Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 61746 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 309(@200wpm)___ 247(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61746 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 309(@200wpm)___ 247(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
“Whatever you plan on doing, I’d recommend doing it fast. He’s planning on announcing his campaign soon, so you know he’ll push harder to get the kid,” Nick pointed out.
I took in a deep breath to calm myself before nodding and slapping hands with Nick.
“Thank you,” I told him. I would’ve done the close snooping myself, but that was too risky since I was… involved with Madison.
I didn’t know what to call the relationship between me, the other guys, and Madison. It was loving, familial, supportive, and intimate, but there wasn’t a clear title yet. What I did know was that my feelings for her deepened by the day, and there was nothing that I could do to stop that.
Hell, I didn’t want to.
When I got back to the tattoo shop, it was around two in the morning, but I didn’t go to sleep. Gus was asleep on the loveseat upstairs to watch over Chloe and Madison as they slept, so I lay down on my tattoo table, peering up at the dark ceiling with a million thoughts in my mind. I didn’t know what to do next about Madison’s ex.
I knew what I wanted to do, but I wasn’t a violent man. I refused to stoop that low, especially when a smart, curious little girl watched my every move. Chloe would learn a lot from me and the others, so we were on our best behavior so that she learned right from wrong correctly early on.
It was ironic to me that Chloe would learn more about right from wrong from a bunch of ex-cons rather than from her own father. He was one of the worst types of human beings, using his own child for his political and financial benefit. I had stooped low before during my darkest moments, but I would never even think about going that low.
When the sun started to rise, I heard quiet steps from the staircase, prompting me to sit up as Madison walked into the tattoo shop with her hair in a bun. I gave her a hint of a smile, inviting her to come over to me. Once she was close enough, I got off the table and cupped her face, pulling her into a deep kiss.
Madison leaned into me, her fingertips trailing down my neck to brush over the spider tattoo. The touch sent a flare of heat through me, but I had too much on my mind to tease her.
I pulled back and stroked her cheeks with my thumbs.
“I’m going to call the guys. We need to talk, doll,” I murmured in a quiet voice.
Worry immediately filled Madison’s eyes, but she swallowed hard and nodded. While she went to fix herself a cup of coffee, I reached out to the other five guys, telling them to get to the shop as soon as they could. Luckily, all I had to do was nudge Gus awake and have him join all of us downstairs while Chloe still slept.
“As you guys know, I’ve been doing some digging around to try to figure out who is threatening Madison and Chloe,” I said as I stood in front of them in the middle of the shop, joining my hands together in a serious motion. “And I figured it out. Madison’s ex-boyfriend and Chloe’s father, Michael Ladnier, is planning on running for city councilor, and he’s going to use Chloe to make his image look better to voters.”
“That bastard,” Baker gritted out.
“He’s not going to get away with this,” Marcus spoke up next, tensions rising as the guys bit out sharp comments of defiance. There wasn’t a calm soul in the room.
Madison hadn’t said anything yet, only able to stare off in the distance with wide, troubled eyes. She placed her hand over her mouth slowly, taking a tiny step back and nearly stumbling from that as her legs threatened to give out.
Bryce wrapped his arm around her to keep upright.
“It’s okay. We’ve got you,” he assured her.
Madison’s breathing started getting quicker and weaker as she shook her head.
“No, you don’t understand. He has friends in the police force. He has more connections than I can even imagine, and he’ll use them against me!” she said as tears started breaking from her eyes. She pulled away from Bryce abruptly only to crash into Marcus.
Marcus grabbed her upper arms and leaned close to her.
“Madison, look at me,” he said in a firm voice.
Madison sniffled as her gleaming eyes lifted to his.
“Years ago, my sister was with an abusive man. He did everything in her power to break her down,” Marcus told her before his expression darkened. “But I broke him instead. I made sure he never stepped foot near my sister again, and I can promise you that you have me and six other guys who will do the same to your ex if he even thinks about getting too close to you and Chloe.”