Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 61042 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 305(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61042 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 305(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
Inferno chuckled and stretched his long arms overhead, knuckles cracking. “That’s real love, right there. Probably engraved her initials on it and everything.”
Griffin kept his hand on the shifter but slid a glance my way. “Ignore them. They’re just pissed because tonight I get to shoot the biggest piece of shit in Tennessee, and they get to play cleanup.”
“Don’t shoot anyone unless you have to,” I said, forcing a smile. “Interrogation’s not so fun when the target’s head is full of holes.”
“Noted,” he said, laying his hand on my knee and squeezing once before returning to the wheel. “But I make no promises.”
Inferno leaned forward between the seats. “Word to the wise, Veda. Your man here gets real murdery when he thinks someone’s threatened his girl. Used to be he just punched walls. Now he prefers skulls.”
“That’s a lie,” Griffin shot back.
Inferno shrugged. “Fine, but the ratio of drywall repairs to concussions has shifted dramatically.”
I rolled my eyes but couldn’t stifle a laugh this time. It felt good. I’d spent months thinking I’d never laugh again, and here I was, jammed in a murder car with three ex-cons, feeling like the world might not collapse after all. Which was just all kinds of ironic.
The radio crackled. “Two miles out,” Knuckles said. “Kill the lights.”
Griffin flipped the switch, and darkness swallowed us. He guided the SUV onto the shoulder, then cut the engine. Ahead, the lead vehicle had already stopped, Knuckles and Hannah spilling out into the darkness around them.
“We go on foot from here,” Griffin explained to me, reaching for his door handle. “Stay close to me. Do exactly what I say, when I say it. Not even if you have eyes on your sister. Got me?” He’d added that last because the man seriously knew me, even if we hadn’t known each other long. He knew if I saw Tessa I’d be helpless not to go to her.
I almost smiled, then repeated his earlier response. “I make no promises.”
He caught my wrist before I could move. “I mean it, Veda. This isn’t like the compound. Iron’s expecting us. He’s had time to prepare.”
“I know.” I turned my hand, lacing my fingers through his. “I’m not planning to die tonight, Griffin. I’m planning to win. And the quickest way to get myself and my sister killed is to be the loose cannon.”
He nodded at me once and squeezed my hand, then we exited the vehicle, meeting at the hood where Inferno and Diesel waited, calm and focused.
Knuckles approached from the lead SUV, Hannah at his side. “Remember,” he said, voice low. “We want Tessa. We want Iron. Everything else is secondary.” His eyes found mine. “Once you have your sister, you get out when Griffin tells you. Let us handle the rest.”
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. I never thought I would have someone helping me with this fight. Now, I had a whole club full of badass men capable and willing to help an innocent young woman. And the king of the Nashville underground. Now I stood surrounded by people risking themselves to help me. It was almost too much to process.
The team split, Knuckles and Hannah peeling left toward the back of the restaurant, Inferno and Diesel circling right. Knuckles and Hannah had had words about his old lady joining, but Hannah was as capable as any man in the club. Given the fact that Tessa was likely scared out of her mind, Veda would focus on her sister and Hannah would have their backs.
Griffin and I took the front, moving across wet pavement carefully, weapons drawn but held low. Ahead, Vossberg’s restaurant sat dark and silent, a single security light above the entrance that someone had shot out, the bulb hanging by a thread of wire.
Fifty yards out, Griffin crouched behind a rusted propane tank and pulled me down with him. He leaned close, his breath warm against my ear. “When we enter, you stay close to me. Do exactly what I tell you. Understand?”
I nodded. “Yes.” He held my gaze for a long moment, narrowing his eyes as if trying to see if I was feeding him a line of bullshit. “I promise, Griffin. I understand what’s at stake. There are more women involved than only Tessa. And stuff I don’t understand or care about.” I leaned in and kissed his chin. “I swear, Griffin. I’ll do exactly what you or any of the others tell me without hesitation.”
He leaned in and pulled me close for a hard kiss. Then he tugged me to my feet, and we moved toward the door. I took a breath. My heart pounded in my chest and I knew Griffin could feel me trembling beside him, but I had no intention of staying behind. If my sister waited in hell, I’d charge into the same hell to save her.