Total pages in book: 154
Estimated words: 142764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 714(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 142764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 714(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
I sit on the bench and carefully wrap my hands. While I don't give a shit if they get bruised, I can't let these guys see me being careless with the quarterback hands.
One of the second-string linemen wanders over as I finish up and strip off my jacket.
"Hey, Drew, what's up, man? We haven't seen you around."
I make a noncommittal hum and study the bag. Most of the campus knows it's rush season, and most of the campus has no idea about The Mill, but the rich ones, the football players, the trust-fund kids usually know because of a family legacy at some point. So when I level the guy with a long stare, he nods once and returns to his workout.
I'm known for being brutal on the field, and I sure as shit don't want to invite open questions about my time or my whereabouts.
As I pound the bag, some of the anger begins to fizzle, channeled through my fists, burning away under the pain in my hands, my arms, my abs, as I move.
As always, my thoughts stray back to her. The way she'd look at me right now. I freeze. Well, shit. The way she used to look at me. Now, I feel like I might not know this new Bel at all. She's different, no less appealing to me, but different.
Regardless of how much I want to destroy him, I need answers first. I need to understand the depths of his evil mind and what he's done so I can make sure he doesn't wheedle out of this like he does everything else. All my life, he's gotten away from deplorable and evil things. Shit, I'm no saint, but what my father has done has always been so much worse. I once witnessed him cave a man’s skull in by bashing it on the side of his desk like an egg. He didn’t even bat an eye or seem fazed by his actions.
I punch the bag and think.
I punch the bag and plan.
I punch the bag and start planning the topple of my father's empire. That bastard is going down soon, but I need more time and more answers.
I hit the bag again, but now that I'm thinking, I unwrap my hands, pack up my headphones, and grab my jacket. I need to start where things have changed.
The hospital.
Before I leave the gym, I toss my bag into my locker so I don't have to lug it with me. It wasn't a long workout, but I need to change and look more presentable. It sells the good ole boy routine better.
I keep clothes at the training center, and it doesn't take long to change into a well-worn pair of jeans, a long-sleeved gray Henley, and one of my favorite pairs of black combat boots. I put a black zip-up hoodie under my letter jacket and leave the center. My hair is wet, and it makes me colder as I walk, but it doesn't matter.
I call a ride app car when I reach the edge of campus before it unfolds into the small town that basically lives to support the school. The hospital isn't too far away, but it's too chilly to walk all the way there, and I don't want to head back to The Mill for my motorcycle if it means running into Seb or explaining what I'm doing to Lee. I'm not ready for either of their unending questions.
The driver only asks my name and doesn't say a word otherwise. Just the way I like them.
At the hospital, I head inside, hands tucked into my pockets, a slight smile playing on my lips. Unassuming is the goal, even if I rarely succeed. Women, though, usually succumb, and are always more helpful than men when it comes to information.
I cross to the section of the hospital my mother was being treated in. Thankfully, this is an exclusive area that usually requires a fat checkbook to use. The nurses and the doctors there remember me with one look. A nurse comes around the desk the second I cut into her line of sight.
"Mr. Marshall, what brings you back? Your mother was moved back to her home medical suite."
I give her a smile, all white flashing teeth and dimples. She immediately relaxes, leaning close.
"Yes, I know she was moved. I just saw her, but I wanted to speak to her doctor if I'm able."
Her forehead wrinkles slightly, and she looks around carefully. "Her doctor is one of ours. He should be there now. Your father requested someone new when he took her away."
"Oh." I sigh and smile and play the part of the forgetting jock. It seems to sell because once again, she relaxes. "I actually wanted to speak to her old doctor. He said he had some information for me the last time we spoke, and I just wanted to follow up with him. A Dr. Brooks, I believe."