Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 74022 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 370(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74022 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 370(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
“When will we hear if Penny is going to be okay?” I ask.
“Mason said they’re about to find out, and he’ll call me soon.”
I hang my head.
How is this happening?
Why is this happening?
“It’ll be okay, Chan, she’s strong.”
“This has just gone from bad to worse,” I say, rubbing a hand down my face.
“Yeah, it has, but we’ll get through it. The club always does.”
“Do you think Boston is okay?”
I look up at her, my eyes holding hers. She shrugs. “I honestly don’t know, honey.”
“Do you think ... he killed Ashton?”
Saskia shrugs again, her eyes concerned. “I don’t know, but the fact that Mason wouldn’t say it over the phone makes me wonder why. Maybe he just messed him up real bad, but ... for Boston to go missing ...”
God.
Poor Boston.
He’s been fighting so hard to protect Penny and I, that he’s found himself sinking into a pit of more despair, when he’s already endured enough. I want to find him, to go to him, to see if he’s okay, but I don’t know if that’s the right thing at the moment.
If he killed a man ... in cold blood ... would that honestly be a deal breaker for me?
I shake my head. No. Not if he was protecting someone he cared about. Boston isn’t a monster, I know that and I believe in that so entirely, that I don’t even second guess it. He’d never hurt someone, unless he had a reason to. And he’d never be so cold as to do something without cause.
I just hope he’s okay.
I hope Penny is okay.
God, I hope we’re all going to be okay.
~*~*~*~
CHANTELLE – TWO DAYS LATER
I’m sitting at the club with Saskia, Scarlett and Charlie when the boys arrive back from a ride. None of us asked what the ride was for, but we all figured it had something to do with Ashton, and making sure none of what happened came back to bite anyone here. Especially Boston.
He’s still gone.
Nobody has seen him.
Saskia told me Penny is out of the hospital, and staying with Malakai and Amalie. That she’s okay, but she’s shaken up still and doesn’t want to be bothered too much. I won’t go and see her, because I don’t want to push her. She’s been through enough.
After all, Boston did beat her ex-husband to death in front of her.
Everyone knows it, but nobody is talking about it.
Malakai walks in, and his eyes come straight to mine. “Can we have a word, Chantelle?”
I glance at Saskia and Scarlett, who both look to Malakai.
“I guess,” I say, standing.
I’m sore all over, and bruised up pretty bad. Half my face is swollen and puffy. But we went to the hospital and got checked out, and everything seemed to be okay, so that made me feel a little better. I told them it was a drunken bar fight, with a girl I didn’t know, and while I’m sure they didn’t believe me, they couldn’t argue it.
I slowly follow Malakai down the hall and into his office, where we step in and he closes the door. This must be serious, if he’s pulling me away from everyone else to tell me whatever it is he’s about to tell me.
“Is everything okay?”
He leans against his desk and holds my eyes, “It’s Boston.”
My heart feels like it launches into my throat, and for a moment, I can’t breathe. Has he gone and done something stupid? Is he okay?
“Is he okay?” I say quickly.
“No. He’s not. He’s fucked up. In a big way. Went to his house today, he’s there, and he was out of it. Drunk as fifty men, and vacant. Completely detached.”
Oh God.
“Penelope is refusing to see him, she’s made it clear she doesn’t want to be with him, and that what she saw was too much for her. She has that right, and has said she will talk to him, but she needs time to recover. Respect that. But it’s only made him feel worse. He’s shutting down, and fuck, I don’t want to see him do that again.”
Penelope wants nothing to do with him?
I’m surprised by this. I mean, don’t get me wrong, what he did ... it’s scary and over the top, and crazy, even, but he’s not a monster. He’s not.
“How am I supposed to help?” I ask, confused.
“I think you might be the only person who can get through to him. Nobody else can even get a word. He fuckin’ needs someone, Chantelle, and I think that someone is you.”
“You want me to go to him?”
I’m surprised.
I didn’t know they held me at such a high regard in his life.
“Yeah, I want you to go to him. Because I think he needs you, darlin’. He needs you fuckin’ bad.”
My heart aches for him.
“Of course,” I say. “I’ll try, but I can’t promise that you’re right on this Malakai, he may not want to see me ...”