Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 148704 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 744(@200wpm)___ 595(@250wpm)___ 496(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 148704 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 744(@200wpm)___ 595(@250wpm)___ 496(@300wpm)
“What, man enough to do and take as you please, even at the risk of the one and only person left in the world who still loves your sorry ass, but not man enough to admit what you did out loud?”
“You already know.” His eyes come back to mine. “You just want me to say it, so you can look at me like I’m a piece of shit.”
“Would a good man bring thugs into his sister’s home, knowing she was here alone? Knowing what they’re capable of? What they will do to women they want without a fucking care?!”
“I wouldn’t have let anyone hurt her!”
“You did, motherfucker! And you hurt her just the same! If I didn’t call her friend next door to help her, someone else might have broken into her room. They tried to open her bedroom door! Did you know that?” Rage prickles across my skin, tempting me to shred it from my body. “You were so trashed, you had no idea what was going on by the time I got here. I could have taken her and left, and you wouldn’t have even been able to protect yourself, let alone your innocent sister.”
He shoots to his feet, a fretful look in his blue eyes, a pathetic lie he can’t possibly believe rolling off his tongue. “I could have protected her!”
“She should need no fucking protecting!” I get in his face. “That’s the fucking point!”
“I didn’t mean to bring them here! They jumped into the car, put a knife to my throat and told me to drive. We wrecked and a ton of people saw, they called the cops, Crew. I had to run.”
“You didn’t have to run here,” I force past clenched teeth. “You came to town knowing someone was after you. Last night, or last fucking week, it doesn’t matter. You put her in danger coming home.”
“I didn’t plan this!”
“No, you just came back, knowing someone was after you!”
“I had no choice! I had to come back, and you were nowhere to be found,” he tries to reason. “If I knew where you had moved, I never would have come to her—”
“Yes, you fucking did!” I scream, my ears vibrating from the echo around us as I push into his face. “You had a fucking choice, you’re just a weak son of a bitch who pushes your problems onto other people. I won’t let you ruin my life again, Memphis. You—”
“I don’t understand…”
Davis’s worrisome words reach us and both our heads snap her way.
She steps into the door, and my eyes flick to Drew over her shoulder.
He holds my gaze, and I know she refused to sit still any longer.
She frowns, stepping in even farther, gasping slightly at the sight of the rooms around us.
The couch is broken, the chairs in the kitchen knocked over. Blood stains the floor, glass shards are scattered along the back wall, and if you look close enough, you might spot a couple teeth that belonged to the big fucker who scared my girl, who touched my girl.
I should have cut off his trigger finger.
Davis steps beside me, her gaze on her brother, who cowers into his seat.
“What do you mean you had to come back? Had to come to me? Did you not want to see me? You just… what? Had nowhere else to go, so I was the last resort, and not even the happy kind?”
“Davis…” he begins, reaching for her.
I can’t stop myself; I block his path before I realize I’m doing it, and I’m glad for it. He doesn’t get to go near her.
He glares at me, but his features soften some as he looks at her.
“Did you not miss me at all?” Her eyes cloud, and I have to dig my nails into my palms to keep from laying him out for causing it. But then she looks to me. “And why did you need Crew?” Her eyes narrow, anger washing away some of the torment.
My pulse beats widely with each passing second.
“What did you do to him?” she accuses, her tone harsh yet low, eyes on me, but her words are not. She’s speaking to him.
The world spins a little, leveling out the slightest bit.
“Nothing!” he tosses quickly, jumping up and stepping around me.
This time, I let him, because she keeps her attention trained on me, waiting for him to continue but needing to judge my reaction to his words before deciding how to feel about them.
“I didn’t do anything.” Memphis lies through his rotting teeth. “I just needed his help. That’s all. We have it under control, sister, I—”
“Stop,” she whispers, and I want to wrap my arms around her, hold the weight he’s tossing at her on my own shoulders. Moisture pooling in her eyes, she looks to him. “Stop lying to me, Memphis. Tell me what I don’t know.”