Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 123212 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 616(@200wpm)___ 493(@250wpm)___ 411(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 123212 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 616(@200wpm)___ 493(@250wpm)___ 411(@300wpm)
He tugs me harder and I slam into his back, my stumbling not stopping until we’re out of the ballroom. He leads me right out into the cool night and I feel my wrist beginning to bruise.
Nic starts for the stairs and I panic, knowing damn well that I’m in no shape to navigate my way down them, especially in these heels, but the thought doesn’t even seem to enter his mind as he pulls me down the first one. I struggle to keep up with his pace, focusing with everything that I have on putting my foot on each step before taking the next.
We get halfway when he decides that I’m not moving fast enough and tugs me harder, sending me toppling over the next step. I fall to my knees but his momentum has me falling and slamming my chest hard against the concrete steps.
I suck in a pained breath as my chest begins to ache and my knees that had only just healed get scratched up all over again.
Nic groans in frustration. “Look at you,” he snaps, pulling hard on my wrist and hauling me to my feet before grabbing me and throwing me carelessly over his shoulder. “You’re fucking pathetic. You’re fucking wasted and can’t even stand up.”
“Yo,” a familiar voice calls from the bottom of the steps. “Ease up, Nic. You’re fucking hurting her.”
“She’s fine,” he snaps back at Sebastian, making me wonder if all the liars are here or just these two.
I slam my hand hard against his back and get an odd pleasure out of the loud slap against his skin. “Put me the fuck down. I’m not going anywhere with you, especially when you’re like this.”
Nic finally gets to the bottom of the stairs and puts me on my feet where I find all four of the boys but my attention is solely on Nic. My hand lashes out and it slaps hard across his face. “What the fuck is your problem?” I yell, desperate to hit him again and again. “How dare you put your hands on me. Who the fuck are you? It’s like I don’t even know who you are anymore.”
Nic turns on me as the boys crowd around. “Me?” he demands. “Look at you prancing around that fucking party as if you own the place. You’re a complete stranger. Do you even remember where the fuck you come from because it sure as hell seems like you don’t.”
“Fuck you,” I snap. “How dare you come at me for wanting something better for myself.”
“Better? You’re whoring yourself out in there, showing off your body, and throwing back shots with those cocky fucks.”
“Dude …” Eli warns but gets instantly ignored.
“You’re acting like a fucking idiot in there. You should be embarrassed for yourself. I’m taking you the fuck home. I’m done with this bullshit.”
My hands slam up against Nic’s chest. “I’m not going anywhere with you,” I yell at him, my throat instantly hurting from the raspy anger that shoots out of it. “Maybe you’ve forgotten that I watched you slice a fucking knife across those bastards necks. You’re a fucking monster, Nic. You’re not the guy I knew. It’s like your father died and you went right along with him. You don’t have to be a monster to lead, you know. You don’t have to be him.”
Nic grabs the pearls around my neck and yanks me in close. “You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.”
I raise my chin, refusing to give in. “You need to leave. All of you do. I told you on Saturday night—I’m done with you. You’re fucking no-good gang members who have lied to me since the beginning of fucking time and I’m not sitting around and letting it happen again. Now, leave.”
Nic’s jaw tightens and I see the refusal on his lips when a deep rumble comes from behind me and instantly calms my racing heart. “Get your fucking hands off her.”
Nic’s gaze snaps up to Colton’s and it’s darker than I’ve ever seen before, darker than when he was staring down his father’s murderers. “I’ll put my hands wherever the fuck I want,” Nic growls low, his tone a nasty warning that Colton should back off. “She’s mine. Always has been. You’re a fucking phase.”
“Phase or not, she asked you to release her, so I’d suggest you do it now before I make you.”
Nic throws me behind him and I slam into Kai’s chest as he gets in Colton’s face. “The fuck did you just say to me? Do you have any idea who I am? The kind of influence I could have over you?”
Colton’s hazel stare flashes back at me and takes in the red mark across my chest and my scratched up knees. He scoffs as he looks back at Nic. “I know exactly who you are,” he taunts, making every one of my nerves stand on edge. “You’re a fucking loser who just put his hands on my fucking girl because he’s pissed that she chose me, chose a life away from you, and chose to have something better for herself. Do you honestly think she’ll ever go back to a man who throws her around like a fucking ragdoll, who drags her down the stairs, and constantly leaves her bruised? No fucking chance. I don’t care if she doesn’t want me, but I will make sure that she never goes back to you.”