Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 58752 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 294(@200wpm)___ 235(@250wpm)___ 196(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58752 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 294(@200wpm)___ 235(@250wpm)___ 196(@300wpm)
We went into the kitchen. Dad rubbed a hand over his face and stared at the table.
“When the numbers started looking wrong, I asked if it could have been because of mistakes you made. That wasn’t okay. I know how you work, but I was scared and wanted an ordinary explanation.”
“Dad—”
“I’m sorry.”
“Thanks.” I gave him a hug. “We’re good.”
“I appreciate it, honey.”
Dad and I walked back into the living room, and Gavin came back inside like he had a radar telling him exactly where I was.
Mom looked from my face to his and then at Dad. “We should go. They need quiet more than they need us hovering.”
Dad hesitated, then kissed my hair. “Call if you need anything.”
“I will.”
They were barely down the drive when a truck pulled in. Jacqueline and Bex got out, takeout bags from my favorite restaurant in their hands.
Jacqueline lifted one of the bags higher. “We brought food.”
“I can see.”
“Someone gave us very explicit instructions for what to bring over,” Bex explained.
I tilted my head back to grin at Gavin. “I’m sure I can guess who.”
He didn’t look the least bit guilty for having done so. “You need to eat, pretty girl.”
“We brought plenty,” Jacqueline murmured as I opened the door wider for her.
Gavin took the bags from the women. “Get comfortable in the living room. I’ll bring out plates.”
“You’ve completely domesticated him,” Bex joked.
Jacqueline laughed. “He’s protective like Brogan and Cipher are with us. It’s adorable.”
“And he calls her ‘pretty girl,’” Bex sighed.
Gavin brought a plate out for each of us before serving himself. He watched every bite I took and brought out a cold pack for my wrist when I was done.
Then his phone buzzed, and he glanced at his screen. “Gotta go.”
I could guess why he needed to leave, but I didn’t ask. “I’ll be here when it’s done.”
“You better.” His hand tightened on my good wrist, and he tugged me forward to kiss me.
He got up and grabbed his keys before heading out the front door. Then I heard the engine start, and he backed out of the driveway.
Jacqueline locked the deadbolt and checked the window.
Bex picked up the remote. “We should watch something that doesn’t make us think.”
“Sounds like a good plan to me,” I agreed.
She clicked past news and landed on a cooking competition we didn’t need to pay close attention to. Jacqueline put the leftovers in the fridge and dropped onto the other end of the couch.
“You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to.” Bex tucked her feet under her. “We’re just here to keep you company.”
“I appreciate it.” I pulled the throw blanket from the back of the couch and spread it across my lap. “Does the waiting ever get easier?”
Jacqueline thought about it before answering, “Not easier. More familiar.”
“You learn to trust the men riding with him.” Bex leaned deeper against the back of the couch. “That helps.”
I understood the point she was making. Being with Gavin meant trusting the brotherhood surrounding him. And with everything they’d done for my family and me, the Black Crowns had already earned that from me.
24
GHOST
The secured property sat deep inside Black Crowns land, far enough from the county road that nobody passing through Sable Canyon would hear what happened inside the old concrete workshop. One exterior light burned over the steel door, throwing a hard white circle across the packed dirt and the bikes lined beneath the overhang. I killed my engine, crossed the yard without slowing, and carried the image of bruises circling Tamsin’s wrists through the door with me.
Stryker and Hawkeye stood near a scarred worktable while Smoke and Breach each took a wall on opposite sides of the room. Len and the outside crew leader had been secured to steel chairs several feet apart, their wrists bound behind them and their ankles locked to the chair legs.
Len lifted his head when I entered. One side of his face was scraped from the fight near the maintenance trail, but contempt still twisted his mouth when his gaze settled on me. The stupid bastard looked past me toward the door as though Tamsin might have followed, then glared when he realized I had come alone.
“She cost me everything.”
I crossed the remaining distance and hit him before the last word fully cleared his mouth. My fist broke his nose and knocked the chair onto its side, sending him crashing into the concrete with a strangled grunt. Blood immediately poured over his mouth, but his eyes remained open and aware when I crouched beside him.
Stryker looked down at the red spreading across Len’s face. “We need that part working, Ghost.”
I caught the chair by its frame and hauled it upright with Len still strapped to it. “Then he should use it better.”
“True,” Stryker grunted.
Len coughed blood onto his shirt and tried to straighten, though the bindings kept his shoulders pulled back. Rage made his eyes watery and unfocused, but he managed to look at me as if I was the unreasonable man in the room. I flexed my bruised hand once, then rested it on the back of his chair.