Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 107823 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 539(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107823 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 539(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Even so… Was that happiness fleeting?
Would he eventually be miserable? Had their relationship peaked with the birth of Rush? Maybe it would all be downhill from here. They could even start fighting and spending less time together. Then would their son and future kids suffer because of it?
Damn it. Why couldn’t she believe that happiness, even love, could last?
She turned and headed back toward the bunkhouse.
That would explain why she didn’t want Easy to approach Trip. Why she wanted to keep their… thing—whatever it was—secret.
Because she feared all relationships were doomed in the end.
They started strong and when you least expected it, they began to twist. They kept twisting and in the end, they broke, leaving nothing but misery, bitterness and sadness behind.
This was why they should part ways before it grew into anything further. Before Cage’s deadline. Before they got to a point where they couldn’t go back to the way it used to be. Before things got awkward or uncomfortable between them.
To avoid that, it meant no more Tess and Easy.
No more late night visits.
Just… no more.
But, damn... if she was being truly honest with herself, that would suck.
When she got to the rear door, she inserted the key to unlock it. After slipping inside, she moved down the dark corridor, sticking close to the wall. Listening for voices, for doors opening, for anyone who would catch her.
Where she didn’t belong.
Doing something she shouldn’t be doing.
Betraying her brother’s trust.
Maybe even betraying Cage’s loyalty to her, too.
She told herself, as she did every time she moved quickly down the empty hallway, that this was a mistake.
That tomorrow she’d stop making those mistakes.
She would do better. Be better.
Not just for her.
But for Easy.
When she stopped in front of his room, she pressed her forehead to the door and closed her eyes. Her fingers lightly circled the doorknob.
She couldn’t just stand there. She needed to either go inside his room or leave.
Was she going to be selfish and walk into his room? Or selfless and walk away?
Her fingers gripped the knob even tighter, then they turned it.
Her stomach sank when it didn’t turn all the way.
She shouldn’t be surprised his door was locked. She knew one night she’d come and it would be.
Tonight was that night.
He made his choice and she had to live with it. But his choice also made it easier on her.
That was what she told herself as she swallowed the saliva pooling in her mouth and pressed a hand to her sour stomach.
She paused when a bout of nausea flooded her.
She didn’t think when the time came it would be this hard. That it would affect her as much as it did.
But, damn it, it was and it did.
She had let it go on for far too long.
Now it was too late.
Easy stood to the side, listening to the man inside the furnace screaming to be released. He could only imagine the heart-pounding fear of knowing you were about to be incinerated alive.
But no one would argue that Billy Warren deserved it.
The fucker almost killed Reilly. Not once, but twice. The first time he almost succeeded.
Abusive men did not deserve to breathe. They gave up that right the second they lifted a hand to a woman or child. The second they drew blood, the second they left a bruise.
So, yeah, no one was against Warren getting what he deserved. But Easy’s gut twisted with the way the abusive asshole’s end was coming.
His original plan was to step out of the room first if Deacon was going to incinerate Warren while the man was still breathing. Unfortunately, he hung around for a few minutes too long. As soon as Warren was loaded up and the furnace door secured, he should’ve walked away.
But no one expected Reese or Reilly to show up since they had been told to go back to the farm.
“Fuck that motherfucker!” Reilly yelled as she pushed past Deacon and ran up to the control panel, not even hesitating before slamming her palm on the big red start button.
The loud whoosh of the gas burners igniting froze Easy right where he stood. He heard a muffled, hair-raising shriek and then nothing. But that single scream, even though it only lasted a few seconds, was enough to last a lifetime.
Easy was unable to move. Unable to function.
He knew at that very moment he would never forget Warren’s scream once the man realized what was about to happen. How he would be meeting his maker. Then again the eerie whoosh of the burners firing and the screams of a man burning alive for the few seconds it took for the oxygen to be ripped from his lungs and for him to turn crispy.
With clenched fists and gritted teeth, Easy fought against joining Reese at the trash can as she puked. He somehow mustered through, but only by the skin of his teeth. Not only because he hated to puke but because he didn’t want to appear weak to his brothers. If they could stomach it, he should be able to, also.