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)
“And give you a chance to escape or call in reinforcements?” Lemon chuckled. “Not bloody likely. They don’t do it, Iron Tzars will take all y’all out.”
“That’s enough, Lemon.” Sting’s voice was hard this time. There was no indulgence like there usually was. He was all the president of Iron Tzars now. “You don’t make those decisions for the club, and you know it.”
Lemon bared her teeth at Hammer. I could just imagine the thoughts running through her head. As if she’d read my mind, she amended her statement. “If Iron Tzars won’t, I will. And before you doubt I have the ability, I’ll remind you what happens when you underestimate me.”
“Now’s not the time, Lemon,” Wylde said softly. “You’ll get your turn.”
“I fuckin’ better.” Lemon moved to stand directly at my side. She took my hand, but not before whipping out a wicked-looking serrated knife from a sheath at the small of her back. She didn’t raise it in a threatening manner. Just let it rest at her side at the ready.
“Fuck.” That came from Deacon of all people. I glanced at the other man and he just grinned. “Glad I picked the docile sister.”
I thought his comment would break the tension, but it didn’t. Rocket shook his head addressing me directly.
“What happened, Scarlet? How did Lemon save your life that night?”
This was so fucking hard. Harder than I thought it would be. Harder than standing up to my dad and being so angry with the one person in the world who I’d trusted to protect me before I’d met Mars. “He said if I tried to run or to contact Claw, that he had people inside Grim Road he’d order to hurt Sunshine and Rainbow. At first I thought I could last until we came back to Florida. But as the weeks and months went on, I doubted myself.”
“What do you mean you doubted yourself?”
“That I could last that long.” I took a breath, trying to get myself back under control. In a way, my temper redlining was good. I got rid of some toxic shit I hadn’t realized I’d held inside. I felt like I could breathe easier. “Hammer never took it far enough that I was afraid for my life. He seemed to want to torture me, though I had no idea why. He beat me down both mentally and physically until I knew I had to escape. But I wasn’t about to sacrifice my sisters for my own safety.”
Rocket paled and his gaze snapped to Claw who looked even more upset than before. Claw shook his head while Rocket’s jaw clenched, the sides bulging almost convulsively.
“No, Scarlet. Just… no!” Claw looked like he was on the verge of a breakdown. Sweat beaded his forehead and I could see the pulse beating like mad in his neck.
“Yes, Dad.” I nearly spat the word. I loved my father, had thought he loved me, and I wasn’t entirely convinced Claw didn’t love me. “In order to save my sisters, I took the only way out I had available. I tried to kill myself. I’d been preparing for a couple of weeks but hadn’t gotten to that point. I had the rope behind the house in the corner of the yard already tied to the perfect branch in a perfect fucking tree. The last time Hammer beat me was my tipping point. Was it a weak moment for me? Maybe. But I had Lemon and Apple wanting me to come to the Tzars compound with them and the thought was just too tempting. To be able to sleep at night and not worry about Hammer coming into my room in a drunken rage to hit me? To have people who cared about what happened to me and be willing to protect me? I knew I’d give in and when I did, I was thoroughly convinced I’d condemn Sunshine and Rainbow to death. Or worse. To a life of what I’d been suffering.”
Once I’d started, all I could do was continue. I laid it all out there with a starkness I hadn’t really intended on relaying. But it was how I felt. If I were honest, I wanted to see Claw’s reaction. I wanted to see if it would hurt him. Maybe that made me petty and a bad person, but I didn’t care. If he’d tried to talk to me, even once, I’d have told him to come get me and I thought he would have. At least, I had thought so at the time. I guess I just needed to hear from him why he hadn’t tried to force Hammer to let me speak with him.
Claw stumbled toward me. He tried to pull me into his arms, but I wasn’t sure I was ready. Thankfully, Mars was right there. The second I took one step back he pushed his way in front of me to keep my father away from me. I wasn’t ready to forgive him yet. Claw growled at Mars, and I thought my father was going to plow his way through him, but Mars stood his ground and shook his head.