Total pages in book: 147
Estimated words: 141556 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 708(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 472(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 141556 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 708(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 472(@300wpm)
“Dad.” Levi’s voice, strained. “That’s enough.”
“I’ll decide when it’s enough.” Roman crouches beside me, grabbing a fistful of my hair to force my head up. “You listening, Calder?”
I manage a nod.
“Good. Because here’s how this is going to work. You want to keep this girl? Fine. But she becomes a Bishop properly. Full ceremony. Branding, the works.” He releases my hair and lets my head drop back to the floor. “And you’re going to watch every second of it. Going to remember what it costs to defy me.”
Saint makes a sound like a wounded animal. “Branding? What does that—”
“It means,” Roman says, standing and brushing off his jeans like he didn’t just beat his son half to death, “that you get marked as Bishop property. Hot iron, right here.” He touches his hip. “Same as every woman who marries into this family. My wife has one. My mother had one. And you’ll have one too.”
“No.” Saint’s voice is small but defiant. “I won’t. You can’t—”
“I can do whatever the fuck I want, girl. This is my family. My rules.” Roman walks back to the head of the table and picks up his beer like nothing happened. “The ceremony happens on Monday. I’ll give you a couple of days to prepare and give the mark time to heal before we deal with the next part.”
“What’s the next part?” Saint asks, and I want to tell her to stop talking, to stop asking questions she doesn’t want the answers to.
Roman’s smile is pure evil. “The wedding ceremony, of course. Can’t have a proper Bishop marriage without that. We’ll save that discussion for after the branding.”
The room spins. I try to push myself up, but my ribs scream in protest. Hands grab my arms, Levi on one side, Sawyer on the other, hauling me to my feet.
“Get him out of here,” Roman says dismissively. “And take his wife with him. I’m done looking at them both for tonight.”
Levi helps me toward the door while Sawyer goes to Saint. Through the haze of pain, I watch him help her stand, watch the way she moves like she’s made of glass, like she might shatter at any moment.
“Calder.” Roman’s voice stops us at the doorway. “One more thing.”
I turn, or try to. Everything hurts.
“You bring me that marriage license by morning. I want to see the proof that this is legal. And if I find out you forged it, if I find out any of this is bullshit, I won’t just brand her. I’ll kill her. Slowly. Painfully, and I’ll make you watch.” He takes a long pull from his beer. “We clear?”
“Crystal,” I manage.
“Good. Now get the fuck out of my house.”
Levi practically drags me out of the dining room, through the entryway, out into the cool night air. Behind us, Sawyer’s guiding Saint, her face pale as death, that handprint livid on her cheek.
We make it to my truck before Saint breaks.
She tears away from Sawyer and doubles over, retching into the bushes. Nothing comes up but the whiskey Levi gave her, no doubt burning twice on the way back out. Her whole body shakes with the force of it.
I want to go to her. Want to hold her hair back, want to comfort her, want to do something other than stand here useless while Levi keeps me upright.
But I can barely stand. Can barely breathe. And the look on her face when she finally straightens tells me she doesn’t want my comfort anyway.
“You knew,” she says, and her voice is hollow. “You knew what he would do, and you brought me here anyway. Was it another kind of punishment to have me watch you beaten?”
“Saint—” I expected her anger at Roman’s treatment of her, but she’s upset because of his treatment of me? My mind can’t wrap around that through the pain.
“Don’t.” She wipes her mouth with the back of her hand. “Just don’t. Not right now.”
Sawyer steps forward, ever the mediator. “Let’s get you both home. We can deal with the rest tomorrow.”
“The rest,” Saint repeats bitterly. “You mean the branding. The ceremony where your father burns his mark into my skin like I’m cattle.”
None of us has an answer for that.
Levi helps me into the passenger seat of my own truck because there’s no way I can drive like this. Saint climbs in the back without being asked, as far from me as she can get in the confined space.
“I’ll drive you back to your place,” Levi says quietly. “Sawyer, follow us? We need to make sure Calder gets inside okay.”
“Yeah.” Sawyer’s already moving toward his SUV. “I’ll grab the marriage license from their house and bring it to Dad first thing in the morning. Might cool him down a bit if he sees we’re complying.”
“Nothing’s going to cool him down,” Kade says, lingering nearby and watching us all. He’s been doing nothing but watch this whole time, arms crossed, expression unreadable.