Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 83777 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83777 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Devin’s face flashed through my mind. Her beautiful eyes. Her scent. Her full lips when they curled into a smile. Damn. I’d kill him if he hurt her.
This motherfucker was asking for war, and I was about to give it to him.
I drove too fast.
I knew my brothers were behind me and doing their best to keep up, but I wasn’t concerned about them. All I could think about was getting to Devin and making sure she was okay.
The engine screamed beneath me as I twisted the throttle harder, cutting through the night with nothing but rage and fear pounding in my chest. I tore down Devin’s street and skidded to a stop when I reached her driveway. And that’s when the world went cold.
Devin was lying crumpled on the concrete, and she wasn’t moving.
My heart stopped.
I couldn’t breathe.
Couldn’t think.
Everything else fell away. The club. The bullshit with Maddox. The trafficking allegations.
None of it meant a damn thing if I lost her.
I killed the engine and dropped the bike where it was and rushed to her side. I knelt next to her, and that’s when I saw the rise and fall of her chest. She was breathing. She was alive. I brushed her hair back, searching for blood or any sign that she was injured. That’s when I noticed the knot on her forehead and the bruising on her cheek.
“Devin.” I gave her a light nudge. “Come on, baby. Wake up.”
Nothing.
Grim and Shep stood over me, watching as I tried to get her to come around. When she didn’t respond, Grim announced, “I’ll call an ambulance.”
I nodded and continued trying to get Devin to come around. “Hang in there, Dev. We’re gettin’ help.”
“I’ll go check on the kids.”
Shep turned and started up to the house while Grim talked to the dispatcher. “911, what’s your emergency?”
“I have a woman who’s unconscious,” Grim barked. “She’s breathing, has a pulse, but we can’t get her to wake up. We need an ambulance at 127 Mill Creek Drive, now.”
“Is she injured?”
“Don’t know. We just found her like this.”
“Sir, help is on the way. I’m going to need you to stay with her.”
“Yeah, we’re not going anywhere.”
Shep came back and shook his head. “Door’s locked and no one’s answering.”
“Where the fuck is Chrissy? She said Austin was at a friend’s house, so she is all alone,”
“You think he took her?”
“No idea.” I turned my attention back to Devin and urged, “Baby, I need you to wake up.”
I forced myself to take a breath, listening for sirens and hoping that they would hurry the hell up, all the while silently cursing myself. I’d fucked up. I let that piece of shit get too close, and Devin paid the price.
I felt her stir, and relief flooded over me when her lashes started to flutter against her cheek. “Devin?”
“Jameson.”
“Yeah, baby.” She inhaled a deep breath and whimpered. “I’m right here.”
“Brian,” was all she could muster.
“I know. We’ll get him. You just try to lie here and breathe.”
“The kids…”
“They’re not here. Shep just checked.”
“No,” she pressed. “Brian… he has Chrissy.”
“What?”
“I tried to stop him… He’s going after Austin.”
“I’m not leaving you.”
“Please.”
“We’ve got her,” Shep interjected. “You go.”
“I’m coming with,” Grim announced.
I didn’t like leaving her, but I didn’t have a choice. I needed to get to the kids before Maddox made an even bigger mess of things. I stood, and blue flashing lights pulled into the drive as Grim and I started for our bikes. The EMTs parked and had just gotten out when I called out, “She has a pretty nasty contusion on the left side of her head and a bruise on her cheek, and she’s been out a good two to three minutes.”
I turned the key and sped down the street. I’d barely rounded the corner when I spotted Maddox’s truck idling on the side of the road. The driver's door was open and the lights were on, but no one was behind the wheel. I pulled over and parked, and as soon as I killed the engine, I could hear Austin shouting, “No, Dad! I’m not going!”
“The hell you aren’t! Get your ass in the goddamn truck, Austin!”
“What’s wrong with you?”
“Have it your way.”
Grim and I started walking toward the sound of their voices, and it wasn’t long before I spotted them in the backyard. I motioned my hand to the back corner of the lot as I whispered, “They’re around back.”
Austin was in nothing but a pair of plaid sleep pants, and his father had him by the arm, pulling him towards the road. It was dark, and there was no sign of his friend or his friend’s parents.
Austin was trying everything he could to break free from his grasp as he shouted, “Dad, stop! Get off me!”
They both stopped cold when I shouted, “Maddox!”