Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 45515 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 228(@200wpm)___ 182(@250wpm)___ 152(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45515 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 228(@200wpm)___ 182(@250wpm)___ 152(@300wpm)
“Tough shit.” I grinned, but knew that smile didn’t reach my eyes. “He’s investigating me too. And yeah. I got my own fuckin’ secrets. The only people who will know everything are Crush, Byte, and me. You don’t like it? You can leave.” I let my mask of civility drop so everyone in the meeting could see how serious and fucking furious I was. “But rest assured. I will find out who was working with Hammer, whether he’s here or not. And I will annihilate them, whether or not they’re still part of this club.”
Having said my piece and given my orders, I left the meeting room to go to the front gate and await the Iron Tzars contingent. And… her. Because I knew there was no way Scarlet would come back to Grim Road without Lemon. I was anxious to see how Lemon dealt with this bunch. I had a feeling fireworks were about to fly. I wouldn’t interfere, but I was damned sure going to enjoy the show.
Chapter Two
Lemon
I’ve heard that sometimes you just know when your life’s about to change. As we rolled into the Grim Road compound, I got that feeling. It was a strange sense of foreboding and anticipation. And I was pretty sure I knew who it was centered around. But I didn’t even like the bastard, so I chose to ignore that inner voice. My inner voice was stupid anyway.
The only fucking reason I’d come to this stupid place was to support Scarlet and to make sure her sisters, Sunshine and Rainbow, knew they had someone watching their backs. Well, other than some of the men. I suppose I trusted most of them in Iron Tzars, but I’d rather a woman had my back. So I wanted them to know I had theirs. Also, I knew this was probably going to be a special kind of hell for Scarlet. While her man, Mars, was with us, I was Scarlet’s best friend. There was no way she was facing this alone.
When the two big Excursions pulled into the compound of Grim Road, a group of big, hard-looking men waved us through and two more men on bikes escorted us to what I thought was the center of the place. Scarlet had told me it was where the old ladies and children lived, though there weren’t many people there. Mostly just her and her sisters and a couple of women who were steady lays of the men. I was sure Dani wouldn’t want me to know about steady lays, but I wasn’t a kid. Not in any meaningful way. I let Dani think she took care of me and Apple, but it was really me taking care of them.
“Stay here until I tell you two to come out.” Mars was gentle when he spoke, but it was for Scarlet. The look he gave me said I better keep her in the vehicle at all costs. When I looked out of the window at the big men surrounding the truck, the very last thing I wanted to do was disobey Mars. Not because I was afraid, but because if things went south, it would be up to me to protect Scarlet.
“We’re not some bunch of bastards who’re gonna pounce on them, Mars.” The big man who spoke was as rough as they came. He was built like a fucking mountain. Tall, muscled, but kind of soft-spoken. I thought it was probably a defense mechanism. So people underestimated him, and so he didn’t seem so big. “You can let ‘em out of the fuckin’ cage.”
“Not until I’m convinced they’re safe.” Brick’s rough voice wasn’t raised or angry. Just matter-of-fact. As vice president, he’d come with Mars in an official capacity. Also, the big man was great backup. “I swore to Scarlet we’d keep her safe, and that’s what I intend to do. If you’re gonna get your panties all in a twist, maybe you should go back to your fuckin’ clubhouse.”
The big man took one menacing step toward Brick. Brick was by no means a small man, but this guy towered over him and had to be at least half again as thickly built as Brick. Which was saying something. Brick was the largest man I’d ever met in my life. “You don’t get to dictate in this club.”
“Stand down, Bear.”
And just like that, everything inside me went on red alert. Rocket. The president of Grim Road. He was also just a little more scary than I liked. Of all the men I’d met in Iron Tzars and the few I’d had encounters with in Grim Road last night when Hammer and Claw had died, Rocket was the one who unsettled me the most. I wouldn’t say I was afraid of him exactly, just… wary. Like I needed to be on guard at all times or he’d catch me unaware and pounce. What happened then would be anyone’s guess. Personally, I was going with he loses his balls and I mount them like fucking trophies, but who could say.