Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 76807 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76807 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
“I won’t be long,” he said, giving my hand a squeeze.
“Okay,” I agreed.
“Want me to walk you to my room?”
“Pretty sure she can walk there herself if she wants to,” the president said.
“Right. Okay. I’ll be right back,” Brooks said as he stood, pressing a quick kiss to my forehead. “You did good,” he told me, voice low enough for only the two of us to hear. “Proud of you.”
With that, he turned and left, calling out for Perish and Nave as he went.
“You alright, babe?” the president asked.
“Not really,” I admitted.
To that, he nodded.
“What’s your name?”
“Cali.”
“Cali,” he repeated. “I’m Fallon, the—“
“President.”
“Yeah,” he agreed.
“Sorry I interrupted church.”
To that, he let out a snort. “Trust me, I’m used to this shit,” he told me. “You need anything?” he asked.
“Some way for my insides to stop shaking,” I admitted.
“A drink, a joint, or a fuck usually work for that,” he said with a playboy smirk. “We got you covered on the first two, if you want. And I’m sure Brooks’ll be happy to help you with the last bit when he gets back.”
I picked up my drink and took another sip of the cranberry-flavored concoction. “I’m sorry I’m getting the club involved in my problems.”
“Like I said, babe, this is just another Monday ‘round here. Don’t sweat it.”
With that, he was gone.
And when the conversation picked back up out in the common room, I quietly slipped out, and went into Brooks’s room to wait for him.
My gaze slid to the cash, gun, and flash drive on Brooks’s nightstand.
Tonight, it seemed, was the night that everything shrouded in darkness was going to come to light.
For better or worse.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Brooks
“Who are they?” Perish growled as we stood in Cali’s ruined living room.
I knew the man well enough at this point to know what he was saying.
Give me their names. I’ll handle it.
What’s more, I believed to my core he was not only serious, but fully capable of making that happen.
The world probably wasn’t as scary a place when you were so big you were practically a continent unto yourself.
“I don’t know yet,” I admitted as I walked through the disaster area that had been Cali’s whole life.
“Want me to pack some clothes for her?” Nave asked, glancing into the dressing room.
“Yeah,” I agreed. “Pack as much as you can. Clothes, jewelry, makeup. Anything she might need for a week or two.” Or as long as she wanted to stay with me. Even after I figured this shit out and handled it. I would understand completely if she didn’t feel safe coming back for a while.
I rifled through the cabinet under her TV, looking to see if the folder was there, with no luck.
“Where do you guys keep important documents?” I asked. “Birth certificates, shit like that?” I asked.
“I have a safety deposit box,” Nave answered as he rolled one of Cali’s shirts and stuffed it into her eggplant purple rolling suitcase.
“Box at the top of my closet,” Perish said, shrugging.
Cali didn’t strike me as a safety deposit box sort of person, so I made my way toward her hall closet, then the one in her dressing room.
Sure enough, wedged at the top, far enough back that you didn’t really see it, was a box.
Inside, sitting on top of a bunch of other paperwork, was the folder I’d given her. Thank fuck. These guys didn’t need to know about bank boxes or anything else he had in there.
I handed it to Nave to stuff in the suitcase, nodding my thanks to Perish as he picked up all the food off of the floor, and started tossing it, then made my way up to the loft.
I didn’t know what to expect of the loft. It was an enclosed space with slanted ceilings that made me have to duck a bit in spots.
Toward one end there was a small cutout that overlooked the living room, but Cali didn’t have anything over there. Not even some decor. The whole bedroom was pushed to the other walls, safe from overlooking either the rest of the apartment or even the window.
The open window.
The escape ladder was still hanging down.
Walking over, I leaned out, seeing the descent. Not horrible, by most people’s standards, but for someone who was afraid of heights, fucking unbearably high.
My mind flashed to her dangling there above the ground, body trembling, panic overtaking her system, and the rage that spread through me was something I’d never experienced before.
I wasn’t, by nature, a killer. I didn’t thirst for violence the way a lot of the guys in the club did. Dezi, for example. Perish. Even Callow, who had a dark side he didn’t show often.
Sure, I was ready and willing to do whatever it took to protect the club and my brothers. But I never really craved vengeance before.