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)
I pull out my phone, aggravated, and call Malakai.
“Koda, what’s goin’ on?”
I take a deep breath, because not only is he going to find out that I’ve been fuckin’ lying to him, but that I have been using Charlie and now she’s gone. I’m a fuckin’ terrible human, but I never meant to hurt anyone. I just wanted to do what Braxton deserved, and I knew if I told anyone, they’d pull me back. But, like everything, lies come out and burn people harder than the truth would, if I had just used it.
“Fucked up, Malakai. In a big way.”
He goes silent for a moment, then murmurs, “What have you done?”
“Charlie...she’s gone.”
“What?” he barks, and I don’t miss the anger and bitter disappointment in his voice.
He trusted me.
To look after her, to do the right thing.
And I fucked everyone over.
“She found out something, about me, and ran.”
“Want to tell me what she fuckin’ found out, so I can find her,” he grinds out.
Malakai has been like a brother to me since he let me join the club all those years ago. I was broken, and fucked up, and had no family left. He opened the doors to the family he’d created, and let me in. And I just fucked him over. I fucked him over because I’ve been lying to him, and he never deserved that. He’s never fuckin’ lied to me. Not once.
I take a frustrated breath and murmur, “She found out that I’ve known all along who she is, and she found out that her father, killed my brother, and that’s the reason I’ve wanted in on this from the beginning. She found out I’ve been lying. To everyone.”
Dead silence.
I’m not going to try and explain myself. There is no way to do that. Malakai can punish me however he sees fit, because he has that right.
They all do.
“What did you say?” he growls, voice low, and deep.
“I didn’t stutter, Malakai. You heard exactly what I said.”
“You mean to tell me, this whole time you knew exactly who Charlie was. You knew and you used her to get revenge for your brother?”
“That’s exactly what I did. Her father took Braxton’s life right in front of me, shot him in the fuckin’ head, and then left me in a locked room with him until he started to rot. You don’t get that shit out of your head, you do not fuckin’ live it down. So yeah, I knew who she was the moment I heard her name, and the moment I saw her face, because she looks a good deal like him. I didn’t tell anyone, because I knew you’d pull me back, and for Braxton, I had to end that motherfucker once and for all.”
“Fuck, Dakoda,” Malakai growls. “You fuckin’ lied to me, you lied to her, and now she’s out there in fuckin’ danger because of it. I feel for you, bro. I would want the same blood, but you should have fuckin’ told me. You owed me that much after everything we’ve been through.”
That hits me right in the gut, because he’s right. I do owe him that. He’s never let me down, and I just let him down in the biggest way possible.
“She’s gone, hopin’ she would come there,” I say, changing the subject, because right now finding Charlie is on the top of the list. “But she ain’t there, obviously.”
“No, she ain’t here. Fuck me, Koda. She could be anywhere. She’s unprotected. And unsafe. Fuck!”
“I’ll come there. Call Slater, if Shanks has her, he’ll know about it. We need to get her back, Malakai. Because that motherfucker won’t hesitate in killing her.”
Malakai makes a disappointed sound in his throat. “Fuckin’ let down by you, Koda. But I’ll deal with that later, right now, we need to get Charlie back.”
I hang up the phone without another word.
Because what else is there to say?
I let the fuckin’ girl down, but mostly, I let my club down.
And now she could very likely fuckin’ die.
Because of me.
And my stupid fuckin’ mistakes.
~*~*~*~
NOW – KODA
“Can’t get hold of Slater,” Malakai barks, pacing the room. “This is fuckin’ bad, fuck!”
His fists are clenched, and he’s pissed off. In a big way.
So is everyone else, judging by the filthy expressions I’ve gotten since they found out what I did.
They can take it out on me later, right now, I need to find Charlie and I need to do it quickly.
Scarlett and Amalie come through the front doors, panting and red. “We looked in all the places near the club that she might have gone. She isn’t there. I checked the ranch again, no one. Mason has gone up to the other cabin, he called five minutes ago and said she isn’t there, either. Which means he has her...he has her, all because of you!”