Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 123672 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 618(@200wpm)___ 495(@250wpm)___ 412(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 123672 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 618(@200wpm)___ 495(@250wpm)___ 412(@300wpm)
My eyes widen. “What? What do you mean, that’s where I came in?”
“You’d been in Crew’s life for quite a while, and Mason isn’t the type of man to allow himself to be blindsided. He makes it his business to know everything about everyone, and when this beautiful seventeen-year-old with no family connection and nobody to miss her came storming into Crew’s life, Mason saw dollar signs. He’s been wanting you for a long time, and Crew has always protected you from that, but twelve months ago, that changed.”
I shake my head, not wanting to hear this and already fearing the worst, but Viper isn’t the type to stop on account of my feelings. “Part of their deal was if Crew failed to pay back his debt, Mason gets you, and usually in this world, spilling blood is just as good as any currency, however Mason wasn’t the one to spill that blood, so according to him, Crew bailed on his debt. Now Mason has free rein to take what he’s owed.”
I drop my face into my hands, my head spinning. This is so much worse than I was expecting. I thought maybe he was just some asshole who perhaps gets a little rough, but this? Fuck. How am I supposed to handle this on top of a stalker? It’s too much. Hell, not to mention the betrayal pounding through my veins that Crew could have ever agreed to a deal like that in the first place.
“So, umm . . .” I start, unable to get my wild thoughts in line. “What happens now?”
“Nothing,” he says. “Everything.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It’s up to you, Kyah,” Viper starts. “You can either continue as you are, stay in your apartment with my men on watch, or you can move into my place until this shit has been dealt with.”
“What do you mean by dealt with?”
Viper looks me dead in the eyes. “I’m gonna kill him,” he says nonchalantly, as though this kind of shit just happens every day.
Horror blasts through my veins, quickly drowning me with fear. “What the fuck, Viper?” I screech, nervously looking around. “You can’t just say shit like that. Why can’t you just call the cops? Have him arrested.”
“And get a reputation as a rat?” he grunts in disgust. “Do you know what the fuck would happen to me then? Fuck, babe. I know you’re smarter than that.”
Shit. He’s right. I can’t pretend to know anything about what it’s like to be a part of a club, but I’ve watched enough episodes of Sons of Anarchy to know that being labeled as a rat is far worse than any death sentence.
“I’m not living with you,” I tell him, ignoring his jab.
Viper nods. “That’s what I thought.”
My gaze falls, and I realize the two coffees and the sub Viper ordered are sitting at the edge of the table, the coffees now cold. “You should have told me the second you found out Crew made that deal,” I tell him, my heart breaking for a million different reasons.
“Like I said, it’s not my business to tell,” Viper says. “All you need to know is that I’m doing what I can to protect you. I’ve been keeping an eye on it, Kyah. Nothing was ever going to happen to you. Besides, Crew knew I would have ended him if he ever let his brother anywhere near you.”
My brows furrow, and I glance back at him, staring into those lethal dark eyes. “I don’t understand you, Viper. Why are you going out of your way to protect me when I’ve gone out of my way to reject you over and over again?”
Viper lets out a heavy sigh before grabbing some cash and putting it on the table. He gets up from his chair and walks around to my side, offering me his hand like the perfect gentleman, though we both know he’s anything but.
Letting him help me out of my chair, he leads me through the back of the café, and a strange nervousness settles deep in my gut, getting worse when he pushes through the back door and out into a dark alley. “Let’s get one thing straight,” Viper says, pulling on my hand and forcing me to a stop as he presses his big body into mine. “You belong to me, Kyah. You always have, and I know I said I would wait until you were ready, but I am becoming impatient. You forget that I have access to your security feed, and I see you with your new neighbor. You’re letting him get too close. Letting him come into your apartment, letting him eat that tight little cunt out in the hallway—”
“Excuse me?” I grunt, cutting him off as I shove against his chest, but he doesn’t budge. Instead, his hand locks around my throat, and he pushes me back until I’m pinned against the filthy wall behind me.