Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 45515 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 228(@200wpm)___ 182(@250wpm)___ 152(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45515 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 228(@200wpm)___ 182(@250wpm)___ 152(@300wpm)
“I’ll keep an eye on them both, Wylde.” Sting spoke softly, gripping Wylde’s shoulder. “I’ll bring her back. If she wants to stay, let her. Trust her to know where her limit is.” I raised an eyebrow. Sting was a young man but apparently wiser than I was. I was with Danica on this, even if I’d said otherwise. I glanced once at Lemon. Her expression took my breath. It didn’t matter what anyone said. Lemon wasn’t leaving until she was Goddamned good and ready.
“Sting, I don’t want her to do this. This is going to be brutal.”
“I got this, Dani. Go on.” Lemon actually reached out to her sister and squeezed her hand. She squared her shoulders and gave her sister a small grin. It was the first show of nerves she’d shown since immediately after Claw had shot himself.
Wylde whispered softly to Danica. I didn’t hear what he said, but Danica didn’t try to insist Lemon leave with her. Wylde guided her gently out of the barn. Lemon moved next to Hammer where he lay on the table. The men from Iron Tzars had started IVs on the guy and he now had one in the bend of his elbow and in the side of his neck. Both had fluids dripping slowly, but steadily through them.
“Looks like we’re gonna be here a while, Hammer.” Lemon grinned down at him. “I’m new to this whole death by torture bit, but I’m confident I can outlast you.”
Just like that, I fell in love. I knew beyond any shadow of a doubt Lemon would be mine. Not today. Not until she was legal and I could be sure she was ready. But this woman would be my old lady. And I would rule her. The fun would be in the taming. It would possibly take a lifetime. But by fucking God, we’d have a blissful time of it.
Chapter One
Rocket
The heavy air in the compound’s meeting room hung like a shroud, thick with exhaust and the sharp tang of spilled beer. I stood at the head of the long table, my gaze sweeping over the assembled brothers of Grim Road.
“All right, listen up,” I called out, my voice rough as gravel. The room fell silent, every pair of eyes locked on me, waiting. “For those of you who don’t know, Claw and Hammer are gone.” More than one of the brothers raised an eyebrow, glancing at the man next to him. I’d taken eight of my most trusted men but hadn’t called on the entirety of Grim Road. Mainly because I knew in my heart Scarlet wasn’t being held against her will by Iron Tzars. As a rule, the men in Grim were a pretty Goddamned secretive lot, so when I’d called on my officers to ride with me, they’d simply done as I’d asked and hadn’t said a fucking word to anyone else in the club.
“The fuck?” Spike had been leaning casually against a table, his arms crossed over his chest. He stood up straight, looking around at the others. Spike was also a close friend of Hammer. They’d served together both in and out of the Marines. “What do you mean gone?”
“Dead.” I didn’t mince words. They all needed to know because that left the VP position open and I needed to really think about who I put there.
There had always been cliques in the club. Men who trusted some more than others. We were all so used to operating by ourselves or in groups of two or three that thinking and operating as a group had never been something we’d adapted to. Grim Road had been around for a long time and hadn’t always worked like this, but as the political environment changed over the decades and the old guard ushered in the new, we’d… changed. It wasn’t that we didn’t trust each other, but we… didn’t really trust each other. Exactly.
“What happened?” Bear finally broke the silence weighing down the room. I knew he would be the one to speak for the group. His voice was a soft growl. The man could be demanding without being overly aggressive. His demeanor had always been a direct contrast to my own. Sometimes, he could balance me with the rest of the club without even trying. I was pretty sure he’d be the best choice for a VP. But not just yet. I needed to straighten out this fucking mess before I made any permanent changes in the club.
“There’s a lot several of you guys don’t know and I ain’t tellin’. Not my story. But Claw put Scarlet in the hands of a sadistic bastard, and she was hurt because of it.”
“Wait.” Mace held up a hand. He was a man I should have taken with us. Of all the men in Grim Road, Mace was the steadiest. But he hadn’t been in the compound when we’d left, having stayed behind to clean up from our last mission. “Didn’t Scarlet leave with Hammer?” He glanced at Crush. “From what I heard she was supposed to be Hammer’s old lady when she came of age. What happened?”