Total pages in book: 22
Estimated words: 20812 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 104(@200wpm)___ 83(@250wpm)___ 69(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 20812 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 104(@200wpm)___ 83(@250wpm)___ 69(@300wpm)
She searches my face, and she must see the sincerity there because finally she nods her head at me. Her hand grips mine even harder, and I don’t let her go.
I push open the big door of the clubhouse and walk in with her side by side. There’s a party tonight, and she burrows herself against me when the guys look at her. I lean down and whisper in her ear, “I wouldn’t lie to you. You’re safe.”
She nods, and I release her hand, putting my arm around her shoulders and tucking her against my side. That right there is enough for the guys to look at her differently. No one here is going to go against me.
Ruin is in the conference room, and I knock on the open door. “Pres, we’re here. This is my sister’s friend, Ava.”
Ruin can be a tough guy, but he’s mellowed some since he met his ol’ lady. He asks Ava to sit down, and she looks at me.
My chest swells, and I nod at her. She sits down, and I stand behind her, my hands on her shoulders.
Ruin looks between us, and I know exactly what he’s thinking, but he doesn’t say it.
He sits down at his desk and leans forward. “What are you running from?”
She shrugs her now tense shoulders. “I just need to lay low for a while, and it will blow over.”
Ruin just smiles at her. “You’re here now, needing our help. I need to know what we’re up against.”
She takes a deep breath, and I feel her body shudder. She crosses her arms over her chest. “My boyfriend started making a habit of beating me. I left him, but he was not happy about it. The day I left, he’d threatened to kill me. That’s when I knew I needed to leave.”
Ruin nods, not the least bit surprised by her confession. Hell, it just proves that we’ve seen a lot of shit through the years. But even so, my blood is raging, thinking about some college motherfucker thinking it’s okay to put his hands on her. Never again.
“Did you go to the cops?” Ruin asks her.
She shakes her head. “No. His family has money and power. I was scared to go to anyone because I didn’t know who I could trust. Cassie - Tank’s sister - saw one of the bruises. That’s the only reason she knows.”
Ruin takes a yellow pad of paper and slides it across the desk. “Write down names, addresses, phone numbers on your boyfriend. Whatever you got.”
“Ex! Ex-boyfriend,” she corrects him.
Finally, Ruin smiles and then looks at me. “Right, ex-boyfriend.”
Ava doesn’t take the pen, though. “I want it to just go away.”
He shakes his head. “You’re a loose link. No one lets the loose link get away. I’m guessing you have enough on him and his family to do some damage.”
It wasn’t a question, but Ava nods her head.
Her body shudders under my hand, and I squeeze her. “Tell him the names.”
She turns her body to look up at me, and when I nod at her, she takes the pen and starts writing.
He takes a look at what she’s written and nods. “I had some of the girls set you up...”
I interrupt him. “She’s staying with me.”
Ruin doesn’t seem surprised. “Okay.”
I help her up out of the chair, and we make our way through the clubhouse. There are still people looking at us, but I ignore them all. The only thing on my mind right now is taking care of Ava. Fuck, someone has to because by the way she’s leaning on me, she’s about dead on her feet, and I can’t say I blame her.
Chapter 4
Ava
I feel like I’ve just gotten onto the back of his bike when he’s stopping. He only went a short distance down the road, and now he’s stopping outside of a one-story rancher. The moonlight is bright here in Texas, and there are a thousand stars in the sky.
My mind is racing, and the first thing I think of is that we’re completely alone out here. I follow him through the house, and he shows me the spare bedroom, kitchen, living room, and bathrooms.
When we make it to the living room again, he stops. “You look like you’re about to fall on your face. You want a bed or shower first?”
“Shower, definitely.” I was on a train for over twenty-five hours. I feel a whole new level of filth at this point.
He leads me down a hallway and to a bathroom. He pulls out a drawer, and there’s random girl stuff in it. “Anything you need, feel free to use it.”
He shows me where the towels are and hands me a shirt.
He backs out of the bathroom, and as soon as he closes the door, I start to undress.
I grab a few things from the drawer and start the water, turning it all the way to hot. I shower, and even though I intended to be in and out, the feel of the hot water on my weary body has me staying in way longer than I should have.