Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 154037 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 770(@200wpm)___ 616(@250wpm)___ 513(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 154037 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 770(@200wpm)___ 616(@250wpm)___ 513(@300wpm)
He gave a nod of acceptance before he stuck out his fist that was tattooed with the same stacked Ss as the rest of us, though his dagger was topped with a crown. Each of ours varied a bit, though the oath it represented remained the same.
We all stretched out our fists to meet in the middle of the table.
“Our oath to the afflicted. Our oath to the forsaken. Our oath to Sovereign Sanctum,” River chanted.
We all repeated it, the vow we had made years ago to stand for the abused and neglected. By any means necessary. Our good deeds were usually done dirty. All our hands were blood-stained and tainted, but it wasn’t like we didn’t start our lives out as criminals when we’d first met.
The five of us on the streets of LA.
None of us were related, but we were brothers. Through and through. And this oath? It ran deep.
Chair legs screeched as we all pushed out from the table, and in an instant, the mood changed to light as we started up the narrow staircase that led to the main floor.
I wasn’t the only one here who liked to have a good time.
All except for Cash who would slink right out and head to his cabin that was secluded in the mountains. Last place he’d want to be was in a packed club.
River was at the helm, moving faster than the rest of us since the sappy motherfucker couldn’t wait to get upstairs to Charleigh and his little sister Raven.
Raven.
I did my best to ignore the bolt of greed that slammed me at just the thought of her. That was not the place I needed to let my brain go.
We wound to the top, and River opened the door that led from the basement and into Kane’s office at the back of the building.
We all piled into the room, then he closed the door behind us, making sure it was secure and concealed behind the façade of bookshelves that covered the entire back wall. It made it impossible to locate if you didn’t already know it was there.
Everyone trudged for the main door of his office, and Kane unlocked it and let everyone out. The decibel of the music grew tenfold as we stepped into the dimly lit hall, my crew laughing and joking as we slipped through the swinging door at the end and out into the main area of the club.
In an instant, I was caught in the frenetic energy that seethed in the cavernous space.
The band had already played, and the DJ had taken over. A throng of people were crushed on the dance floor, writhing as they danced their cares away.
Kane’s was housed in an enormous old church, and above, the ceiling seemed to disappear into eternity. Long, vertical stained-glass windows were situated way up high on the walls. Strobe lights struck against them, and it sent glittering flashes of every color through the entire place.
Off to my right was a bar that ran the length of that wall, and there were at least five bartenders slinging drinks behind it as a ton of people vied to get close enough to catch their attention.
But my attention? It immediately swept to the left.
To the private, secluded booth at the very back of the club that was always reserved for our family. River asked Kane to keep it roped off because he was a protective bastard like that, not that I was going to fault him for it when I was one hundred percent on board.
Because there she was.
Raven. Fucking. Tayte.
My best friend’s little sister.
Sweetest girl on the face of the planet.
And to my great misfortune, the sexiest one, too.
She was behind the rope with Charleigh, and the two of them were giggling and laughing. Raven’s arm was slung over Charleigh’s shoulder as they shared what looked to be some sordid secret.
Leave it to Raven to be dressed completely in black, wearing the shortest fuckin’ skirt I’d ever seen and a black leather corset that smushed her tits up at the top. Then she had to go and pair it with these thigh-high boots with a five-inch stiletto heel.
Looking like the only place she belonged was on the back of my bike.
Lush, black hair was done half up and half down, showing off the sharp angles of her stunning face. Makeup thick the way she always wore it, lips stained red.
But it was those inky eyes that nailed me to the spot.
So dark and mesmerizing they held me like a trap.
A thunderbolt of lust gripped me by the guts, but I sucked it down and pinned on a giant grin as I sauntered her way, reminding myself with each step of who she was and who she would always be to me.
When she saw me coming, she squealed and lifted her frilly drink over her head.