act out, and I’m more than happy to oblige. After all, my men are inventive and creative, and I’m the beneficiary of their dirty minds.