Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91146 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91146 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
I snap my eyes up to Knox. “What the fuck did you do to her?”
Knox’s mocking tone breaks through the silence tearing me in two when he orders two men standing next to one holding a syringe to take Nicole to her room.
I try to push back the men I’m quickly realizing aren’t from the standard road crew, but within seconds, the same sedative the doctor used to subdue Nicole takes effect. Then, the only fight I endure is the silent promise I issue River when our eyes lock across the room two seconds before blackness takes over.
I will make things right for both him and Nicole.
29
LAKEN
I’m startled awake by something sharp being rammed into my ribs. Despite the darkness of the room I’m waking in, my eyes squint like I’m standing inches from the sun, and my temples drill my skull like I have the worst case of heat stroke.
My body is acting like it’s endured the workout of its life, and my mouth is drier than the desert, but my confused state isn’t the most obvious sign that something is amiss.
I have no clue where I am or how I got here, and the anxiety it hits me with sees me attempting to snatch up the pointing object when it pokes me for the second time.
I say attempt because my hands don’t move half an inch from the rickety chair my wrists and ankles are bound to.
“What the—”
“Don’t worry. Everything is still in working order,” says a familiar voice. “Regretfully.”
After switching on a light, blinding me further, Knox pulls over a chair next to an industrial-sized boiler before straddling it backward in front of me.
Even feeling on death’s door, I can’t help but smile when I notice his bruised face. I don’t know what day it is or how long I’ve been knocked out, but there isn’t a drug on the market that will strip the image of my fists pummeling his face from my mind.
“Bet you wouldn’t be acting so tough if I weren’t restrained.” I wet my lips to loosen up my words. I don’t want anything to take away the actuality in my tone when I warn, “I’m going to take you down, Knox. I am going to fuck your life like you ruined mine.” The more memories trickle through the haze, the angrier I become. “Her sister, Knox? Out of all the artists in the world, you had to sign your deceased girlfriend’s sister to your label.”
“Colette was never my girlfriend.” The rage in his eyes simmers when he spots the surprise in my eyes. I never knew the name of the victim I’d allegedly stolen from her family. Knox’s father said the less I knew, the easier it would be for me to move on after my brief incarceration. “And it’s kinda fitting when you think about it. Colette’s… what did Nicole call it?”—he hits me below the belt—“murder… saw me lose everything. So it’s only fair her family returns it.”
“Lose everything? What the hell are you talking about? Your parents are loaded.”
“My mother is loaded,” he corrects, his tone dipping. “She just wouldn’t stop pushing. Prying. For some fucking reason, she believed I was more capable of committing the crime you were charged with than you, and she wouldn’t give up hounding me until I snapped.” He laughs like the only hospital he should visit to check his injuries is one for the insane. “She didn’t just cut me off. She wiped my father clean. She took every. Last. Cent.”
My admiration for Mrs. Samson slips when he murmurs, “On the agreement she never mentioned you or your arrangement ever again.” Air whizzes from his nose as he struggles to hold back his laughter. “If you’ve ever wondered how much your freedom is worth, I can give you a figure. One hundred and seventy-three million dollars.”
He wolf whistles like even he’s impressed at the massive wealth his family accumulated since the slave era before he balances his elbows on his knees. “I didn’t think she had it in her, but I reckon we might get close to that figure now.”
Knox dumps a newspaper at my feet. Nicole is on the front cover. The article doesn’t mention how she wowed her fans with back-to-back performances yesterday, however. It’s talking about her “deranged stalker” and how he spent the last decade stalking her from his windowless prison cell.
“You fucking piece of shit.” I fight like hell to get out of my restraints. My anger is enough to fray the thick woven material backed up with handcuffs but not enough to add to the cuts and bruises on Knox’s face. “I don’t know what the fuck you’re playing at, but you’ve forgotten a vital part.” I wait for his full attention before spitting out, “The girl you’re trying to fool isn’t dead this time. She wasn’t left alone to die in the fucking car when you ran away like a coward. Nicole won’t believe your shit. She’s smarter than you give her credit for. She won’t fall for your nice-guy act.”