Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 23289 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 116(@200wpm)___ 93(@250wpm)___ 78(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23289 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 116(@200wpm)___ 93(@250wpm)___ 78(@300wpm)
She’s bleeding.
She’s fucking bleeding.
I glance at the bastard’s hand and see he’s wearing rings. He hit her with rings on. “You die today, motherfucker.”
My vision tunnels to this one moment, to this one threat. I have to keep her safe. I always have to keep her safe. Ever since the moment she kissed me, something flipped inside my head. I don’t think of her as my friend’s innocent daughter. I think of her as what she is—my woman.
“Don’t hurt him, Ace,” Mackenzie calls out. She’s the one bleeding, and she’s concerned about this lowlife who’s wet his pants.
“He forfeited the right to his life the moment he put his hands on you,” I growl in response. “No one touches what’s mine. No one hurts you. No one makes you bleed. Not without answering to me.”
“He’s just a kid,” she insists.
He’s maybe a year or two younger than her, so he’s not a kid. He’s a grown man capable of making intelligent decisions. He’s going to die for this dumb one, and if I end up serving time, I’ll do it with a smile.
“Please,” she says the word quietly, and I’m a monster. A monster because the sound goes straight to my cock. I keep imagining her saying that when she’s spread out in my bed, and I’m slamming nine deep.
I release the little shithead. “If I see your face in this town again, I’ll take you apart piece by piece.”
He drops to his knees and gasps, sucking in oxygen. He claws at his neck, sputtering and coughing.
I barely resist rolling my eyes at his theatrics. This kid wouldn’t make it a day in the military. Hell, he wouldn’t make it in the boys’ home that I grew up in.
“Get going now before my restraint snaps,” I grind out the words.
The kid doesn’t need to be told twice. He quickly scurries away.
I turn my attention to Mackenzie. The sight of blood on her face has me wanting to run after the guy and make him nothing more than a stain on the road.
Mackenzie touches the spot and lets out a whimper. That one whimper is the only thing that saves that kid’s life today. Summoning what little humanity I have left, I soften my voice, “Let’s get you patched up.”
2
MACKENZIE
It’s almost time for Cody to go on break. I pretend to busy myself by rearranging a display of tape measures. While I’m doing it, I discreetly watch him. The mirrors are meant to let me keep an eye on the store, but they’re more for show than anything. There’s not very much crime here in Courage County. Our town is safe. Sleepy. The way my father likes it.
“About to go on break,” Cody calls out.
“Sure, I’ll be right up there,” I tell him and act as if I’m changing the price. Then I move around and straighten things that don’t need to be. The entire time I’m holding my breath as a wave of nausea rolls through me.
Within a few seconds, I hear the soft click of the register. My heart sinks. This hardware shop is my dad’s pride and joy. He built it when he moved our family here fourteen years ago. I spent more time in this shop following my dad around than I did in school.
It would break his heart to know the guy that he’s been mentoring has been stealing from him for the past two weeks. When I first noticed the cash discrepancies, it was small amounts. Ten dollars here or there missing at the end of the day.
But the amounts are slowly getting higher as he gets bolder. A hundred dollars from yesterday’s till was gone. With that kind of money, my dad will catch on. At least he will if I don’t do something. That’s why I follow Cody outside for his break.
He comes out back to smoke a cigarette and stare off into the distance. I don’t know much about him or where he comes from. Usually, my dad has a good sixth sense for people, and I tend to like the ones that he brings around. But there’s something about Cody that I never quite liked.
I wait until his back is turned and work to keep my voice even, “If you put the money back, I won’t tell my dad.”
After all my dad has done for Cody, he doesn’t deserve to be treated this way. He let Cody crash at his place for a few days and gave him a job. A good paying job even though the guy has a work history that never includes staying longer than a month or two at one place. He gave my dad some sob story about coming out of the foster care system and how hard it is to get on your feet. I’m not so sure I believe him about the foster part.