Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 42863 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 214(@200wpm)___ 171(@250wpm)___ 143(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 42863 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 214(@200wpm)___ 171(@250wpm)___ 143(@300wpm)
“Yeah, baby,” I murmured, pressing my face into his hair, wishing he didn’t have to cope with this too on top of everything else. “They traded her for an arms deal, and they profited every time she was sold.”
The sound he made was fucking gut-wrenchingly painful to hear, and I squeezed him tighter in response, wishing I could hold him together as he fell apart. But all I could do was catch each piece and hold them until he was done shattering. And then, I would do my best to glue him back together.
We sank to the floor when his knees gave out, and I pulled him onto my lap, crushing him against my chest. “They’ll pay for this, baby,” I promised, my voice full of raw pain. I couldn’t stand seeing him cry like this. “We’ll make sure they fucking pay for everything they’ve done to both of you.”
“Our parents, too?” he asked, his voice cracking. He leaned back to look at me, his gray eyes full of pain, glistening with tears.
I let a small smile touch my lips then as I cupped his cheek, brushing some of his tears off his face. “They already did, baby boy. They were tortured before being killed.” He sank into me then, his shoulders relaxing. I pressed my lips to his temple. “They’ll never get to hurt either of you again.”
17
Clarke
The bed was empty when I woke up, both sides of me cold, which I decidedly hated. Frowning, I sat up and rubbed my eyes with a yawn big enough to make my jaw pop. Despite having the best night’s sleep I’d had in… well, ever, I still felt as if I could sleep for at least another few hours.
The air was cool on my skin as I slid out of bed. The clothes I’d had on the night before were neatly folded and sitting on the nightstand. Silently thanking whoever was kind enough to do that, I quickly dressed before padding barefoot out of Tank’s room and into the living room.
Pausing, I stared at the sight before me. Tank and Beck were on the floor, and Beck was crying into Tank’s chest, clinging to him as if Tank was his lifeline. Sensing my presence, Tank looked up, his dark eyes meeting mine. I swallowed thickly, my chest tightening, my fingers twitching at my sides.
What happened? Why was Beck crying? He was so distraught—I’d never seen him like this before. And honestly, it was freaking me out. Beck was always the strong one out of the two of us. I wasn’t even sure if I’d ever seen him cry before.
“What’s going on?” I asked, my voice still husky with sleep. My hands began to tremble at my sides, so I curled my fingers into fists, trying to quell the panic rising inside me.
Beck jumped back from Tank and swiped at his cheeks, but it was too late. I’d already seen how much of a mess he was; there was no hiding whatever was happening from me. And I wasn’t dropping the matter until I found out what’d caused Beck to fall apart.
I could protect and heal him, too.
“I, uh, I’ll take a shower,” Beck croaked, standing to his feet. Tank watched him rush past me, the door to our room shutting just a little too hard and loudly, making me flinch. Tank sighed and hung his head for a moment before standing to his feet and holding his hand out to me.
I stared at his hand for a moment, my heart in my throat. Beck hadn’t even been able to try to hide how upset he was. That was enough to know that whatever happened, it was fucking bad. My gut churned, nausea rising in my throat.
Slowly, I uncurled my fingers and placed my hand in his. He led me over to the couch and tugged me down onto his lap before gently beginning to play with the ends of my tangled, messy, blonde hair. “I need you to brace yourself,” he began. I tensed, my muscles going rigid. “I’ve got something to tell you. The news hit Beck pretty hard, so I’m worried it might hit you even harder.”
I licked my suddenly dry lips, my hands beginning to tremble. I clenched his forearm, digging my nails into his skin. “What is it, Ash?” I croaked, turning my head to look at him. “Just spit it out. I can’t take the suspense.”
He drew in a deep breath before reaching up to cup my cheek. His fingers sank into the hair right behind my ear. “Your parents sold you.” I just stared at him, unable to even do so much as blink as I attempted to process his words. “In exchange for weapons, they sold you to the Bradley crime family, and every time you were sold, they earned fifteen percent of that profit as well.”