Total pages in book: 192
Estimated words: 182641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 913(@200wpm)___ 731(@250wpm)___ 609(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 182641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 913(@200wpm)___ 731(@250wpm)___ 609(@300wpm)
Smirking, I bend down, bringing myself closer to show him there is no fear here. “And if I have to destroy you for threatening me or my father, then I will do it with a smile on my face and an audience to watch. Don’t forget your place, Little Henshaw, because I can erase it with the snap of a finger, and there won’t be a damn thing you can do about it.”
His sneer is venomous, his eyes darkening. “That’s where you’re wrong, sweet princess. We’ve made things disappear before and that little bit of pride and family devotion you’re holding on to? I will wipe it right off your pretty face if you test me. I would suggest that you don’t.”
He pulls himself from the water and I stand as he does, and then we’re nose to nose.
“I’ll be sure to give my father the message.” I go to walk past him, but his arm darts out, gripping mine and yanking me back.
I could easily break free. Break his fucking face and dreams and everything else in between, but I don’t. I want to see how far he’ll go, how far he dares to push because it will tell me more than any word he whispers will, so when his grip tightens and twists in a way that’s sure to leave a mark, I make no move.
“Perfect,” he breathes, eyes growing dark. “Then I will be picking you up at eight.”
A smile breaks across his face, one so wide and sure I almost falter, and if he could hear the rapid increase of my pulse, he would know that he got me, that he roped me right in and now my mind is reeling. Running with a million different thoughts, none of which lead me anywhere.
Only one thing becomes sure in this moment.
The Henshaw family has something on my dad, which is the only reason why I say, “I’ll be sure to wear red.”
Bass
I lower into the cheap hospital seat for what feels like the millionth time this week, wincing as my ribs fight back. Bruised but not broken, from what I can tell, and I know the fucking difference. My left eye’s a little blurry, temples pounding heavily, but I ignore it and the tiny shards of glass still embedded in my neck.
An ice pack lands on the seat beside me and Maddoc Brayshaw, one of my three bosses, drops down, looking in about as bad of shape as me, but for entirely different reasons.
“Where’d you run off to?” he asks, kicking a leg out. “Where you always running off to?”
“And you know I run off how?” I lift a brow, ignoring the ice pack he offers. “You been back, what? Half a day?”
His eyes narrow, but he nods, facing forward, eyes glued to his girl’s hospital room door. “Thanks for watching her.”
“Told you I would.”
“’Cause it’s your job or ’cause you want to?” he asks.
I don’t answer. There’s no point. I want her safe; she’s good people and more like me than they’ll ever be. I’d even say I care, want what’s best for her, but I’d be lying if I said I’m fully committed here.
It’s like I said, I’ve got one foot out the door, and the second the path is clear for me, I’m out. Until then, I’ll do my job and do it well.
He asked me to guard her when he couldn’t, so I did. I’d have done what I could for Rae even if he hadn’t because I know what it’s like to need and not have.
If it weren’t for Hayze and his loyalty to me, I would have had to walk away from my responsibilities like an asshole, but it didn’t come to that. I’ve had a few hours to myself here and there and I used them wisely. Still, I owe that man and I owe him big.
I can still feel Maddoc’s eyes on me, so I finally look his way.
“If you’ve got questions for me, now’s the time to ask ’em,” he says the second our eyes lock.
When I ask nothing, he calls me out. “Heard you went to the Greyson Gala couple months back.”
He doesn’t have to say Chloe told Mac, who told him. That shit’s obvious, but what’s it to him? Slowly, I nod, waiting for more.
“You know the Greysons are allies in our world, right?”
My eyes narrow instantly, and he chuckles, though it’s almost hollow, his world too heavy right now for a real one.
“Man, do you pay attention to shit around here?”
“I don’t get in your business unless I have to.”
He lifts a dark brow, and I scoff at him.
“Rae’s different. She needed my help. You told me to give it to her.”
He stares at me a minute. “You see your sister in her, don’t you?”
My eyes harden, yet my expression goes blank. This is the first time any of them have ever mentioned my sister. Not once was she brought up in the last four fucking years. Not. Once. When I don’t allow that door to open the way he’s trying to, he nods. I’d argue the dude owes me for gluing my ass to his family’s side the last few months, but I doubt he sees it that way. Still, I ask for more, “So you know Rayo Revenaw?”