Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 74655 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 373(@200wpm)___ 299(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74655 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 373(@200wpm)___ 299(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
“Fully aware of that,” I mutter. “But I gotta get him safe. He fucked up, but he’s my brother. Family. Blood. Can you help me, or not?”
He stares at me, jaw tight, eyes intense. “Do the same for my brother, and frankly, I stay out of other people’s business. Just know, your brother has a lot of people after him.”
“Yeah,” I mutter.
“Big hits against his name.”
I jerk back. “What?”
“You didn’t know?”
I clench my jaw. “Please fuckin’ explain.”
“Man he fucked over. He don’t do his own dirty work. He puts hits out. Big ones. Lots of money. Enough to get the attention of desperate people out there, junkies, people who need money. All they gotta do is put a bullet in your brother’s head and bring him to him, and they’re walkin’ away with big cash. Two mil, last time I checked.”
Fuck.
Me.
Two. Million. Dollars.
That’s big. Fucking massive.
“Fuck,” I hiss, running my hands through my hair. “How fast can you work? Startin’ to think he’s not safe, even where he currently is.”
“Tell you somethin’, your brother ain’t safe anywhere in this state, hell, possibly this country.”
Fuck.
Dammit, Braxton.
“Can you help me?”
“You got cash. I’ll help.”
I pull out the right amount of cash, handing it to him. He counts it, one bill at a time. Then he takes all the paperwork he needs to give us a new identity.
“Give me two weeks.”
“I don’t have that fuckin’ long,” I bark, clenching my fists.
“Shit like this, shit that’s goin’ to pass through not only government agencies, but airports, borders, means I gotta fuckin’ do it right. It ain’t easy. It’s risky. Two weeks or nothing.”
Fuck.
“OK,” I growl. I don’t have a fucking choice. “Two weeks.”
“Come back here, two weeks exactly. I’ll have what you need.”
I nod, studying him once more. If he fucks me over, if he runs with my money, I won’t have time to do this again. He knows it. I know it. Both Braxton and I will be dead. The heat is fucking rising, and we’re starting to crumble under its pressure.
“Not goin’ to do a runner on you,” Jarod says, voice gruff. “You got enough problems, if you get away with this alive, I’ll be very fuckin’ surprised.”
Him and me both.
Yeah.
Him and me both.
~*~*~*~
NOW – KODA
One sip.
Then another.
Three quarters of a bottle of bourbon and my arm is still fucking hurting. I stare over at Charlie, who is sitting with Scarlett and Amalie, drinking and laughing. She looks so fucking beautiful, and my dick twitches just imagining how god damned much better she’d look beneath me. The things I’d do to put that girl beneath me.
But I can’t.
Because I’m too close to finally fucking finding the man who stole my brother’s life and took my soul with him.
“When are we goin’ to ask her if she knows anyone we can use?” I mutter, looking over to Malakai.
“When she’s less fuckin’ traumatized. Big night, big day, let her breathe.”
“We got two men who have given us fuck-all, except they knew about the hit and found her number. Not goin’ to be hard for others to find her. Anyone can be found with the right person lookin’. Even the well-hidden ones. Trust me on that. We gotta move soon, or we’re goin’ to end up with a very dead girl and a fuck load of danger for the club.”
Malakai’s eyes flash with rage. “I fuckin’ know that, Dakoda. But I also know that girl needs five fuckin’ minutes to process. First light, I’ll talk to her, ask the question, get the ball rollin’. You need to back down. She had your back tonight, ‘bout time you started havin’ hers.”
“Not my fuckin’ job to have her back,” I seethe.
“Anyone tell you you’re bein’ a fuckin’ dick lately?” Maverick asks, glaring at me. “Know you’re not usually like this, Koda. Whatever it is that this case is stirrin’ up, you need to lock it down before shit starts gettin’ out of hand. That girl has done a fuckin’ lot for us. We’re not goin’ to risk her life without first makin’ sure we’ve got all our bases covered.”
I grit my teeth, but I know they’re right. I know it, but I fucking hate it. I don’t want to see Charlie end up in danger, fuck, I’m not that much of an asshole, but I also don’t want to see that piece of shit that she has as a father walk once again without suffering slowly for what he’s done to other people. Monsters like that deserve to die in the most painful way.
And I’m going to make sure that happens.
One way or another.
“You got something against her father we don’t know about?” Malakai asks me.
Hate lying to him, more than anyone in the world. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be where I am now. I wouldn’t have the club. I wouldn’t have family. I wouldn’t have been able to pick myself up off the ground and recover after I lost Braxton. For that, I’ll be forever grateful to him for giving me a chance.