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)
“Miren,” she calls, ignoring me. But the flinch I noticed on her face as I spoke confirms she heard every word. “I hope that your life is free and happy now. You’ll thank me when you learn the truth. I did it all for you. Patrick will never come for you again.”
“Who is he going after?” Miren is in her mother’s face, leaning in as they glare at each other. “Tell me.”
“You’ll see.”
“Lies right up until the end. Goodbye,” Miren tells her as the cars pull up.
I’m sure they’ve brought the whole feckin’ force as they rush into the hangar. Jones, our contact at the Yard, offers me a nod, and I take Miren, and we leave. I still need to find Patrick.
But for now, it’s time to go home.
TWENTY-ONE
MIREN
When the plane lands, Monster’s phone starts beeping wildly. He pulls it from his pocket and taps at the screen. Rebel, Racer, and I walk on, but Monster stops, and it’s only when he doesn’t reply to Rebel do we notice he’s behind us.
“Fuck,” he curses as he looks up at us. “That’s why Sinéad flew back to London. She knew we’d come to intercept her flight. It was all a set-up.”
His fingers tighten around his phone until his knuckles turn white. I’m sure he’s about to snap the phone in half.
“What are you talking about, boyo?” Rebel questions, as confused as the rest of us.
“Patrick tried to get into the compound. He’s in Belfast. And he’s after the club.”
There’s no time to delay. We make our way out of the airport to find Sully waiting. A breath of relief escapes my lips when I see him. I don’t know if the others are safe, but so far, all we can do is hope.
The moment we’re in the van, Sully takes off. “There was an attack on the clubhouse. Everyone is alive, but the place is a mess. I think there’s more to it than just Patrick trying his luck on our home, though.”
“What makes you say that?” Monster questions.
He’s in the front seat beside Sully, while Rebel, Racer, and I are in the back, listening to the conversation.
“He left a note. It’s so fuckin’ cliché, but he said he wants the girl.”
“Me?” I squeak, surprised.
I know my father would need me if he wanted to take over the organisation, but he’ll need me dead. And I don’t want to die.
“No, actually,” Sully says, glancing in the rear view mirror. “He wants Calli,” he informs us, but that makes even less sense.
The more I try to work out what she could mean to Patrick, I can’t come up with a solution. She’s never mentioned him before, not even when the men were looking for him. When Tye spoke about having to investigate Bragan, it was no secret who the Royal Bastards were after.
“Did he say why?” Rebel asks, his tone flat, uncaring, but his eyes tell a different story.
Even though he’s not looking at me, I’m pretty sure he’s burning a hole through the back of my head.
“No reason. He just said we need to have her go to him before seven tomorrow morning. Once he has her, he’ll leave us be.”
“She can’t go,” I pipe up. I haven’t known her for that long, but she’s become a friend to me. She was one of the first people to accept me into the club, into the family. “Monster?”
“Aye,” he says. “Miren is right. We need to bring Patrick closer, lure him into a false sense of security, and then we can bring him down. With Sinéad and him out of the picture, perhaps we can finally stop lookin’ over our shoulders.”
My stomach twists with anxiety when I think about all the heartache my family have brought on these people. And now one of my best friends is being targeted by my father. I never knew I could be capable of hate, but right now I do hate him.
We pull into the grounds of the clubhouse, and I’m out of the van before I can rethink my actions. I race into the house and up the stairs. I don’t find Callia in her room. Panic sets in. I hope she hasn’t gone to him already. Maybe she went to see him and ask him to reconsider.
No.
She couldn’t have.
When I reach my bedroom, I find Lia on my bed, and I sigh with relief. “Fuck,” I curse. “I thought you went to him.”
She races into my arms, and her long blonde hair gets tangled in my fingers as I hold her close. But then, she suddenly says, “I couldn’t leave without saying goodbye.”
I pull away and look at her. My hands holding onto her upper arms. “What? No. You can’t go with him. He’s the fucking devil. He’s going to kill you.”
“No,” she says while shaking her head. “He’s not going to hurt me. I don’t know what he wants from me, but he’s not going to kill me.” Her words are confident, as if her explanation makes sense. It doesn’t.