Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 86230 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86230 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
No one spoke during the long drive. Otto was too busy navigating the treacherous road, and Max was lost in his thoughts while I was too cold, fatigued, and numb with fear. I hadn’t slept or eaten properly since Max showed up on my doorstep three nights earlier, and it was all catching up with me.
Nothing I said now was going to make a difference anyway.
I had betrayed Max, and I was going to pay.
As I stared out the window, I contemplated opening the door and taking my chances. But Otto was driving too fast, and even if I did survive the fall, I would be dead from hypothermia by daylight.
After what seemed like hours, we finally made it to the Inferno compound just as dawn was breaching the treetops. Nestled deep in the mountainside, it was like an army barracks, with men in camouflage clothing and guns in their hands patrolling the grounds.
Pulling up, Otto and my father hustled me into a building near a water tower. It was dusty and unused with a bed in the corner and dirty curtains hanging at the window. It smelled musty and damp with a hint of cannabis lingering in the air.
Max switched on a lamp, and I squinted, my eyes slowly adjusting to the light.
“What is this place?” I asked, feeling sick with fear. I was shaking from the cold and trembling with apprehension.
“This is the furthermost point from the clubhouse. It’s where the wives come to give birth.” Max turned and gave me a look that sent terror down my spine. “No one can hear you scream from here.”
Instead of giving him the satisfaction of seeing my fear, I raised my chin and braced myself. “What am I doing here?”
Max stepped in front of me. “I’m giving you a choice, Tiger Lily. Our club is without a medic, thanks to you and your misplaced loyalty, so I’m going to make you an offer that is in your very best interests to accept. It’s a simple offer. Stay and be our medic, and I won’t hunt Doc down and kill him slowly. We’ll move on from this situation. Forget about your treason and put the past behind us. Or…” he paused for dramatic effect, his eyes cold, his face hard. “… you can leave, and I will hunt Doc down and make sure he pays for refusing my hospitality. And I promise you, it will be a slow and painful death, one I’m sure you’ll be able to hear from the comfort of your charming little cottage in Maiden Forks. Hell, I might even make sure you’re here to watch it.”
Across the room, Otto snickered.
“Then you’d still be without a medic,” I said, refusing to let him see my fear.
He smirked evilly. “True, but my lust for retribution will be quenched.” His hard eyes were void of any warmth. “So what will it be, Tiger Lily? Are you going to stay and play nice, or am I going hunting tonight?”
I could barely swallow. “You won’t be able to get to him. He’s with his Kings.”
“I got him once. I can get him again. Question is… are you prepared to risk it?”
I wasn’t.
At least if I accepted Max’s offer, I would buy myself some time to work my way out of this hellhole.
“I’ll stay.” I almost choked on the words, but what choice did I have? “I’ll be your medic.”
A slow, satisfied smile spread across Max’s face, and at that moment, I hated him more than I’d ever hated another human being in my entire life.
He lifted his arms to gesture around us. “This is where you belong. And this is where you’ll stay until I’m absolutely certain you realize it.” He let his arms drop. “My blood is your blood, Tiger Lily, don’t you forget it.”
My hate bubbled to the surface, and I used it to desperately hold my tears at bay. “That means nothing. Not anymore.”
But if I thought my agreement to stay had brought me some kind of leniency from Max, then I was wrong. He grabbed me by the arm. “You belong to the Inferno. You’d do best to remember that.”
“I belong to no one.”
His cold, evil eyes fixed hard on mine. “And that’s where you’re wrong.” He turned to Otto and said the words I’d never forget. “Teach her a lesson. Remind her who she belongs to.”
Then, despite my pleas for mercy, my father walked away.
He walked away as Otto—my one-time lover—ripped the clothes from my body and forced himself onto me, taking what wasn’t his to take and inflicting his revenge on me for leaving him behind all those years ago.
I passed out before it was over, and when I woke up, by the grace of God, I was alone.
Bright afternoon sunlight filtered through the ratty curtains and held me in a catatonic trance. I was naked on the bed, my legs dangling over the edge.