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 does as I ask, and I walk out of the room because I know if I sit there and watch her get dressed, we’ll never get out of here.
Once she’s ready, she walks out to the porch to meet me. “Is this a motorcycle or a truck kind of ride?”
I think about it. “Truck.”
She takes a deep breath and nods.
We walk over to the detached garage, and I help her in before pulling in the driveway. The whole way, I’m trying to figure out what and how I need to tell her. I know this isn’t something you just spring on someone, but I never do figure it out. We pull onto the ranch, and I park outside the barn. Maverick is standing outside, and Ava says hi to him.
Her chipper mood has him looking at me in confusion. I shrug my shoulders. “I haven’t told her yet.”
He nods and points his thumb at the barn doors. “Uh, okay, well, I’ll be inside for when you’re ready.”
I nod and watch him go as Ava walks toward me. She’s confused, and I can’t say I blame her.
“Tank, what’s going on... you’re really freaking me out now.”
I put my hands on her shoulders and look into her eyes. “I know. So listen.” I nod with my head to the barn. “Inside the barn is Beau.”
She tries to pull from me, but I don’t let her. The fear on her face is real, and I swear I’m going to make sure he pays for every tear, every scared feeling she’s ever felt at his hand. “He can’t get to you, Ava. We won’t let that happen.”
She takes a deep breath and lets it out and then does it again. When she nods her head, I continue. “You have a choice. You can go in there and say whatever you want to say to him, or you can walk away right now. It’s completely up to you, and no one—I mean absolutely fuckin’ no one will judge you for whatever you decide.”
Her eyes are wide as she stares back at me. “Tank, you don’t understand. His family has power. They will come for you.”
I shake my head in amazement. I imagined this conversation every which way, but I never expected that. “You’re worried about me?”
She nods, reaching for me, tugging me toward the truck. “Yes, Tank, when they find out what you’ve done, they are going to come for you. Send him back to wherever you got him.”
I shake my head at her, and that makes her even more worried, “Tank, please... I can’t lose you.”
I hug her. I hug her tightly against me and let her calm down. I start to talk, knowing she needs to hear this. “His family turned him over to us, sweetie. Ruin and the others found out a lot about him. He’s hurt lots of women. He’s raped them, beaten them. For years, his family covered up everything he’s done. We’ve told them that it would be sent to every newspaper and media source unless they turned him over to us.”
She looks up at me with tears in her eyes. “He’s raped—”
She can’t even get it all out. I nod. “Yeah, honey.”
She nods and wipes at her eyes. “I want to see him.”
“You don’t have to. You know that, right?”
She nods. “I know, but I need to.”
I put my hand on her shoulder. “Inside is Glock and Maverick and I’ll be with you the whole time.”
She nods her head. “Okay. I know you won’t leave me, Tank.”
I kiss her forehead. “You got that right.”
I hold her under my arm and knock on the door. Mav opens it and stands back for us to go in. I take her down the hall of the barn, to the last stall. Beau has chains around his hands, and he’s hanging from the rafters. As soon as he sees Ava, his face contorts. “You bitch.”
Ava flinches as I take the shovel standing up by the wall and beat him across the chest with it. He gasps and cries out. I stand in front of him, wanting nothing more than to end him right now. Hell, he doesn’t even deserve to breathe the same air as her. “Shut up, I don’t want to hear another word from you. Ava’s going to do the talking from here on out.”
She walks up to him, and her nose is flaring. I’m so proud of Ava. She doesn’t look scared at all, and I hope she knows she doesn’t need to be. There’s no way any of us will let that monster touch her.
Ava’s voice is calm when she starts. “You hurt me, Beau. I trusted you, and you violated that trust. You tried to make me think I deserved it when you hit me, cussed me, and called me names. But I got away. I was able to get away. Now you’ll never hurt another woman ever again.”