Total pages in book: 159
Estimated words: 149148 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 746(@200wpm)___ 597(@250wpm)___ 497(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 149148 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 746(@200wpm)___ 597(@250wpm)___ 497(@300wpm)
Awkward silence fell over the room, and MJ realized sickly that everyone had heard their exchange.
Helios stared at her unflinchingly, and it was obvious in his stance that he was not going to take it back.
Her fingers curled and uncurled as she tried to make sense of Helios’ sudden cold treatment. Surely Yuri hadn’t gone back on his word? She forced a smile on her lips and said brightly, “I’m just happy I’m good at that.”
Helios’ upper lip curled. “Did I say you were good? I simply said you knew what to do.” The moment he spoke the words, he knew he had gone too far. But even with the stricken look on her face, he couldn’t take it back.
With a silent curse, Helios stalked out of the study hall, leaving another bout of painfully awkward silence in his wake.
MJ bowed her head.
SWISH.
She tightened her hold on her book with shaking hands, feeling like Helios had managed to do what her dad had never been able to achieve. With just a few words, he had crushed her completely.
Chapter Fifteen
MJ DID NOT SLEEP IN his room last night.
Helios had lain awake in his bed the entire night, tense and furious with himself for caring so much for someone who was obviously playing him false. Why did he still feel so strongly about her? He had seen the evidence with his own eyes. She had lied to him, and she was meeting Yuri in secret. If he was smart, he should have thrown her out the moment he had discovered her betrayal.
Where the fuck did she sleep last night?
The question burned inside him like lava, making Helios clench and unclench his fists while watching the younger bikers practice their stunts on the twenty-foot custom-designed ramp in their backyard. While stunts didn’t make money, no one outside the club really knew that, making it a passable front for the club’s underground activities.
MJ stood with the rest of the volunteers, a part and not a part of them. Non-performing members stood at the opposite side, making the divide between bikers and volunteers distinctly clear. Across her, she tried not to look too often at Helios, who was dressed in full gear with his helmet on. He made a striking figure, and the lovely Astrid, with her clouds of blond hair and her voluptuous figure flaunted in a leather corset top, shorts, and knee-high boots, was a perfect complement.
Astrid’s gaze met hers, and the other woman’s eyes were filled with scorn. You don’t belong here.
MJ dug her nails into her palms at the look. Yes, she knew that now. In fact, it was what she had struggled to accept every minute of last night. She had remained in the study hall the entire time, her limbs frozen with the utter humiliation of Helios’ parting shot.
Only when everyone had gone and she had shut the lights off did the tears finally fall. He had hurt her. He had really hurt her, and she just couldn’t understand why. While neither of them had spoken of love in the week they had been together, MJ had really thought he at least cared for her. He couldn’t have faked it all this time. So what had changed?
It was that question which had given her the courage to face him again today, even knowing that she could be setting herself up for another dose of public shaming. It had already started when she had tried to approach Helios earlier. One of the rookie bikers stood in her way. In a shamed voice and without looking at her in the eye, the biker had mumbled, “Bikers only, I’m afraid. You need to join the volunteers at the back and watch from there.”
Those words hurt, too.
And without looking at anyone, MJ knew that everyone had heard it. Feeling their gazes on her was all she needed to know that everyone knew Helios had taken away the right for her to stand next to him.
It hurt. It...hurt.
“Serves her right.” The sneered words from one of the volunteers behind her jerked MJ back to reality. “She’s been acting too high and mighty while playing the slut in the President’s bed.”
Had she been acting like that, MJ wondered dully. All she could remember was that she had been happy the man who had changed her life wanted her to be in his. That was all she remembered. And then after that, it was just blackness.
She was so tempted to wish that she had her old life back. At least everything James did was predictable, even if there was no guarantee she would live another day. With James, she always knew what she had to do.
Lie flat. Don’t close your eyes. Keep your hair out of the way. Relax. Relax. And think.
With James, she always knew where she stood, always knew that no matter how hard she tried, he just didn’t love her.