Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 76812 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76812 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
"They're following us," Xan says as he makes another right turn from the outside lane, growling a curse word when the driver of the car he cut off blares their horn.
"No one is following us," I say, all the while praying someone actually is following us because I know my fate if they aren't.
Instead of heading away from where his father is, Xan does exactly as I'd expect him to do when he pulls up into the cracked driveway of a shitty house. Nathan will be pissed, but he only has himself to blame. If the man hadn't repeatedly beat the shit out of Xan to get compliance, then the man might have a better understanding that when you're being followed, it isn't best to go right where you're expected to go.
"You're going to be in so much trouble," he says as he turns the car off and climbs out.
I wait for him to come around to my side of the car rather than opening the door myself. Xan is volatile on his best days, and from the bouncing of that knee while he drove, I can easily tell today isn't his best day. The last thing I need is for him to put a bullet into the back of my head because he thinks I'm going to try to take off.
"I can't wait to watch him hurt you," my stepbrother whispers in my ear as he grabs my arm and urges me toward the front door of the house.
I lock my eyes on Beth the second I step inside the house. From my quick analysis, I can see that she's okay. The bruises forming on her face will heal much faster than the emotional trauma suffered at the hands of these two men.
Her clothes seem intact, but that's never a very good indicator of abuse. I can't count the number of times I was commanded to wash up and get dressed after one of the Adair men did horrific things to me.
"I think I've been followed," Xan says as he closes us inside the house.
"By whom?" Nathan snaps, pulling a gun from the holster strapped to his side.
The man is always armed, and I know firsthand that he's a damn good shot.
"I think someone from that biker gang," Xan says, pulling out his own gun when his father does.
"So you brought her back here?" the older man growls at him. I don't have to look at my stepbrother to know he's assessing the level of trouble he's in for the fuckup.
"I told you long ago," I say as I step closer to Beth. "He's a fucking idiot."
I do my best to sound as nonchalant as possible. Nathan wants us hard. He wants us to get hurt and beg for more. He doesn't hate anything more than weakness, and I already showed that side of me earlier today when I begged him to just forget about me.
"Are you going to let her talk to me that way, Dad?" Xan asks, sounding like a petulant child.
"Get away from the fucking window," Nathan growls, but before Xan can walk a step closer, the sound of glass breaking fills the tiny living room and Xan drops to the ground.
I don't have to look to my left to know that one of my tormentors is dead, but there isn't a rush of freedom filling me, not even with the warmth of his blood now coating my face. Xan has hurt me more times than I can count, but he's not the monster that invades my nightmares.
Beth screams because that's what sane people would do in a time like this, but even the fear escaping her throat doesn't stop the second bullet from being heard when Nathan rushes toward Beth as if he's going to issue her punishment right in front of me.
His yell of pain mingles with Beth's as he falls to the dirty floor, his gun long forgotten, as he wraps his hands around the wound in his knee.
I rush to Beth, dropping down in front of her in an effort to let her know that she's fine, that we're both fine, that somehow against all odds, we're going to make it out of this alive.
"Are you okay?" I ask, trying to get a better look at the injuries on her wrists, from the ropes they've tied her with.
She jerks at my voice, her eyes searching mine only for the briefest of seconds before she speaks.
"Get away from me," she whispers before her voice gains strength. "Get away from me! Someone get her away from me!"
She fights against her restraints as the house comes alive with people coming through the front door. Tears well in my eyes, both from relief that I didn't die today but also from the hatred I see on Beth's face when she looks at me.