Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 60023 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 300(@200wpm)___ 240(@250wpm)___ 200(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60023 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 300(@200wpm)___ 240(@250wpm)___ 200(@300wpm)
The midday sun burns my eyes as I slow to a stop near an old, worn-down dirt road that has a sign saying that there is a lake a couple of miles ahead. Deciding to risk it, I turn and walk down that road, hoping it actually leads to something beautiful. I’m lost in my thoughts, so much so that I don’t hear the gravel crunching as a car approaches, not until it’s too close anyway.
Turning, I narrow my eyes, and my heart skips a beat as I see a familiar white car and face that I was hoping I wouldn’t have to see again anytime soon. The car comes to a stop, and out steps Cyrus, the man I was set to marry, the one chosen for me. It’s all part of their plan, their belief, and they truly think that I will have a child with this man, and that child will be the chosen one.
It's sick and twisted.
“How the hell did you find me?” I whisper, taking a step back.
Cyrus steps closer, his long blond hair flowing over his shoulders. The white shirt he is wearing is a little too big, and his faded denim jeans make him look scarily normal when we both know he is anything but. This man is dangerous, and he is loyal to my father. He’s always going to put his word before mine. He might have been chosen for me, but that doesn’t mean he likes it.
“Come now, Nia. You didn’t think that it would be so easy for you to escape, did you?”
What is he talking about?
I take a slow step back. My heart is thumping so hard it’s like it’s trying to break free from my chest. For a moment, I forget how to breathe. Cyrus stands calmly, too calmly, like a predator who's been waiting in the shadows. His eyes never leave mine and there is a smirk on his face that screams satisfaction. Like he’s won. I suddenly feel like the world has tilted off its axis.
"How did you find me?" I ask again, my voice shaky, but firm.
He smiles, and it’s cold. Calculated. "We’ve been watching the club for a while. Did you think they wouldn’t put someone on you? I was assigned the moment you left. After all, you are my problem, are you not? We both know you belong to me and the punishment for your actions will be well earned.”
My knees weaken, but I stand tall. I won’t let him see the fear. I won’t let him think he’s winning. "If you’re here to try and take me, or threaten me, you’re making a mistake. I’ll never go with you. Not fucking likely.”
His face hardens. "Your mouth has gotten the better of you, hanging around with those sinners. I’ll warn you, Nia, you should be scared. Because if you don’t do exactly what I say, your little Lily is going to suffer. She’ll bleed for your mistakes. You know how it works."
Rage replaces fear. "If you touch her—"
He holds up a hand. "I don’t want to hurt her. She’s not my concern. But the leaders? They’re pissed. You embarrassed them. You betrayed them. And now they want blood. But they’re willing to bargain. You give them what they want, and Lily stays safe."
Blackmail.
I shouldn’t have expected anything less.
I grit my teeth. “And what exactly is it that they want?”
“Information. Entrances. Routines. Security. Everything you can give us about the club. We want to bring them down from the inside. You do that, and Lily walks away untouched.”
Bile rises in my throat as I stare at him in horror. “You think I’d betray the only people who’ve ever tried to help me? They’ve done more for me in weeks than any one of you did in a lifetime.”
His eyes flash. “You owe them nothing. They’ll turn on you the moment things get too hard. You’re just a distraction, something to bide their time until it gets too hard. Then what are you going to do? You have nobody out here, Nia, and you know it.”
His words cut deep, hitting me in the spots that are the most sensitive because I know he speaks a certain level of truth.
Even if I don’t want to accept it.
I take a step forward, fighting the urge to swing. “What I am is someone who isn’t afraid of you anymore. So go ahead, tell them I said no. In fact, tell them I said fuck no.”
Cyrus’s lip curls. “You’ll regret that. I will give you one more chance. Do as I am asking or suffer the consequences.”
I don’t get the chance to answer.
A low rumble cuts through the tense silence.
My heart flips.
A motorcycle engine.
Cyrus hears it too. He stiffens.
The sound grows louder, closer.
And then I see it—Talon, roaring around the bend, his bike a deadly warning.