Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 91161 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91161 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
“This is why I needed a biker,” I mumbled.
“What was that?” King asked.
“Nothing,” I said. Not realizing I’d said that last part out loud.
“No, you said that’s why you needed a biker. What the fuck exactly does that mean?”
“For protection!” I snapped. “You don’t know what it’s like out there on the streets. There is an Ed on every fucking corner just waiting for you to fall asleep or not pay attention or wander into the wrong alleyway. It’s not like it was my first choice, but I didn’t know what else to do. Nikki said there would be bikers at your party. That if one liked me that he could protect me.”
“You came to the party to whore yourself out to a biker?” He sounded angry and disappointed and for some stupid reason, I really hated the idea that I’d somehow disappointed him. Almost as much as I hated the fact that I’d disappointed myself.
Or her.
“Yes,” I answered honestly. “At least for a little while. But I realize now how stupid that idea was. That’s not what I want anymore.” I didn’t realize how embarrassed I was until I spoke the words out loud.
“At least, it all makes a lot more sense now. Here lean back,” King ordered.
I tilted my chin back and he supported my neck with one hand. He grabbed a cup off the floor and scooped up water, slowly pouring it over my hair.
“You killed your mom,” I whispered. As nice as the bath was, I was still completely unable to get a hold of my mouth and stop the words before they poured out like water from King’s cup.
“Fucking Preppy.” King shook his head. “He shouldn’t have said anything. It’s none of your fucking business,” he spat. I’d hit a nerve. “It’s none of anyone’s fucking business.” After a moment or two of silence, his breathing again evened out and the vein in his neck stopped pulsing. He finished rinsing my hair. “You know I was in prison then, yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you know how long I was locked up for?”
“Three years,” I said, recalling what Preppy had told me.
“Yeah, three years. You know anyone that gets three years for murder?”
I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before. It didn’t make any sense. I shook my head.
“There’s a lot more to that story. But, I’m not in a story-telling mood tonight.”
“But you killed Nikki,” I cursed myself for not being able to keep my trap shut. Much to my surprise, King laughed. An actual laugh as if I told a joke. I didn’t think the man was capable.
“No,” he countered. “I didn’t.”
“Yes, you did,” I argued. “I heard you tell Preppy you killed her. Why would you deny it?”
“Think about it. Did you actually hear me say that I killed her?”
He was right. I didn’t hear him say the actual words.
“I only said she was dead. I’m sorry, pup, but she is. I found her with a needle in her arm in a shitty motel a town over.”
King wiped a wayward tear from under my eye with the pad of his thumb.
“She shot you. Does she really deserve that tear?” He surprised me by sucking it off his thumb.
“She didn’t shoot me,” I defended. “She was trying to escape. She shot me by accident. She was aiming at you. She was desperate. We both were. Desperate people do desperate things.”
It was then I realized that I missed her. As fucked up as our relationship was, she was all I had.
And now she was gone.
“Pup, on purpose or not, the bitch shot you. To be honest, if I’d found her alive and she drew that gun again, she’d be dead now anyway.”
“My life seems to be a bunch of questions piled on top of a bunch of questions, and frankly, I’m ready to add some fucking answers into the mix before my brain explodes and leaks out of my ears.”
“How…graphic of you.”
“I’m serious. Why did you look for me? Why did you even bother bringing me back here?”
“When I let you go, it was a momentary lapse in judgment. The reason why I let you go doesn’t matter. The fact is that your friend is dead, and you still owe me. You’re my property, and you will be mine until I decide otherwise.”
He ran the washcloth down my legs and brushed over the wound on my foot. I cried out, and he scowled. “You’re pretty banged up.”
“I guess that’s what happens when you’re left in the woods to rot and then walk miles barefoot in the blazing sun,” I spat. I expected him to argue with me, fight with me, but he surprised me.
“I’m sorry about that. As I said, momentary lapse in judgment.”
“Did you just apologize to me?”
“No, I said I was sorry about having a momentary lapse in judgment. I didn’t say I was sorry to you.”
“How exactly am I supposed to pay you?” I asked hesitantly. “We’ve been through this. I don’t have anything to give you,” I sighed. “I don’t have anything at all.”
“In whatever way I want, pup.”
“What if I don’t want to be yours?”
King didn’t hesitate. “Then, I’ll let Preppy have his way with you. He may seem nice, but you’ll learn that kid is a sick fuck who will smash your back door in without warning. He likes it when they scream. He likes it when they’re passed out. He likes it even better when they say no. Or maybe, I’ll loan you out to Bear’s crew. I hear Harris and Mono have a fetish for knife play.”
There was no humor in his voice.
“But if you cooperate, you’ll be mine and mine alone. You’ll be under my protection. When I’m tired of you and I feel your debt has been paid, you will be free to go.”
“Protection,” I repeated. The very thing I’d been looking for. “What happens if you don’t get tired of me?”
King chuckled. “Oh, It will happen. Always does. But until then, you’ll do what I say. You’ll live in my house.” His eyes narrowed to the space between my legs. “You’ll sleep in my bed.”