Total pages in book: 39
Estimated words: 35974 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 180(@200wpm)___ 144(@250wpm)___ 120(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 35974 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 180(@200wpm)___ 144(@250wpm)___ 120(@300wpm)
“Where you going, Knuckles?”
He held my gaze for long moments. I could almost see the wheels turning in his head, weighing his decision, going over words in his mind he thought might satisfy me. Finally, he gave me a curt nod before answering. “I confirmed Beth was the one who had my daughter kidnapped.”
“Pippa?” I pushed myself up, sitting back against the wall where the mattress head was shoved against it. “Her mother did that?”
“Yeah, baby. She did. She thought she could put pressure on me to give up my control of the heroin trade coming through the city headed north. Specifically, the shipments headed for Terre Haute, where me and Gunnar were housed.”
“So, she’s the dealer inside the prison?”
“Nah. She’s not that deep in. But she’s the one who ensures the drugs make it inside the prison for the inmates to buy and sell, or simply to move from one prison to the next. She has her hands in several underground highways running through Kentuckiana. Terre Haute is a little out of the immediate area, but Evansville is on the fringe.”
I nodded. “Yeah. Iron Tzars territory. I imagine Sting wouldn’t appreciate you passing the drug trade to someone he didn’t know and had no way to communicate with.”
He gave me a wide grin. “Smart girl.”
I rolled my eyes. “Please, Knuckles. Cain’s my father. You do remember that. Right?”
He winced and closed his eyes, scrubbing a hand over his face. “Yeah. Fuck.”
“You forgot. Didn’t you?” I deadpanned my expression.
“Hadn’t thought about it. Probably on purpose. Self-preservation and all that.”
“Yeah. You think Gunnar will be after your head, you haven’t seen anything yet.” When he didn’t say anything else, I prompted him. Because I was pretty sure he was hoping not to answer my previous question truthfully and completely. “So? What are you gonna do about Beth?”
“Kill her.”
I blinked at him. “I… wasn’t expecting you to cop to that.”
“I ain’t ever gonna lie to you, honey. Somehow, though, I don’t think you mind.”
“Not at all. Bitch deserves everything you want to dish out and then some. But if you think you’re going without me, you better think again.” I lifted my chin. “If you’re making me your old lady -- and that better be what you meant when you said you were claiming me -- then she’s going to be my daughter too.”
He raised an eyebrow at me. “That make your brother your son?” His brows knit together. “You’re his sister… so does that make him my brother-in-law?” The look of utter confusion on Knuckle’s face made me laugh. “Laugh now, you little punk. You’re just as confused as I am.”
“That’s also going to make Cain your fath -- OMP!” Knuckles clamped a hand over my mouth.
“Don’t you fuckin’ say it. No way that man is any relation to me.” He looked so horrified I had to smile.
“You’re afraid of my dad.”
“I know what that man is capable of. Even pushin’ seventy, he’s…”
“Terrifying?”
“A man not going to let his youngest daughter be given to just any fucker. He’s gonna be super protective and picky about who he makes your protector from here on out.”
I smirked. “You are scared of my father.”
“Honey, in a fight where I was tryin’ to kill him, I’d take him on without hesitation. It’d be close, but I could take him. Knowing I can’t kill him or even hurt him too bad, he’d kick my ass six ways to Sunday. Add to that he’s protectin’ his daughter? Yeah. I wouldn’t stand a chance and I ain’t too proud to admit it.”
“So, when do we leave?”
He studied me. “I’m not going to talk you out of this, huh?”
“Sorry, babe.” With an unapologetic grin, I turned his words back on him. “We do this together or not at all.”
His grin was magnificent. The times I’d seen him with Gunnar or around the clubhouse, I’d only ever observed a fierce scowl or indifference on Knuckles’s face. With me, he was different, and it warmed my heart. I had the feeling he didn’t smile often, and I was glad I could give that to him. “I’m gonna have to watch my step around you. You’ll never let me get away with anything.”
“You tore up about that?”
“Nope. Just keepin’ it in mind for when I wonder how I ended up in a situation I’m not really comfortable with just to see you smile at me.”
“Funny. I was just thinking the same thing about you.”
He shrugged. “I suppose there are relationships built on worse.”
“Look. I’m sorry if I was a bitch before. When you pulled me out after Dillon…”
“Yeah, honey. I know. And it’s not somethin’ that will ever happen again.” He gave me a stern look. “We’ll find another way to satisfy the kill. One that doesn’t get anyone hurt.”
“There was more to it than that. The guys I targeted I already knew were guilty as sin.”