Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 70716 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 354(@200wpm)___ 283(@250wpm)___ 236(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70716 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 354(@200wpm)___ 283(@250wpm)___ 236(@300wpm)
God damn them all to hell and back.
“Avi, honey, maybe we should talk,” Briella says carefully. “It’s okay ...”
I whip my head around and glare at her. “Am I liar, Briella?”
She stares at me, wide eyed. “No, not that I remember, but you’ve been through a lot.”
Another blow. Right to my very fucking soul.
“How dare you?” I whisper. “You, you have no fucking idea what I’ve lived through because of him. You know what?” I turn and walk toward the door. “Fuck you all, find Blanche yourselves, see how that ends for you.”
I reach the door, and Alarick calls my name.
I don’t stop.
I open it and step out.
They’re going to wish they listened to me.
2
NOW – AVIANA
I shoot down a shot that burns my throat, fueling the fire already raging in my soul. Angrily, I slam the shot glass down and nod at the bartender for a refill. It doesn’t seem to be enough, no matter how much I drink, it doesn’t seem to be enough. I can’t stop the pain that’s filling my chest, the hurt that’s lodged in my heart, and the sickness deep in my stomach.
They were my family once.
They just showed me how little I matter.
“You keep drinkin’ like that, and you’ll end up in trouble.”
I glance to my left, where the voice comes from and see Samson pulling out a stool and sitting down. I haven’t seen him yet, but I know what happened to him, everyone knows what happened to him. About his daughter, about Blanche, about his betrayal. Samson is the outcast, the dark horse, the man nobody trusts anymore.
I know the feeling.
“It’s good to see you, Avi,” he murmurs.
“Did they send you to find me?” I mutter, shooting down another shot.
Samson snorts. “You think they’d send me to do anything? They don’t trust me. I’m sittin’ on the sidelines right now. This is the only thing I do with my days now.”
He raises a hand, and the bartender places a glass of whiskey down without Samson even asking for it. I guess he does come here a lot if they know what he drinks. Samson nods to the man, and then looks back to me. “Why are you in here drownin’ your sorrows?”
I grunt. “I have nowhere else to go. The club doesn’t believe a god damned word I say and yet they want my help. That isn’t how it works, not for me, anyway.”
“My daughter is out there, with those monsters ...”
I look to him. “I’m sorry for that, I really am. This isn’t just about you, though. This is so much bigger.”
“As big as those scars?”
He nods to my arms where my shirt has ridden up to reveal deep, purple scars running up my inner arm. Scars that remind me every day of the moment where I couldn’t take it anymore, where I wanted to die. It was also the moment I decided to fight.
I jerk my shirt down and glare at him. “My life is none of your fucking business.”
“Then why are you here, Aviana? If you’re so fuckin’ angry, why are you here?”
“Because they need my help, and I want something in return ...”
“What might that be?”
“Cohen, his explanation, his reasoning as to why he killed my whole family and sent me away so nobody could find me.”
Samson glances at me. “You think Cohen has that kind of pull? He would have been doin’ as he was instructed. You’re aimin’ your anger at the wrong person. King is who you should be speakin’ to.”
“King isn’t the one who did it, Cohen is.”
“Cohen is part of a club, a club that deals with bad fuckin’ people. Your family, they’re bad fuckin’ people.”
I scowl at him. “Of course you’re going to defend the club, I shouldn’t expect any less.”
“Stop bein’ a fuckin’ brat and use your brain. I couldn’t give a fuck about you or anyone else right now, I just want my daughter back, and you’re the only fuckin’ person who knows where we can find her. Are you truly okay with seeking your own vengeance first, knowin’ she’s there with those monsters?”
No.
I’m not okay with that.
She’s an innocent girl, and the idea that she might be going through something awful, something I went through myself, is something I can’t fathom. It’s not something I’m comfortable with, especially when I know that I’m the only person who can save her from that.
I exhale and glance at Samson. “I’m not a fucking monster, I’m not like the rest of you. I’ll get her back, because I wouldn’t want anyone to suffer the way I did.”
Samson studies me. “What happened to you? You were fun-loving and happy, now you’re bitter and broken. Who hurt you?”
“Cohen,” I mutter. “Cohen hurt me.”
We both fall silent, and another drink is slid our way.
“Where is he, Aviana? Where is that piece of shit holding my little girl?”