Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 141428 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 707(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 471(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 141428 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 707(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 471(@300wpm)
“Detective Brown,” she said.
“Yeah. Asshole is now blabbing his guts out. Fucking idiot. Stein was no better. I paid him to make sure you went to jail, Rohan, and the fucker goes and hires bodyguards just because of a few threatening letters. He didn’t even check if he was followed to our meeting. And now, I can’t go anywhere. Can’t go home, my father hates me, wants me dead. Shocked he hasn’t done it already. He probably doesn’t have the guts. And now the cops are hunting me too.”
“So you came here? Did you think I was going to help you?” Rohan demanded. “Because there’s no way I would help you. At one time I would have died for you. Now, you’re fucking scum and you deserve to die.”
“I know, that’s why I’m here.” Freddy drew a gun out from behind him.
She let out a cry, certain he was going to shoot Rohan. Hayes drew his own gun, but Freddy didn’t turn it on Rohan or Hayes.
Instead, he used it on himself.
The gun must have had a silencer because there was no noise. Just a sort of pop and then he was falling.
She screamed and Hayes turned to her, drawing her against him, pushing her face into his chest and muffling the noise.
“Freddy!” Rohan yelled.
She shuddered, fighting her tears, her shock and fear. Then she drew back, away from Hayes, so she could see Rohan. He might need her.
He was kneeling beside Freddy, his head drooping forward, his shoulders slumped.
“Rohan?” she whispered, moving closer. She put her hand on his shoulder without looking at Freddy. Then she kneeled behind him, wrapping her arms around him. “I’m so sorry.”
“It didn’t need to end like this,” Rohan said, his voice breaking. “This wasn’t supposed to be how it ended. We were meant to take on the world together, the three of us. But he wanted it all for himself. The power. I don’t even know if he was ever our friend.”
“He was. I’m sure he was. But things obviously got twisted in his head somewhere along the line,” she said.
“Fucking idiot. Fuck! I never imagined that Freddy was the one who killed Marcus. I thought he was looking after you, I told you to go to him if you needed something. What if you had? Who knows what he might have done?”
“I’m fine. I’m here. I never liked him that much, but I didn’t think he was capable of this.”
Rohan turned and gathered her close, burying his face in her neck. And she just held him tight until the shaking stopped.
Eventually Rohan stood and Hayes picked her up, holding her against his side.
“What should we do?” she asked. “Do we call the police?”
“No.” Rohan shook his head. “I’ll have to call Lucan.”
“No!” she cried.
Both men glanced down at her.
“Dee-Dee?” Rohan asked.
“I don’t want you near him, he’ll just want you to go back to the Black Scorpions and I don’t want you to!”
Rohan’s face softened. “Devi, it’s all I know.”
“No, it’s not.” She stomped her foot. “You know me. You could do something different with your life. What has the gang ever given you? Just trouble and risk and then you end up in jail! Where were they when you were in trouble? Did they ever visit you?”
“Devi, they couldn’t.”
“No! No!” She moved toward him, thumping the palm of her hand on his chest. “I never said anything before because I thought you would be upset with me, I thought you needed them. But you don’t. Because you have me. I love you! I’m the one that has always been there for you. Come with us. Come to the ranch and see where a different life could lead you. You have a chance at a new life. Take it.”
“I don’t know anything but this,” Rohan said with clear frustration.
“So learn. You’re smart. You’re young. Learn.”
“We can help,” Hayes said. “I thought my life was over when my wife died. Then I met your sister. Her life has pivoted after being hurt. She was knocked down but she’s picking herself back up.”
“With your help,” she said, glancing up at him.
“Come home with us,” Hayes said. “We’ll help you. My boss always needs good men.”
“But I’m not a good man,” Rohan said.
Hayes shrugs. “The world isn’t black and white, man. It’s gray. Far as I can tell, you’re loyal, you’re smart, and you’re protective of your sister. Seems to me you’re a good man.”
Rohan shook his head and she knew she’d lost him. “The two of you should go. You don’t want to be here when Lucan comes.”
“Rohan,” she said in a broken voice.
“I’ll call you, little sister,” he told her, reaching out to draw her close. “This isn’t goodbye. I just . . . I don’t think I can lead a different life.”
“Devi’s exhibition is the day after tomorrow,” Hayes said. “Then we leave the next day for home. You want to come with us, you’re more than welcome.”