Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 97557 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 488(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97557 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 488(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
I peer around the room to my two other friends. Lee is sprawled out across the other counter, his feet hanging off the edge while Aries is braced near the back of the kitchen, his gaze ping-ponging between us and the back door.
"What the hell is going on?"
Drew pins me with a look I can't quite read. "Looks like the sheriff decided to retaliate against you.”
My entire body goes rigid, and Ely’s grip on my hand tightens. "What do you mean? What happened?" She asks, and I hate the shake in her voice.
I guide her over to the stool next to Bel and force her to sit. Then I turn her to face me and speak directly to her. "It’s okay. I’m not surprised. We knew he would do something. He wants our attention..”
"Yeah but I…. I don’t want anyone to get hurt because of me," she whispers.
"I understand, but there will be casualties; there always are. It’s all about tactics. He wants to break us down, isolate us so we have no one and nothing in our corner, but he doesn’t know a damn thing about us or our brotherhood.”
“Not yet, but he will soon.” Drew adds.
Lee shoves himself into a sitting position and I grit my teeth when I catch sight of the black and blue bruises overtaking half his face. I don’t need to ask what happened, my gut tells me already, but I need him to tell me so I know it’s true. "What happened? Did you get into another fight?"
He shrugs, but the typical playboy humor he carries with him is gone. Right now he’s callous and cruel. "Seems one of the sheriff's men didn't like seeing me and my friend Phillipe together outside The Rat House."
Even though I suspected it, I can’t seem to reign in my reaction. "He did that to you?"
His lip twists up into a wry grin. "First, you should see what the other guy looks like, and second, I took exception to him calling me a faggot. Then I punched him in his dumbass face so...I mean...technically I started it."
Out of the corner of my eye I watch as Ely’s face fills with terror.
"Fucking asshole,” I sigh.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” Elyse blurts out, and the pain in her voice cuts deep into my skin.
“There isn’t anything for you to be sorry for.” Lee gives her a sad smile. “We’re all the victims of our parents' sins. The bruises will fade.”
“He’ll get what’s coming to him.” Aries announces and cracks his knuckles like he’s ready to deliver a beat down.
“We need to approach this the right way. I knew he would retaliate, but I didn’t think it would be so soon. I’ll need to move up the timeline on some of the ideas I have. There’re a lot of moving parts to keep straight.”
“Are you saying there is more going on than I know about?” Bel accuses.
I dislike the accusing tone of her voice but I don’t comment on it. It’s my fault for keeping secrets, in an effort to carry the burden. “Everyone knows about Tanya. She’s decided to try and use Ely’s father against me and have me arrested for domestic violence. I don’t know what she has on the Sheriff, but he wouldn’t work with her unless he had an incentive, one getting him closer to fulfilling his own wants and needs.”
"Okay, what are his own wants and needs?" Bel asks, her voice quiet but firm with steel.
"More than anything, he wants Ely back; the second best thing would be me dead.”
“Okay, and Tanya? What about her?” Aries asks.
I shrug my shoulders,“Tanya wants what she's always wanted: power, money, attention, and my body.”
Everyone's eyes lock on me, and I swear they’re all holding their breaths waiting for me to speak the truth they all already know. All the layers are peeled away now, and I can’t believe I’m about to say it out loud even if it’s something already widely known by my friends.
"We all know how convincing she can be. She..." I pause, unsure how to spill this secret, this shame I've lived with for so long and only recently started shedding, thanks to Elyse. "She took my virginity after my father died when I was sixteen. She got me drunk and used me for sex, and after that it happened any chance she got until my grandfather sent her up to New York."
"Sixteen..." Bel whispers. "I'll fucking kill that bitch."
I turn to her, and there's so much venom in her tone I can't help but smile. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe, Bel is cut out for the family business after all.
"No, I want the pleasure of doing that. After everything she’s done to me, it’s what I deserve.”
She gives me an approving nod but I can still see the anger and hate gleaming in her eyes. I love her for that. For wanting to protect me, to get revenge.