Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 104403 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 522(@200wpm)___ 418(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104403 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 522(@200wpm)___ 418(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
Clearly, she’d been away from the MC for too long. “Babe, you forget who you grew up with? You think Copper is gonna let this shit slide? That douchebag, Jason, or whoever the fuck, will be lucky if your father doesn’t kill him, then resurrect him so he can kill him again.”
“Don’t tell him.”
The idea was so absurd he couldn’t help but laugh, sharp and humorless. “Christ, Beth, are you crazy? Who do you think sent me here?”
Her jade eyes bored into his, pleading. “This is my life, Lee. Mine. I love my parents, but I’m an adult, and they don’t get to know if I don’t want them to know.”
Fuck. Saint was a goddamn sap because he already knew he’d regret what he was about to do, but would still do it. The look on her face wrecked him. Fear and shame tangled together into a woman who’d just had every ounce of control ripped from her, now begging to keep the one thing she had left, the choice of who found out.
He sighed and glanced at Jason, sprawled on the floor, before turning back to her. “Why do you want to protect that piece of shit?”
“I’m not.” She shook her head, jostling his arm with her movements. “I’m trying to protect you. And my dad. I don’t want his blood on your hands.”
“Too late,” he said, showing her his knuckles once again.
“You know what I mean, Lee.”
His heavy sigh heaved his entire upper half. “Beth… you know who we are.”
She sniffed as she squeezed his arm tighter. “Not at my expense. Please, Lee. I don’t want you to have to do this because of me. It’s not worth it.”
Of course, it was worth it. If not to protect the ones they loved, why did they do any of it? The loans, the threats, and the beatings were all to keep the club safe, fed, and standing. That was the code.
Fuck.
“Three conditions,” he said finally.
“Okay…”
He held up a finger. “One, you don’t see that fucker again. Ever.”
A shudder ran through her, visible from hair to toes. “I never want to.”
He nodded as he lifted a second finger. “Two, you come back to Tennessee with me.”
Her eyes widened. “For good?”
Yes. The word sat heavily on his tongue. “For now, to start.”
“And the third?”
The one she’d have the hardest time accepting. “You tell your parents eventually. Not today or tomorrow, but when you’re ready. It’s not a secret that can be kept forever.”
Her gaze drifted to Jason, and Saint clenched his teeth against the urge to snap at her not to even look at the shitbag. Her defeated sigh had him close to wavering, but fuck that. There was no way he’d leave her in this town alone with this jackass still breathing.
“All right. Okay. I…I can do that.”
“Good.” He climbed to his feet and extended a hand for her. “You get cleaned up and pack while I take out the trash,” he said, pointing to Jason, who groaned and began to stir. His fingers flexed, wanting another round.
She narrowed her eyes at him, but as she let him help her to her feet, he swore she muttered something about damn bossy bikers. He’d take her fire and sass any day over the traumatized state she’d been in when he arrived, though he had a feeling her road would be rocky over the next few weeks.
As soon as she was on her feet and steady, he released her hand. “Good?”
“Um, yeah.” She nodded, glancing around the apartment with a lost expression. “Just… processing. Are we going to head back tonight?”
Much as he loved riding, his ass had sat on his bike enough for one day. “Nah, I’ve been riding too fucking long. I’ll get us a room for the night, and we can head out in the morning.”
Beth gnawed her lower lip as a troubled cloud crossed her face. He was sure she didn’t love the idea of being in close quarters with him, a man she barely knew, but two rooms were out of the question. She’d have her own bed and could erect a damn electric fence between them if it made her feel safer, but she wouldn’t be out of his sight. Not with this asshole still breathing, a decision he prayed he wouldn’t come to regret.
“Okay, I shouldn’t need more than thirty minutes or so,” she said.
“Take your time, babe. I’ll chat with my man, Jason.”
She opened her mouth as though to warn him not to hurt Jason again, then shut it with a nod. “Okay.”
Then she lifted her gaze to his, and something twisted low in his gut, something he had no business feeling right now. He dug his fingernail into his palm to redirect the sensation.
She didn’t seem to realize her effect on him, and he needed to keep it that way. Some lines didn’t get crossed, and Copper’s daughter was one of them.