Total pages in book: 39
Estimated words: 36070 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 180(@200wpm)___ 144(@250wpm)___ 120(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 36070 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 180(@200wpm)___ 144(@250wpm)___ 120(@300wpm)
I’d fucked everything up because instead of thinking about what last night might have done to Chase, I’d only been thinking about myself. Like usual. But I’d been so desperate to feel okay again, and he’d helped. God, he had helped me so fucking much because now I felt him instead of them. And now he had no way of knowing that until he came back home.
But despite how I now felt, I’d fucked Chase up inside. And I wasn’t sure if that damage could be healed.
I was just as much of a monster as my father, just in a different way. Because I’d only cared about myself, and at the end of it all, I’d hurt Chase.
Scorpion let me out of the clubhouse later on that day, but I had Reese and Elias with me as shadows. They were in blatant site, daring anyone to come near me. People stopped in front of the bookstore, taking pictures of the damage and of some of the club guys working on repairs, but one look from Reese or Elias sent them scampering.
It was nice though, and I was thankful for it. It meant I wouldn’t be bothered, wouldn’t have to answer the inevitable questions no doubt everyone had. People would want to know what happened—why my bookstore was trashed, and why I looked like I’d been beaten to within an inch of my life.
And I wasn’t ready to talk to anyone about it yet. I could barely go back through it in my own mind, much less openly speak about the horror of that night.
“You shouldn’t be lifting these,” Elias gently scolded, reaching forward to take the books I’d just walked out of the backroom with.
I sighed. “I need to stock them.”
“Then we’ll do the heavy lifting for you. You just tell us where they go,” Reese butted in, his tone clear he wasn’t arguing on the matter.
I forced a smile to my lips and nodded, leading them over to the non-fiction section. We worked like that for the rest of the day until my body began to ache, the pain medicine no longer working like it should. Reese and Elias took me back to the clubhouse immediately, and I didn’t even bother arguing. I was too tired, and I knew it was pointless anyway.
After forcing some food down my throat, I tried calling Chase, but he didn’t answer. In fact, I was pretty sure he sent me to voicemail when the phone only rang twice before ending, which hurt me way more than the injuries I was currently contending with.
Tears in my eyes, I shot him a text, thinking it would be better than nothing.
I know a lot of things got fucked up last night, but please don’t shut me out. You helped me, Chase. I just wish I’d known it would have fucked you up, or I’d never have asked it of you. I’m here when you’re ready to talk to me.
Then, I set my phone down on his nightstand, curled up under his covers, and cried myself to sleep.
10
Chase
Johnston took one look at me when I got off my bike and shook his head. “Jesus Christ, it’s worse than what Scorpion said it was.”
Dick.
“Fuck off,” I muttered.
He gripped my shoulder when I moved past him, spinning me back around, a hard look on his face. I clenched my jaw. Yeah, I’d crossed a fucking line, but I couldn’t bring myself to care, even when he stepped toe-to-toe with me, his fingers digging into my collarbone. No doubt, I’d have bruises there later on.
“You want to fucking repeat that?” he asked me, his voice dangerously low. “I know you’re going through some shit, Chase, but I’ll knock you on your sorry ass right now.”
I clenched my jaw, biting back what I wanted to say. What I knew would start a fight. Neither of us needed that shit, and Johnston didn’t deserve my pissy-ass mood souring his. “Sorry,” I muttered.
He released me. “Watch what the fuck you say to me next time, you hear? Now get inside. I’ve got liquor and fresh pussy waiting on you down the hall in your usual room.”
Sounded fucking good to me. Maybe I could fuck Sophia out of my system this time. Hadn’t worked in the past, but maybe now that I was fucking wrecked, I could.
The mere thought of her name sent pain slicing through my chest, and I drew in a ragged breath, storming into the clubhouse. No one said a word to me, though I could see Aaliyah’s worried gaze settle on Johnston, who was no doubt still pissed off at my small outburst.
Johnston wasn’t the kind of man anyone wanted to cross. He wasn’t feared for no reason. Even fuckers like Alejandro Garcia, the leader of the Mexican Cartel, kept their mouths shut around him for the most part. Johnston didn’t like starting shit, but anyone who crossed him was a dumb mother fucker.