Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 76381 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76381 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Separated from his brother and desperate, Riff takes refuge in a shed on the property. Where he finds Vienna—starved, cold, and chained to the floor.
Determined to save her, Riff helps Vienna escape, and together they endure the wilderness until Raff can find and rescue them.
On the road trip back to Shady Valley, Vienna is scared and shy, haunted by her traumatic ordeal. Yet, despite her fears, she finds unexpected comfort and safety in Riff’s presence. His protective nature and gentle reassurance begin to break through her walls, offering her a glimpse of hope amidst the chaos.
Back in Shady Valley, as Vienna begins to heal, a powerful connection forms between her and the man who rescued her, igniting a passion the two of them never expected.
But danger looms large, as the man who held Vienna captive is still out there, determined to reclaim what he believes is his…
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
CHAPTER ONE
Riff
I always thought, when I was a kid running a strip of masking tape down the center of a shared bedroom to keep my brother’s shit on his side that one day, I’d get a room of my own.
“I’m just saying, it would have been the brotherly thing to do,” Raff said from the queen-sized bed situated just three feet away from the one I was perched on.
“I had no interest in walking around this Bumfuck, Nowhere town for three hours while you fucked some random woman on my bed as well as your own.”
“Hey, her friend was willing to take a walk into the woods with you,” Raff said. “A good, solid fuck against a tree is the kind of stress relief you could use before another job,” he added.
“Her friend was sporting an engagement ring and Bride to Be sash,” I reminded him.
“Mr. Moral over here,” Raff said, never afraid to get into sticky situations with women. But being a part of someone cheating on the eve of their wedding was probably a little too immoral even for my brother.
“We have to get going early tomorrow,” I reminded him. “It would be nice if I didn’t have to wake you up when we got there,” said.
“We better be getting a break when we get back to Shady Valley,” Raff said, speaking aloud the sentiment I felt down to my bones.
We’d been working pretty much nonstop for about six months now. From Shady Valley to all the stops in the South, stocking up on untraceable guns we stuffed the car full with, then driving them down to Golden Glades in Florida to drop them off at our sister chapter.
Sure, we got three days of rest there, give or take, each time we dropped in. But then we were always on the road again, finding more guns, and driving them all the way back to California for our club to distribute to more local clients.
I never used to mind all the travel. Raff and I had never been the ‘putting down roots’ type. Yet something about this last stint of sleeping in the passenger seat while the other one drove or staying in motel rooms in the Middle of Nowhere, USA was getting to both of us.
We were overdue for a break. A solid month or two of being able to just crash at the clubhouse.
Bonus points for it being the only place in the world where we were guaranteed to have our own damn bedrooms. Though I was never really around there long enough to actually do anything to mine to make it my own.
Someday, I kept telling myself.
But someday never came.
“You’re in a mood,” Raff said, putting down his phone on the nightstand.
I did the same before scrubbing my hands down my face. “I’m burnt out,” I admitted aloud for the first time.
Raff, usually all ease and affability, let out a deep sigh as well. “Yeah, I know that feeling,” he agreed.
For twins, we were only generally alike in appearance. Tall, fit, square jaws, black hair, dark eyes.
If you put us in a lineup, you’d probably only be able to tell us apart from my stubble compared to his clean-shaven face, and our differing tattoos. He was covered up both arms, his neck, his torso, even some of his legs at this point. Raff’s were more random shit, including a distinct and absurd pizza slice tattoo on his ankle and a fucking Marvin the Martian one as well. I just had the one sleeve and it was in a cohesive design.
Personality-wise, though, we were almost polar opposites. Raff was extroverted, never having met a stranger in his life. Always at the center of a party, seeking out fun shit to do, new experiences to have, and shamelessly and endlessly flirting with just about any woman he ever crossed paths with.
I was the more introverted one, happy to just have a chill hang over a party, go explore local attractions, go take hikes or walks, things that took me away from the party scenes, especially as I got older.
And, yeah, I was quieter, more serious. And while I enjoyed women as much as the next man, it wasn’t my singular goal every day to chat one up or hook up.
So it was really telling that two very opposite personalities were having almost the exact same feelings regarding our lifestyle at the same time.
It was definitely time for a break.
“At least tomorrow is just a quick job,” Raff said, reaching to turn out the light.
“Yeah,” I agreed.
Sure, it was a new contact for us. But our whole lives were meeting up with people at gun shows, or off random ads listed on the internet somewhere. So this was nothing to stress over.
At least, that was what our mindset was in the morning as we lazily went about getting shitty, doughy complimentary bagels that we stuffed with rubbery liquid eggs, grabbing coffees, and hitting the road.