Total pages in book: 176
Estimated words: 167257 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 836(@200wpm)___ 669(@250wpm)___ 558(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 167257 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 836(@200wpm)___ 669(@250wpm)___ 558(@300wpm)
“I hope I didn’t catch you at a bad time,” mayor Norwood greeted from the other end of the line. “We need to talk.”
Knowing whatever it was couldn’t wait, I disconnected the call without responding and hopped on the interstate to head west.
Lunch had come and gone with no sign of Rowdy, and by the end of my shift, when he still hadn’t shown his face, I was forced to accept reality.
I was stranded at work with no ride home.
No.
Not home, just a place with four walls, a roof, and a crazy man who wouldn’t let me leave.
I was mustering the courage to ask one of the Kings for a ride since Tuesday’s shift didn’t end for hours when I got a text from Ruen.
Ruen: Got a gig 2nite. VIP + booze for moochers n tagalongs. U n?
I hesitated in the space of time it took me to remember this morning before I texted back.
Sure.
Ruen: Cool. C u 2nite.
Or sooner? I texted back. I’m sort of stranded at work and need a ride.
Ruen: ?
Long story.
Ruen: Lucky 4 you, I’m good with damsels :)
I grinned and shook my head as I texted back. Ruen was a relentless flirt but also a bit of a player.
Even better, you’re not crazy
Ruen: Get to know me
I was still figuring out how to respond to that when she sent a second text.
Ruen: ur pumpkin is on the way, Cinderella
Okay. Thx.
Ruen: U owe me
I must have read the cryptic text a hundred times, trying to figure out how to respond. I came up empty every time.
“Fuck, there you are,” I heard after ten minutes had gone by. I looked up from my phone to see a disgruntled Joren emerging from the side entrance. “I’ve been looking all over for you,” he grumbled. I was currently standing outside by the valet booth where I’d been shooting the shit with Tommy and Dre. “Come on,” Joren ordered as he started for the parking lot. “Let’s go.”
“Go?” I echoed to his retreating back. “No, sir. I’m not going anywhere with you. I’d rather joyride with Ted Bundy.”
Joren stiffened, pausing mid-step at my words. He looked more than a little irritated when he turned back to face me. He looked like someone had forced him to swallow shit.
I guess that would make me the turd.
“Look, little girl. I’m not fixing to go back and forth with you. O had some shit to take care of, so he asked me to give you a lift. You can continue to stand out here in the cold, or you can get your narrow ass in the car. Your choice.”
“Well, I think my narrow ass will take option C, but thanks anyway.”
“There is no option C,” he snapped back.
“That’s what you think.” As if God was on my side, a car I didn’t recognize turned off Temperance and pulled alongside me. I did, however, recognize the face behind the wheel of the Pontiac. I’d only seen it once before, pale and pinched as Rowdy slowly strangled the life from him.
That messy bitch had sent her friends to my rescue in her stead.
“Get in,” Ky said before rolling up the tinted window. It was so dark I couldn’t see the other occupants inside, but I had caught a glimpse of a muscular arm in the seat next to him.
“Little girl, don’t you get in that fucking car,” Joren warned.
Ignoring him, I tried the back door closest to me and found it locked. I rounded the back of the car, my eyebrows rising at the sight of the bullet-riddled paint and the missing back windshield boarded up with cardboard and plastic. It was either desperation or stubbornness that drove me to climb in anyway.
I didn’t get a chance to second guess my decision before Ky peeled away from the shop at a hair-raising speed. The reversing car swerved onto the busy street, sharply turning at the last minute and throwing me across the back seat despite my seat belt before shooting forward and racing down Temperance.
“Stop being an asshole, Ky,” the blond with the ripped arms and sad disposition scolded from the front seat.
Ky laughed mockingly before turning his head and letting his assessing gaze sweep me slowly. “You’re not afraid, are you, beautiful?”
“I’d be an idiot not to be. I don’t know you and don’t have anything to prove to you,” I said, earning a snort from Roc’s nephew, Malik.
He’d been quietly surfing on his phone next to me and hadn’t looked up once. Suffice it to say, I was surprised he was even aware of my presence.
I wondered where Britain was lurking. He was the only one of Ruen’s crew not present. And it was clear he was their leader. Well, except for Ruen. I didn’t think anyone could put a leash on her.
“Touché.” Ky faced forward before speeding through the light that was clearly red and narrowly missing getting us T-boned by a garbage truck. “Although, considering the stick you chose to ride,” he quietly mused, “I assumed you liked a little peril in your life.”