Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 76319 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76319 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
“He has a different way of going about things.”
I snap my eyes to hers. “I hate Nash for what he did to you.”
She shakes her head, tears renewed on her lashes.
“Don’t hate him,” she begs. “I hurt him as much as he was forced to hurt me.”
I keep my mouth shut. I’m no fucking expert on knowing how people should respond to their own trauma, but looking at him with hope the way she did back at the house doesn’t seem like a smart plan.
Eventually, we get to the point where we can’t hold our eyes open, and after one more quick hug, I crawl in between the sheets somehow hating the fresh scent of the linens and their softness against my skin.
I feel like I should be punished rather than wrapped in comfort. I’ve been taking my life for granted, feeling bored, all the while Ayla has been suffering unmentionable pain and humiliation. What would bring me to my knees has left her standing tall and resilient.
Chapter 8
Donavan
I take risks every day. Some days I’m in the mood to mitigate the chance of dying, but for the most part, I couldn’t care less if any given day could be my last. I defied death once, and where did it get me? I haven’t been able to outrun my demons no matter how much distance I put between Chicago and me. Hell, my sister still somehow ended up right exactly where I am. I realized there’s no escaping destiny.
The fact that I’m still in Lindell, parked outside of the hotel I followed Alani and her sister to last night, should be cause for concern.
Hell, Cerberus is watching me while I keep my eyes locked on the front door, but I’m not the only one who had this idea.
Nash’s pitiful ass is here too, looking like a lost fucking puppy who got smacked with a rolled-up newspaper for pissing on the floor. How he’s not licking that woman’s blood from his fingers after what she did to him, I’ll never understand.
But then again, vengeance doesn’t ever bring back the things that have been lost. I know from firsthand experience. Marcello and Alessio’s deaths brought no peace. If anything, the effort of going to Chicago was wasted. If it hadn’t been for Madelene’s abduction, I wouldn’t have expended the energy. I severed ties and thought I had erased all semblance of loyalty to my family years ago. But that tiny part of me, the man who remembers the love I felt at home despite the hell I was going through with the Severino family, pulled me in to help. Vengeance, though, was my number one priority.
One of the Cerberus members goes to Nash’s vehicle and speaks with him. I feel both pairs of their eyes look in my direction, but I pay them no mind. They don’t exactly seem annoyed enough with my presence to confront me, but I’d be a fool to think they’d just let me walk into that fucking hotel unchecked.
When the biker finishes his conversation with Nash, I watch him walk back and stand sentry at the front door. He looks casual enough, but I know he’d put a clip of metal in my ass if I attempted to walk past him.
I spot Nash climbing out of his truck, but instead of him approaching me, he diverts his path and walks right past the man and through the front door of the hotel. I know I won’t be afforded the same luxury. Nash was hurt and tortured for weeks. It gives him a pass.
I’m the man that stuck a stick in the fucking hornet’s nest that’s the Cerberus MC, and that’s not something that will be forgiven easily, if ever.
It isn’t long before the front doors slide back open and much to my surprise, Ayla and her sister come out, walking beside Nash rather than being escorted by a member of Cerberus. Maybe the man has more power over the club than I initially thought.
As Alani looks all around the parking lot, I let myself believe that she’s looking for me. When she actually sweeps her eyes in my direction, she looks pissed.
She mouths a curse word before determined legs carry her in my direction. I sit a little straighter in my truck, watching the bounce of her fucking perfect tits as she approaches, surprising me when she tugs open the passenger side door rather than confronting me from the driver’s side.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” she yells the second she climbs inside.
As much as I want my hand around her throat, her angry breaths on my skin, I lock my eyes on the Cerberus man still standing in front of the hotel. It’s a real possibility I’ll slit his throat if he even thinks to interrupt her little tantrum.