Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 69875 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69875 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
“Bullet shattered. This was stuck in yer arm.” The corner of his mouth tilts upward. “Brave girl.” He turns and walks out as if he’s just told me the weather is lovely today. They’re so used to guns and violence it’s no surprise we’ve just been shot at. But I have a feeling the target was me, not Monster.
Monster and Rebel turn their attention on me, but it’s Monster who speaks, “You need to come clean.”
My mouth falls open in shock. “What?” I squeak, and I wonder what the hell they want me to tell them.
“Monster!” A woman shouts his name, and I pray he’ll leave me be.
Sully returns with bandages and a first aid kit. The man looks at me, then Monster, and I can tell he’s noticed the air in the room is charged with something dangerous. I have no doubt that the President of the MC will lose his mind when he learns the truth.
“Later,” Monster tells me before walking out, leaving me with Sully.
There will be questions about why someone would be targeting me. All I wanted was to move on from my past life. Father Donahue is dead, and I have nobody else to lean on. Being with the club will provide safety, up until the day they find out who I really am.
“Hey,” Sully says, capturing my attention. “Don’t let him get to you. Monster may come across as a bastard, but he’s a goodun,” he tells me. “He won’t kick you out on the streets if he knows you’re in danger.”
I stare at him for a long while. I’m unsure of what to say. I wish it could be different, that I didn’t have to lie to them. But it’s the only way I know I’ll survive this. Getting out of here isn’t going to work, not until I know for sure my father is dead. By then, Mum should have returned—she has to come back. Then I can head back to London and try to start a new life.
“I just don’t want to be a bother,” I tell Sully. “I’m only going to bring trouble down on the club, and that’s the last thing I would ever want.”
“Once you’re in,” Sully says then, “you can’t leave.”
“What if I don’t belong?” I ask.
It doesn’t go unnoticed how broken I sound, how scared I am. I don’t want to talk any more. If I do, I may give away the fact I’m holding a secret, a dark and dirty one.
“Nobody belongs in the club,” Sully informs me gently. “We’re all just broken pieces fitting together. We make up a family, not by blood, but by loyalty. The code of the Royal Bastards runs deep.”
“I just don’t think I’m part of that family, that connection you guys have,” I say, shaking my head as my words falter for a moment. “I’m not a part of it.” I lower my head, focusing on the floor instead of the intense stare Sully is currently giving me.
His tender fingertips touch my chin, lifting my gaze to meet his. “You may think you’re not part of the family or the club, but you are. You were the moment Monster allowed you into the house. When he agreed to let you work at the bar. Don’t let his gruffness get to you,” he tells me with a small smile curling his lips. “He’s like that with everyone.”
“I suppose so,” I finally whisper. But I don’t tell him the real reason I feel so nervous, so scared of the man who runs the club. I can’t. “We better get back in there,” I say, pushing to my feet.
Wincing at the pain radiating through my arm, Sully places his hand on my lower back and leads me out into the main area of the club.
We find the rest of the brothers surrounding Monster, who looks like he’s raging. I don’t at all want to be a part of it, but Sully doesn’t let me go. Instead, he leads me right into the foray, and I’m suddenly the centre of attention.
Monster is the one who speaks first. “Who was that?” He gestures with his chin towards the door. “Who was tryin’ to kill ye?”
There’s no doubt in my mind it’s my father’s men, but I can’t tell Monster the truth. Patrick’s men know who I am, and they know he wanted me dead once he got the information out of me. Even though I couldn’t give him much, I don’t think they’ll let me live.
I shrug. “I don’t know.”
“Don’t lie to me,” Monster growls as he takes a few steps towards me.
The rest of the men watch intently. The music hasn’t stopped, the show is still going on, and the clientele are focused on the women rather than the altercation happening right behind them.