Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 77198 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77198 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
“I get the feeling he keeps to himself a lot.”
“So, you don’t know him well?”
“Not exactly.” I wasn’t sure how much I should say, so I tried to keep things simple. “He helped me out of a tight spot.”
“Oh.” She glanced over at me with a confused expression. “I got the impression that you two were together.”
“It’s complicated.”
A knowing smile swept across her face. “It always is.”
She turned her attention back to the screen, and after a few more clicks, she found what she was looking for. With a relieved sigh, she started the movie, and it wasn’t long before we were all captivated by the screen. It was nice to have a moment to catch my breath, but sadly, it didn’t last long. I’d just taken my first bite of popcorn when Lynch came to the doorway and announced, “Prez needs to see Everleigh.”
“Is everything okay?” Rebecca asked, sounding concerned.
“Yeah, it’s all good. I’ll have her back in a few minutes.”
I had a feeling Lynch wasn’t being completely honest, but there was no way in hell I was about to question him. He was three times my size with bulging muscles and a fierce expression, so I simply stood and walked over to him. He remained silent as he guided me down the hall to a large wooden door. That’s when my panic set in.
It started with a slight discomfort in my chest, like I’d had too much caffeine, but within a blink, I could hardly breathe. I felt the urge to run, to leave that clubhouse altogether and find a place to hide. The panic grew even stronger when Lynch opened the door, and I saw what was waiting for me inside that room.
Holy hell.
BILLY
The brothers wanted answers, so I gave them answers.
I told them every detail of what happened the night I found Everleigh and how she’d survived the brutal shooting. I even shared how Doc and Viper had come out to my place to give me a hand with her—something Viper clearly hadn’t shared with everyone. I told them all about her experience with DeLuca, including how he’d threatened to kill her father if she didn’t work to cover his gambling debt.
The brothers seemed slightly empathetic when I told them how she’d gone along with Antonio’s demands and worked for years before learning that he’d killed her father the very night she was kidnapped. I thought it might help them understand why she’d gone into his accounts and moved his assets, but I was wrong.
They were pissed that she was so close to being free of him, only to throw it all away with a hasty act of vengeance. I was in the midst of trying to defend her when my cell phone started to ring. I looked down at the screen, and when I saw that it was DeLuca calling, I stood and shouted, “It’s him.”
The room immediately fell silent, and everyone listened as I answered, “You’ve got Billy.”
I put the call on speaker, so everyone could hear as he asked, “You want to play?”
“No, I’m afraid I’m not up for games today. I’m looking for my daughter.” I did my best to keep my voice calm and steady as I asked, “Would you happen to know anything about her whereabouts?”
“As a matter of fact, I do.” He sounded quite pleased with himself as he added, “She’s sitting right here next to me.”
“If you lay one hand on her...”
“What? What are you going to do, Billy?” he scoffed. “You’re a cleaner. Not a killer.”
“That was before you decided to kidnap my daughter.”
“Oh, the big, bad butcher seems upset. What shall we do about that?”
“Let me talk to Kiersten.”
“I don’t think so. You’ll just have to trust me.” Evil dripped from his words as he sneered, “You have something of mine as well.”
“Just tell me what you want, Antonio.”
He sounded so vile, so fucking arrogant, and sick in the fucking head as he snarled, “It’s simple, Billy. I want a trade…your girl for mine.”
It was at that moment I realized that this was real. DeLuca had my daughter, and he wanted me to make an unimaginable choice. Just the thought of it made me want to reach through that phone and rip the guy’s throat out. I couldn’t let him know that he was getting to me, so I tried to play it cool and asked, “What girl?”
“Oh, come on, Billy. Don’t play me for a fool,” Antonio grumbled. “You have twenty-four hours to bring Everleigh to me, or your daughter is as good as dead.”
The line went dead, and it was all I could do to keep myself from throwing my phone across the room. I was absolutely distraught, and I was struggling to know which end was up. I ran my hand down my face, trying to get a grip on myself, but it did little to improve my state of mind.