Total pages in book: 55
Estimated words: 51624 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 258(@200wpm)___ 206(@250wpm)___ 172(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 51624 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 258(@200wpm)___ 206(@250wpm)___ 172(@300wpm)
“He’s telling the truth, Livy. When you feel strong enough to, I will personally take you and show you all the evidence that your brother and every single one of those men are no longer breathing. We got rid of the last of them about a month ago. They confirmed your brother was one of the dead men who burned to death,” Cooper adds.
I finally nod and try to get my anxiety and nerves back under control. “He deserved worse,” I whisper, then take a deep breath. “Okay. If you’re sure, I’ll let it go.”
“We are,” Carter answers immediately.
“Then, what’s today about?” I ask.
“Cross was coming over to check on you this morning. He found a man standing in the tree line, watching your house. It’s not a motorcycle club member of any club.” I’m sure he tags on that last line because of my fear.
“Who was it?” I ask, trying to ignore the way my voice trembles.
“We’re not sure, Livy. That’s why we’re here. Cross called me and asked me to keep you at the main house, just in case the guy might be targeting you. We don’t know anything yet. We’re going to question the guy. I promise you that we’ll find out soon. It doesn’t matter, whatever is going on, we will get to the bottom of it. I’m not going to let you be in danger any longer, Livy. I can promise you that much.”
I nod, my chest feeling kind of hollow. Lake has to know all this is going on, yet he’s not here checking on me. Maybe he’s out with the others trying to find out who this guy is and what he’s doing, but that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t have called me, left a note, took me to Carson’s himself—something.
“Okay let me grab my purse and laptop. That way, I can have my therapy session online if I need to.”
Carson kisses the top of my head like the older brother he is to me now, and I go get my stuff. I do it with my heart breaking, because I know that no matter what happens now, I’ll never trust Lake to let him in again.
It’s over.
29
PAIN AND BETRAYAL
BEAR
I rub my head, feeling the bandage on it and frown. I wince from the pain—both in my head and my arm. I feel like I’ve been hit by a freight train. Memories of talking with Cross and the bastard hitting me with the butt of his gun filter in and I jerk, moaning from the pain as I force my eyes open. I look around and my gaze immediately stops dead on the men standing across from me.
Carson and his two brothers are here. Hangman, is standing beside Sasa and Cross. Okay, this works, although I want to know where the fuck Blade is. For now, I need to concentrate on what the hell is going on here.
“Seems it’s time for our meeting. Do any of you assholes want to tell me why my own man tried to put me back in the hospital?” I bark.
“Your own man?” Hangman says, and I shift my gaze directly on him.
“I’m the reason Cross is a member of the Saints, so yeah, my man. I may not be acting president any longer, but that doesn’t erase what I was to the club. I’m the reason you fuckers exist here in Cherokee.”
My words seem to suck the air out of the room. They all look at one another, and then back to me.
“You’re nobody to my club,” Hangman counters. “And since I’m the leader of the Saints that would make Cross my man and he did exactly what I would have told him to do.”
Bitterness wells up inside of me. “You’re the fucking president? Where’s that piece of shit brother of mine? It’s bad enough he didn’t stay by Livy’s side and help her. How are you wearing a cut declaring you’re president of the club? If something happened to me, that chair was always supposed to belong to Blade.”
The room goes eerily quiet for a minute. “I want to know how an outsider knows details about my fucking club,” Hangman snaps.
Anger keeps building in me, so I let it out. “Damn it! I know I’ve been gone for two years, but I’m not a stranger, motherfucker. You’re the one letting those assholes sitting over there hear club business,” I add, pointing over to the Wells brothers.
Everyone in the room is looking at me like I’m some kind of damn specimen in a lab. “Carson, even Lake’s movements and the way he speaks is different,” Colt says and my gut burns. “I mean, it’s still graveled, but the way he pronounces things have a deeper southern twang injected.”
Carson grunts but doesn’t reply.
“I don’t trust any of you motherfuckers any longer. I want to talk to Livy,” I growl.