Total pages in book: 45
Estimated words: 42332 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 212(@200wpm)___ 169(@250wpm)___ 141(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 42332 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 212(@200wpm)___ 169(@250wpm)___ 141(@300wpm)
I kept my head down and moved toward the front door, gripping my purse a little too tightly. Part of me still hoped Lucas would appear out of nowhere, waiting for me as he had at the diner last night.
But it wasn’t his voice I heard when I reached for the handle.
“You headed somewhere?”
I turned to see a young guy without a Hounds vest coming toward me. His gaze dropped to my uniform, and his brows drew together.
Heat prickled up my neck because I had the feeling he knew I hadn’t worn Lucas’s cut as he told me. “I need to get to work.”
He blinked. “Work?”
“Yes, I have a shift at the diner tonight.”
He shifted with a frown. “I don’t think Kevlar was expecting you to leave until he gets back.”
I tilted my head. “But I have no way of knowing when that will be, do I?”
The poor guy looked like I’d just ruined his entire day. He twisted a little to look back toward the stairs, and I noticed the back of his cut only had the bottom rocker, meaning he wasn’t a fully patched member. Something I’d learned when I did just a little research after Lucas started hanging around at the diner.
The prospect looked like he might try to run and fetch someone to talk me out of my plan, but then he seemed to think better of it. He glanced at my clothes once more, or specifically my lack of a vest, and muttered, “I guess I could come with you.”
“Then you’d better hurry.” My annoyance slipped through before I could stop it. “Because I’m leaving now, with or without you.”
He opened his mouth, closed it, then scrubbed a hand over his jaw. “Kevlar’s gonna be pissed.”
“He can talk to me about it later,” I muttered.
After a long, suffering sigh, he opened the door for me. “After he gets done with me for allowing this.”
“Allowing?” I echoed, my frustration growing.
As we stepped outside, my gaze scanned the area where I’d seen some vehicles parked when we pulled into the compound last night. My shoulders slumped in relief when I spotted my car. I was lucky that my dad insisted I keep a spare key in my purse because I had no idea where Lucas put the one I gave him.
Pulling through the gate with the guy behind me on his motorcycle, I told myself his concern over Lucas’s reaction was exaggerated. That I was making the right choice. I really hoped I was right.
9
KEVLAR
Iwas steps away from my bike when my phone buzzed in my back pocket. The sun was dropping low behind the trees, and the darkness fit my mood just fine.
I pulled my cell out and glanced at the screen, expecting an update from King or Wizard. Instead, it was one of our prospects.
Prospect—Jace
She insisted on going to work.
Before I’d had time to fully process that, another text popped up.
Prospect—Jace
She wasn’t wearing your cut, so I wasn’t sure what to do. But I’m following. Watching her six.
A muscle in my jaw cracked so hard I nearly snapped a fucking molar.
My fingers clenched around the phone hard enough that the casing creaked. I stared at the message, my heart kicking behind my ribs. The tight coil in my gut that had finally started to ease after the meeting with King was back.
Maren had disobeyed me.
I’d left her a note with clear instructions. I’d told her to stay put. Stay safe. Left her my damn cut. But she left the fucking compound.
And the kid let her!
Yeah, he’d be dealt with later. Right now, my focus was locked tight on Maren.
She’d been half-naked and soft in my arms less than twelve hours ago, all trembling trust. Now she was out there like nothing had changed.
Bullshit.
I shoved the phone back into my pocket and swung my leg over my bike, my grip tightening on the handlebars until my knuckles went white.
Rage surged hot in my veins. I started the motorcycle, and the engine roared to life beneath me, a guttural, snarling promise of what I was bringing with me.
I twisted the throttle and peeled out onto the road, burning down the streets with tunnel vision. There were no distractions. No thoughts about anything but getting to Maren.
She was without my protection. Without the club’s. Exposed and unaware of the danger.
I made it to the diner in record time, my tires chewing up the road as I tore through town. The second I turned into the alley behind the diner, the world narrowed to a razor-sharp point.
The black SUV was parked in the diner’s back lot, the engine still running. The same vehicle I’d seen tailing her for days.
Motherfucker.
My bike skidded to a halt in the lot, and my heart hammered, then the rest of me turned to steel.
The prospect was down. Jace lay on his side, blood blooming brightly across his shirt. He was barely conscious, with one hand pressed to his side where he’d been shot. His jaw was clenched, teeth bared in pain, and his glassy eyes were locked on the scene ten feet ahead of him.