Total pages in book: 227
Estimated words: 220940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1105(@200wpm)___ 884(@250wpm)___ 736(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 220940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1105(@200wpm)___ 884(@250wpm)___ 736(@300wpm)
“So don’t tell me you don’t know the asshole I just found assaulting you. Who is he? An ex?”
“I didn’t know him,” she grates. “And in case you’ve forgotten, I was a fucking virgin until I caved to your charms.”
The sting is very real, as is the shame. And doesn’t that amplify the anger? So who? Is her family looking for her? No parents. They’re dead. What the fuck isn’t she telling me? “I don’t believe you.”
“Believe what you damn well please, Brad. I’m done with you.” She barges past me, and instinct has me reaching for her arm, grabbing her.
“You will never be done with me.”
She stills, staring at the air before her.
“And I’m not done with you, Pearl.” I turn her, going against my common sense but following that stupid fucking instinct. She looks up at me, and something kicks in my chest.
Stupid.
Fucking.
Heart.
Her lip trembles, her eyes glaze over, as she shakes her head. I lower my mouth to hers. “Tell me to stop,” I whisper, her head still mildly shaking but her mouth not speaking the word I need. “Tell me to stop, Pearl,” I repeat, a whisper away from her lips, my body flush with hers. She leans into me.
“I want to,” she breathes. “I want to say no so badly.”
“But you can’t.” I know the fucking feeling.
“I can’t,” she confirms, brushing against my mouth, exhaling her relief, softening against me.
The door flies open, and I fly back, dazed.
“Boss,” Nolan says, looking between us. “Are you all right?”
I take way too long to find my sense and my words. Pearl steps away from me, tucking her hair behind her ear. God help me.
I point down the alley, clearing my throat. “Pearl came out for some air and got mugged.”
“Fuck,” Nolan curses, all attention on Pearl, which is fine by me. She seems to have composed herself a lot faster than I have. “Are you okay?” Nolan goes to her, hands on her upper arms, dipping to check her face. The beast inside growls. Jesus Christ. I stuff my hands in my pockets to stop myself dragging Nolan off her and start pacing down the alley, my back turned while Nolan fusses over her.
“I’m fine,” Pearl says. “Really.”
“Brad, y—”
“Get inside the club, Pearl,” I order curtly.
“Brad, that car,” Pearl says, ignoring my demand.
I see it parked up the alley. “What about it?” I frown when the headlights come on. And my blood runs cold when the engine comes to life. “Fuck,” I whisper, backing up, eyes on the car as it kicks up smoke, screeching as it pulls off. “Get in the club!” I turn and run back toward them, seeing Pearl backing up, but not nearly fast enough. “Pearl, get your fucking ass inside!”
“Shit, Boss,” Nolan yells, pulling a gun from his pants as I feel for mine with one hand and pat around in my pocket for the magazine that I discarded earlier. I’m an optimistic man but running full pelt while trying to load a gun isn’t an easy feat, especially when you’ve got a car speeding toward you. “Window’s down,” Nolan yells, aiming.
“Pearl, get in the fucking club!”
She scrambles for the handle, her panicked attention split between me and the door. I look over my shoulder. Mentally calculate the distance between me and the car and me and Pearl. I drop my gun, the magazine, and pick up my pace.
“There’s a gun!” Nolan yells.
“Fucking shoot,” I bellow as gunfire rings out behind me.
Nolan ducks, getting himself behind a trashcan. But Pearl? She’s a sitting fucking duck, still trying to get in the club.
“Brad!” Nolan shouts.
I look back, flinching when a bullet sails past. “Fucking hell,” I breathe, literally running for my fucking life. And Pearl’s. As soon as I make it to her, I pull her away from the door and yank her into me a second before endless bullets sink into the metal.
“Oh my God,” she gasps, making herself small in my chest as I pick her up and run for cover. I feel a sharp pain slam into the back of my arm. For fuck’s sake. I look down, seeing Pearl’s shoulder around the same place but on the front of my body, and in a panic, I wrench her away, checking to see if the bullet exited my arm and sank itself into her shoulder.
“Pearl,” I breathe, scanning her body for blood and her face for pain.
She blinks. “You’re bleeding,” she whispers, automatically feeling at the wound.
I hiss, pain searing through me. “Yeah, gorgeous, don’t touch it.” I pull her back into my chest and look for Nolan.
And lose my breath when I see him on the ground. “No,” I whisper, looking up the alley, seeing the car practically on two wheels as it takes the corner, smoke billowing up from the tires. “Get inside.” I release Pearl and pull the door open, shoving her in. “Get Danny.”