Total pages in book: 43
Estimated words: 40524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 203(@200wpm)___ 162(@250wpm)___ 135(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 40524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 203(@200wpm)___ 162(@250wpm)___ 135(@300wpm)
“I will. I’ll have them leave everything outside your door. That way she won’t be disturbed.”
“Text me when you’re ready to go for the X-ray.”
“Will do.”
As I took her to my room in the clubhouse, I murmured to her, rubbing her back with one hand as we went. “I promise I’ll be with you, Scarlet. I won’t let you out of my sight for any reason.”
She didn’t answer and I could feel her body trembling. Dampness bled through my shirt and I knew she was crying.
So help me God, if it was the last thing I did, I was gonna murder that fucking fuck stick, Hammer. In unspeakable ways.
“Baby, I swear to you, Hammer’s gonna endure every single thing he ever did to you. That’s how he’s gonna die. What he did to you will be done to him three times over because he’s three times your size.”
“You don’t --”
“Hush, baby. I know I don’t have to. But I’m gonna. He’s gonna bleed. Then he’s gonna die. Hard.”
She didn’t say anything else until we stepped inside my room and I shut the door. Then she pulled back slightly to look at me.
“All right.”
“All right?”
“Make him die hard, Mars. Hard as you can.”
“I promise. I’ll do it with my bare hands.”
Chapter Seven
Scarlet
Sting didn’t hear back from my father. Not in the week I’d been with Mars in the Iron Tzars compound. It was surprising, as well as painful as hell. The longer things went on, the more I was convinced Claw had known exactly what was happening and didn’t care. I was starting to question my whole life to this point. Thank God, the X-ray Stitches had taken didn’t show any broken ribs or a punctured lung. It was one of the few things that had gone right, it seemed.
The only thing holding me together was Mars. The man hadn’t left my side and I was growing entirely too dependent on him. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. At first, he’d treated me like he was afraid I’d break at the drop of a hat. But as the days went by, my injuries healed and I grew more comfortable around everyone in the compound. Lemon and Apple were also not far from me most of the time. Only when they had to go to school, and they always made a point to come find me when they got home. Sting had decided it best I stay at the compound until they found Hammer and took care of him, and I agreed. After experiencing what it was like to truly be cared for by a man, I knew I’d die if Hammer took me back. Literally.
“How you doin’, honey?”
Mars came up behind me where I stood at the bar in the clubhouse. He dropped a kiss on my neck, which made me shiver. He’d been doing things like that a lot this past week. It was driving me crazy but in a very good way.
“Better now that you’re here distracting me.” I looked up at him and smiled. “Pretty sure I’m not old enough to be here, though.”
He chuckled warmly. “You ain’t drinkin’. Besides, this is private property. You’re eighteen and under my protection. I say you can do whatever the fuck you want. Given everything you’ve been through, no one is gonna give a fuck if you want a drink.”
I grinned, grateful for Mars’ protectiveness. “I don’t want a drink,” I said. “I just want to be close to you.”
“Close to me, huh?” he said, smirking. “I can do that.”
He wrapped his arms around me from behind and pulled me against him, and I sighed happily. I clung to the arm wrapped over my chest. “Thank you for staying with me. I know I’m probably cramping your style, but I want you to know how comforting it is to know you’re looking out for me.”
“Glad to do it. Besides, ain’t no one around here smells as good as you.” As if to emphasize his point, Mars buried his nose in my neck and inhaled. “Delicious…”
I giggled. Which made him root closer. Which tickled like a mother. It wasn’t long before I was howling with laughter and trying to get away from the way he tickled my neck with his beard.
“If you two want to play grab-ass, I suggest you get a room.”
I jumped and tried to push Mars away, but he held firm, not taking his face from my neck. “Go to hell, Wylde. Ain’t doin’ nothin’ you and Danica don’t do.”
“Never said you were.” Wylde had a big grin on his face, but it didn’t seem to quite reach his eyes like normal. Wylde was the quirkiest guy I’d ever met. He was so much like Lemon it was a wonder Apple and their older sister, Danica, hadn’t killed him yet. I absolutely loved him. “Lemon was lookin’ for you, darlin’.” He nodded at me. “Said she needed help with…” He shrugged, still grinning like he couldn’t be bothered to know what Lemon really wanted. “Somethin’. She’s upstairs in the media room. Maybe it was a movie or something. Ain’t Fortnite. She’s not allowed to play.” Wylde was definitely up to something. And he wasn’t trying all that hard to hide it.