Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 79079 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 395(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79079 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 395(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
“Fuck. I’m sorry, Parker.”
He set me down and backed away.
“I’m so fucking sorry.”
“Wait.” I reached for him. He’d caught me by surprise, that was all. “Shane!”
“Go pack. Mason will be here in twenty minutes.” He opened the door and looked back at me. “Goodbye.”
“Shane!”
I ran for the door but it was too late. He was on his motorcycle and pulling out. Gravel flew in the air as he sped down the long driveway.
I had my fingers on my mouth. I could still feel him. I could taste him. Smell him. I groaned and hugged myself, wishing he was still here. Wishing I hadn’t panicked and scared him off.
Wishing I wasn’t so damaged.
But you are damaged goods, Parker. You always will be.
Shane had it backward. He thought he wasn’t good enough for me. But he was wrong. I wasn’t good enough for him.
What kind of woman froze up when the man she wanted more than anything had her in his arms? After so much time, he had given in to the unspoken thing happening between us. And I had ruined it.
Possibly forever.
Tears were streaming down my face as I went back inside and packed my bags.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Shane
Dawn was just beginning to light up the sky as I rode into the charming seaside town where Parker had grown up. I passed rows of neat suburban houses, neatly manicured lawns, and brightly colored gardens. It was a town made up of brick-front stores, including an old-fashioned ice cream shop and a movie theater that looked like it had been there a hundred years. It was still running, from the looks of it.
Her street was the nicest in town, with the biggest houses. Old houses, but fixed up so they were like new. The street was not far from the beach but elevated, so most of the houses most likely had a sea view. I pulled over down the block from her stepfather’s house and sat there, smoking a cigar.
I watched the house as the neighborhood came to life. I was partially hidden by some overgrown bushes, but I knew I would eventually attract attention. I didn’t need much time.
Someone else had already done the recon. Remotely, but still. I was more than prepared.
Cain’s team had gotten me information I didn’t even know I needed. For example, I knew that Parker’s mother had an open house today so she would be out of the house between ten and three. I also knew that her stepfather worked from home on Thursdays and Fridays, so he would be here.
Alone.
Must be nice, I thought, flexing my knuckles. I had a knife in one pocket and a gun in a holster under my jacket. I’d though about leaving it behind. I knew it would make me much more likely to pull the trigger.
Then again, I was already about to break a dozen laws, so what was the difference? He deserved it and worse, and that was the truth. But the gun would be too quick. He deserved to suffer as much as possible.
Don’t kill him, Shane. Parker won’t like it.
I watched as the mother left. She was pretty, though not nearly as lovely as her daughter. She looked high-maintenance, from her high heels and coifed hair to her matching handbag and designer sweater set. But nothing about her made me think she would willingly throw her own daughter to the wolves.
Then again, most monsters didn’t really look like monsters, did they? Even Dante had been handsome. And Smith looked like somebody’s uncle. A good guy to go fishing with.
I pulled the bike around the block and got it off the road. I rolled it into a large undeveloped wooded area that backed their property. I walked through the trees like a machine, looking for blood, ready to tear him apart.
I smiled coldly as I stepped onto the property. The backyard was surrounded by high shrubs. The kind that kept the neighbors from peeking at you in your swimming pool.
It was also the kind that kept your neighbors from calling the cops when a dirtbag biker broke in and roughed you up for molesting your stepdaughter.
I grinned wider. I was just the dirtbag to do it.
I walked unerringly to the kitchen door. Cain had told me where he would enter, with Hunter and Vice throwing in their own suggestions to the mix. I knew what kind of locks they had and how to open them. I even knew the layout of the house.
Cain was nothing if not thorough.
I tore out the phone lines and turned on the cellphone jammer before I jimmied the lock. Cain had already remotely disabled the security system, even though it was highly illegal. We all knew that the guy wouldn’t report the incident. Because then he might have to explain why someone broke in, smashed his face, and took nothing.