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)
I have seconds before the other club members are out of their beds. Talon included.
I shuffle along the wall, holding my breath as I make a run for it. The second the two men are out of sight, I sprint towards the gate. It isn’t padlocked, but I do have to unlatch it and it opens with a loud creak. God dammit. I didn’t think this through. Shouting voices can be heard behind me and my heart lurches into my throat as I rush into the darkness, the cold steel of Talon’s gun pressing against my hip as I move.
I’m out, but it won’t be long before they figure it out.
I have to move, and I have to move quickly.
I run down the road, my legs moving as quickly as possible, carrying my small frame as I create distance between the club and myself. Only when the shouting subsides, do I slow down, dropping my hands to my knees and taking a deep, painful breath. My lungs burn and sweat trickles down my forehead. That was far too close.
Lifting my head, I glance up just as a car begins slowing down next to me.
Just as I predicted.
They were waiting for me. Like I knew they would be.
Here goes nothing.
IT ONLY TAKES ME A moment to realize that it is Cyrus in the car, and I can breathe a sigh of relief. He is the only person I can manipulate enough to give me what I want. This is a huge risk, I know it, but it is the only option I have. As the window winds down and I see Cyrus, I know I have to find a strength I have never felt before.
I have to bring out the kind of inner warrior I have never shown them.
Now is my time to shine.
A slow smirk spreads across Cyrus’s face, and I know he thinks he’s won. How wrong he is. “I see you got our message. You made the right choice, Nia. Get in.”
I grin, reaching around behind me and pulling out the gun, aiming it right at his face. “I’m not going anywhere with you, not yet. We’re going to make a deal.”
His eyes widen, a hint of shock washing over his face. It’s incredibly satisfying, knowing that he didn’t think I had it in me. “It takes a lot of courage to think you have enough power to make demands.”
His voice is calm, but I can see he’s nervous.
Good.
He should be.
“It’s simple. You take me back, and I speak to my father, or I shoot you right now and they can deal with the fallout of that. Either option is fine with me.”
My voice is steady, and I don’t waver, not even for a second.
“You’re not going to shoot anyone.”
I grin. “Try me.”
He glares, but I see the flicker of uncertainty. He doesn’t know me anymore. He doesn’t know what I’m capable of. I see it in his eyes—the doubt, the surprise. Like he can’t believe the girl he thought he owned is standing here, gun in hand, defying him. It’s enough to shake him.
I love every second of it.
“Fine,” he snaps. “Get in. But you’ll regret this.”
I lower the gun slightly, enough to let him know I’m still in control, but not enough to give him any ideas. I move around to the passenger side, my heart still thundering from the run, from the fear, from the knowledge that I’ve just turned my back on the only people who were really willing to help me.
I get in, and the door clicks shut, the cold leather seat pressing against my skin. It takes everything in me not to look back. I know by now the club has probably figured out I’m gone, and I know that right now, Talon is feeling something I never wanted him to feel.
Pure betrayal.
Cyrus drives, his jaw tight. “You think you have the upper hand, Nia. But you don’t know what you’re dealing with.”
I keep the gun pointed at him, and I know I’m more than willing to pull the trigger if I have to. “I know exactly what I’m dealing with. That’s why I’m not scared of you.”
The darkness surrounds us, and I feel it closing in, suffocating, but I don’t let it show. I’m in the car with the enemy, heading straight back to a place that almost broke me. But this time, I’m not the same girl I was. This time, I have something to fight for.
I am going to get Lily out.
I vow it.
The familiar landscape blurs past, and I feel a strange, sick twist in my stomach, a mix of fear and determination. I did this. I made this choice. I try to convince myself it was the right one, but doubt claws at me, vicious and relentless.
“What the hell are you thinking?” Cyrus mutters, his voice laced with anger and something else—a hint of admiration, maybe. “You think you can just walk away from them and come back like it’s nothing?”