Total pages in book: 168
Estimated words: 169013 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 845(@200wpm)___ 676(@250wpm)___ 563(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 169013 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 845(@200wpm)___ 676(@250wpm)___ 563(@300wpm)
I paused, letting my words sink deep. “I have been after this motherfucker since I was sixteen years old, and he’s always remained just out of reach. Spreading his vileness on the land.”
I would never forget the night that changed everything. When the vengeance I’d sought had been transformed.
Restructured.
Iron Owls had splintered the next month, and I’d taken the few men I trusted and created Crimson Crows.
But we were no longer riding for corruption.
We were riding for liberation.
It’s your heart.
It’s your heart.
“Tomorrow, that reign ends.”
I spun the heel of my tumbler against the wood, the scars carved inside me threatening to bust wide open.
But in a way that promised all of this was right.
That maybe in the end, I was living a life worthy of the belief my mother had in me.
That maybe…maybe this offering was enough.
“You’ve already been briefed,” I said around the rocks in my throat. “You know your missions and your destinations and that our friends from Moonlit Ridge and Redemption Hills will be taking up our backs.”
I’d gotten word that it wasn’t only Cash and his crew who were joining forces, but the guys from Redemption Hills, including Trent who’d been Iron Owls’s vice president.
Old friends coming to our aid to ensure this job was done.
“Everyone has to be their sharpest,” I continued. “Their keenest. Their cruelest. There will be no place for mercy for the merciless.”
It had to be clean or we would be done.
The same as every other job we enacted, but this one was on a scale none of us had ever faced.
Phoenix rocked beside me, violence skimming his flesh as he fisted a giant hand on the table.
“This mission is big, but I believe in this calling, and I believe in you. Be careful. Be wise. And come home.”
A riot of fists banged on the table, and the deep resonation of their chants banged through the room. “Born in chaos. Forged by iron. Sworn to vengeance.”
They all stood after they said it, the lot of them flooding out through the door and into the long hall that led to the bar.
Half of them clapped me on the back as they went, murmuring every variation of “We have this.”
We did.
We had to.
It couldn’t turn out any other way.
My chest tightened as I pushed back from my chair.
Anxious to get back to the house but knowing I needed to keep up appearances. Without a doubt, I’d be out in that bar throwing back old-fashioneds for half the night.
Wanting to be curled up next to Brinley instead.
Tucked into her beauty and held in her faith.
Trevan and Phoenix came to stand beside me.
“You good?” Trevan asked. Concern twisted in his brow.
“Yeah. I’ve been waiting a long, long time for this.”
I failed twice at trying to end them in the past, but this time, our only choice was seeing it through.
“And what are we going to do about the girl and Dereck?” It came as shrapnel from Phoenix’s mouth.
Protectiveness bound every inch of me, and I wanted to lay it out. Tell him exactly what I had planned. It was fucking painful to muster the lie. “We’re going to do exactly as planned. He keeps his end of the bargain, and he walks.”
I couldn’t bring myself to specifically mention Brinley.
Speculation traipsed across the dark lines of his face. “I don’t trust him, Prez. I think you’re making a mistake.”
I exhaled a sharp breath, and I delivered the words low and hard. “I made the deal, so the deal stands. Don’t fucking question it.”
I didn’t normally rule with a heavy hand, and I considered Phoenix one of my closest friends, but I couldn’t entertain what he was clearly suggesting.
I didn’t deal in betrayals, especially not when it had brought Brinley to me.
Phoenix’s tattooed hands curled into fists, so clearly trying to temper what he wanted to say. His jaw worked overtime before he gritted, “Understood.”
Then he turned on his heel and stormed out. I blew out a sigh, and Trevan squeezed my shoulder. “Tensions are high, brother. Don’t fret. It’s all gonna work out exactly as it should.”
I scraped a palm down my face. “Terrified I’m leading my crew to their deaths.”
“Of course, you are, which is why every single one of them will follow you into battle. Now get your ass out there and share a drink with your men.”
I gave him a tight nod, then followed him out into the dusky hollow of the hall.
Music vibrated the walls, but it was the frenetic energy blistering the air that singed across my skin.
Awareness thrummed through my veins as Trevan pushed out in front of me and into the bar.
I shouldn’t have been surprised to find Elena and Brinley there.
Two of them dressed up for a party, though looking so out of place. Standouts from the rest of the women who pranced around.