Total pages in book: 37
Estimated words: 34939 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 175(@200wpm)___ 140(@250wpm)___ 116(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34939 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 175(@200wpm)___ 140(@250wpm)___ 116(@300wpm)
Oh, God! What was I doing? Running from Mick and Caleb had been pure instinct on my part. I’d watched them brutally kill the other women in the house with me. We’d both done as we were told and tried to please the two men. It wasn’t like we’d disobeyed. I’d belonged to Milo since I was a young teen. He’d taken me off the street and offered me a better life. I’d always known I was property to pass around at Milo’s whim, but there were rules. I knew that, if I wanted to continue my comfortable life, I had to obey the rules. The most important rule was never to run from Milo.
I’d seen what happened to a few of the girls who ran, and it was never pretty. Yet, when Caleb and Mick beaten the other woman to death while they’d fucked her, I’d panicked. I was used to violence, but never so close to me and never directed at me. I was obedient and good at pleasing the men or women Milo had given me to because I knew it was what I had to do to repay Milo’s kindness in taking me in. I saw to it Milo’s friends had a good time and in return Milo let me live in relative luxury.
Until three weeks ago. Until I saw something I shouldn’t have.
“I--I can’t… breathe…” My breath came in harsh gasps and my stomach heaved. Standing, I turned and sprinted for the bathroom, skidding to a halt on my knees in front of the toilet where I vomited violently. There wasn’t really anything in my stomach to lose except the water I’d been given and some foul-smelling bile.
Tears streamed down my face both from fear and the violence with which I vomited. When I collapsed back on my ass, someone flushed the toilet and handed me a wet washcloth. Another person held my hair back and handed me a glass of water. I rinsed my mouth and spat it out in the toilet before flushing it again.
“I’m dead. Milo would’ve killed me for running, but running to an MC? He’ll make me die hard.”
“Nobody’s gonna hurt you, girl.” I turned my head to find Eagle giving me a steady gaze as he brushed hair off my face. The dark strands were grungy and damp where I hadn’t washed it in the shower, but the spray had hit me.
“N-no one l-leaves Milo.” My voice came out a strangled whisper. “No one.”
“Tell me who Milo is, Nyla.” Eagle’s voice was soft and coaxing even as it was commanding.
“He’s a monster.”
“Do you know his full name?”
I shook my head. “Just Milo. But everyone is afraid of him. I’m afraid of him.” Eagle clenched his jaw, and I knew he was upset. Probably thought I couldn’t give him the information he wanted. “If I knew his name or even any other name he goes by, I’d tell you. He’s the last person I want to find me right now, and the last person you want to get mixed up with. I’ve heard them say everyone watches him because if he’s coming for them, they want enough time to kill themselves before he can catch them.”
“Who’s everyone?” Eagle took the cloth from me and wiped my face gently.
“Everyone I’ve ever met. Even the guys who are rich and powerful. The men he gave me to for whatever reason. Milo owns them. I’m part of the reason he owns some of them, but there is always someone moving up in his ranks. Some of his girls like it. Some don’t. But there are a few who thrive on it. The power they think it gives them with Milo.”
“Where does he operate? Not in Evansville.”
“No. He’s mostly in New York. Sometimes he comes to Chicago.”
“How did you end up here?” Eagle continued to question me. Though his expression bordered on furious, his fingers were gentle when they brushed a lock of hair off my face or wiped sweat from my forehead. He never raised his voice or swore. Not at all like the men I was used to being around.
“I-I got in trouble.” I held back any tears of despair wanting to break free. Crying never fixed anything. Though I felt hopeless and like death was inevitable, I wasn’t going to just roll over and take it. That’s not how I’d survived all this time. Well, not really. I did what I was told, but I fought in my own way. Mostly just telling myself I did what I had to to stay alive. I’d hoped one day I’d have the opportunity to escape, but I think I’d given up on it ever coming. “I was somewhere I wasn’t supposed to be and heard something I shouldn’t have.”
“Makes sense.” Blaze leaned against the doorway his arms crossed over his chest. “Them idiots out there said they were supposed to show her what happened to whores who couldn’t keep their mouths shut.”