Total pages in book: 171
Estimated words: 159500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 798(@200wpm)___ 638(@250wpm)___ 532(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 159500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 798(@200wpm)___ 638(@250wpm)___ 532(@300wpm)
I thread my fingers through Clyde’s, and as my blood pressure spikes, the headache becomes somehow more bearable. “They’re here?” I ask and glance at my partner.
Clyde’s breath is shaky and only now I notice that he’s not wearing his cut. “I told you,” he whispers. “I’m fucked.”
“You are not fucked,” I tell him with as much conviction as I can muster.
“He kinda is,” Prophet mumbles but averts his eyes when I glance his way. “You were seeing him behind our backs. What do you want me to say?”
Fear squeezes around my throat like a thick-fingered hand, but if my club won’t have mercy, I will have to keep us safe on my own. Somehow.
“I didn’t plan this. And then, it was too late to talk. I’m sorry.”
“I accept. Maybe you got in over your head. What the fuck do I know? But he is not one of us, so he’s on his own. The Butchers can take care of him how they see fit.”
“I’m not a Butcher anymore,” Clyde says through gritted teeth. “You see any patches on me?”
Prophet spreads his arms. “Are you asking me for protection now? After all the shit you did over the years? You made your bed, now you lay in it. Without my enforcer!”
My skull feels so hot even the air boils as I breathe it in. “He will never sleep without me again. I’ll be making him my husband,” I say without thinking, but the comfort I feel the moment those words pass from my lips is impossible to describe. I’m at peace. Happy, even though I almost died last night.
Clyde gives me an uncertain glance, but isn’t opposing me, and even squeezes my hand harder.
Prophet blinks a few times, staring at me as if I’ve lost my mind, but I haven’t. I’ve never been more lucid. “You’re serious about this.” It’s more of a statement than a question, which is a good indicator that he’s starting to get it. And since he hasn’t left, slamming the door behind himself minutes ago, convincing him to take Clyde under our protection might be an option.
But he’s not only my friend, but also my prez, and I respect him more than anyone else, so I lower my head and exhale. “I fucked up, I know, and I am ready for you guys to judge me. But I will die before I let anyone take him, so if you don’t want me back—” My throat constricts in a painful twitch, and I swallow, trying to even out my tone, make it less breathy and pathetic than it sounds to my ears. I am placing Clyde above the club, ready to leave if they won’t take him, and that’s already unforgivable, but it is what it is, and Prophet needs to know it. “Just say so.”
Prophet groans. “Fine. We’ll talk about this at the club. If we don’t all get blown to pieces in the parking lot,” he adds grimly.
I swallow the bitterness at the back of my throat, watching my best friend wrestle with the secret I’ve been keeping from him. It was within his rights to refuse, but I am so fucking glad that he isn’t ready to throw me away before thinking it through.
“Whatever you want me to give up on, I will, as long as it’s not him,” I mumble, feeling my hand sweating around Clyde’s. The rush of protective feelings emboldened me to stand by him, but am I brave enough to pull our relationship out of the shadows for everyone else to see?
We have to call a nurse to unhook me from everything, and the silence between my prez and my man is deafening, but at least it’s not Clyde’s aunt discharging me.
“Are you sure you’re ready to leave the hospital?” Clyde whispers while Prophet watches us from his spot in the corner of the oppressive room.
I’m not feeling great, and the doctor advised me against leaving so soon, but I’ll feel much safer in my own home, participating in any decisions that need to be made. I am already tired and by the time I’m ready to go, there’s nothing I want more than to stay, especially as I’m pretty sure a little boost of coke is out of the question. But I’m a big boy and let Clyde hook his arm around mine as we pad to the door.
Prophet raises his eyebrows at me. “You sure you want the guys to see…?”
Stupid fucking question. There is no going back now.
Clyde clears his throat. “We don’t have to—”
But I grab him before he pulls away. He gave everything up to save me—twice—and I will not let him down, no matter how much bullshit I need to endure.
“What, you think I should pretend he and I are ‘besties’?”
Prophet groans and spreads his arms as we walk out into the corridor. “Jesus Christ. Do whatever you think is right here, because I sure as fuck don’t know.”