Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 104329 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 522(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104329 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 522(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
“Let her go,” Carlos said. “She doesn’t need to be here.”
Raven wasn’t going to let him get hurt. She was going to stay right here with him. “Shut up, Carlos.”
“Oh, this woman has a little bite to her,” Paolo said. “I can see why she jumped the queue of becoming yours.”
She’d fought two men as they were attacked, but one of them had punched her across the face. Another had used a knife across her arm.
Her head hurt so fucking bad, and she felt … sick.
“I’m going to hurt her,” Paolo said. “I think I might make you watch. I’ve seen the way you look at her, and I know it is going to hurt you, and that will be a great reward for me.” Paolo giggled, and Raven saw him come into view. “Let me see, she has a pretty face. I think I should cut it. Mess it up real nice. I bet you will scream.”
Raven smiled at him, and Paolo frowned.
“Do you think I’m afraid of you?” she asked. This man had nothing on the others who’d hurt her in the past. Certainly not Creed. In comparison, this man was nothing more than a baby.
“You have no idea who you’re dealing with,” Paolo said.
“And you do?” Raven laughed. “You think you’re dealing with a woman who jumped the queue of acceptable women for your boss to marry. You’re fucking stupid. I’m Raven. I’m part of the Hell’s Bastards MC, and guess what, they know where I am, sucker.”
“You lie.”
“Shut up, Raven,” Carlos said.
“Go and find out, pretty boy,” Raven said. “Do your homework because you hurt me, you’re going to answer to the club, and I can’t wait to see what they do to you.”
She’d taken Paolo by surprise, and she watched as the amateur turned on his heel and left them alone. At least she had the upper hand right now. He hadn’t known she was MC. Her acting must be pretty good.
Raven tried to wriggle to get free from the confines of the rope. It was tight, and she felt like she was going to barf any minute.
“Damn it, Raven, why didn’t you run?” Carlos asked.
“Shut up. Are your hands tied?” She wanted to focus on getting them out of there. Raven didn’t know if Smokey got her call. If he knew they were in danger.
“Yes. They’re tied. Drago will come for us,” Carlos said.
“It’s not in my nature to … wait,” Raven said. She didn’t know how much time they would have left before Fiore came out. He was so fucking wet behind the ears, she wasn’t sure she could predict everything he’d do. There was no way she could let Carlos die.
Carlos chuckled. “You know, I figured we would have a little more time.”
She heard him groan.
“Carlos, what’s wrong?” she asked.
“Oh, it’s nothing. Let’s just say when I saw the guy hitting you, I went a little crazy. I think I’m bleeding out.”
Raven couldn’t see. “How bad?”
Carlos sighed. “Well, let’s put it this way, my shirt is covered in blood, and seeing as I can’t seem to have enough strength to move, I’d say it’s not looking good.”
“You can’t die.”
“I don’t want to die, Raven. Do you know how much I wanted to make you mine?” he asked.
Tears filled her eyes unexpectedly. She hated this. She didn’t know why she was always so close to tears.
Carlos couldn’t be dying. Not now.
“What?”
“Come on, Raven, from the first time you and I met, you must have known that I wanted you. You think I had an issue with you being a woman? I didn’t. I couldn’t believe how fucking beautiful you were, and your attitude. You were stunning.” He sighed. “I wanted you all to myself. You know, I was going to ask you if you wanted to make this … official.”
“Official?”
“Yeah, you being my wife for real. Us working together. I think we’d make one hell of a team.”
“I’m Hell’s Bastards, Carlos.”
“And I’m part of the Santiago outfit. Trust me, we’re not all perfect.”
She chuckled. He was … hurt. There was a chance he could die, and Raven didn’t want him to.
This wasn’t fair. He shouldn’t die. Not yet. Not for a long time. She didn’t even want to think about him not being around, touching her, talking with him.
Carlos was different.
He … mattered.
He doesn’t know you.
Not the real you.
“My name is Leah Raven Stoltz.” She hadn’t said that name in so long. Even saying it now seemed wrong. She had tried to forget, to shove the memory deep down.
“Raven?”
“For the first ten years of my life, I had the most amazing childhood. My parents were wonderful. My mom was a stay-at-home mom. She loved being that. My dad was in the military, so we did move around a lot, which was to be expected. They were so happy together. My mom loved him, and my dad loved my mom. The ultimate couple. I remember watching them growing up and knowing I was lucky to have them. On my tenth birthday, my mom got the news that my dad had died in active duty.”