Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 57707 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 289(@200wpm)___ 231(@250wpm)___ 192(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57707 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 289(@200wpm)___ 231(@250wpm)___ 192(@300wpm)
“Oh yeah?”
“A Trentini man is willingly walking onto a property I own. It’s a property where I have surveillance.”
“Holy shit,” Tank whispers. “Are you sure about this? With a Family like them, we can’t go in half-cocked.”
I think about those three kids. The Vegas guys probably went to extra lengths to make them look rough, but it doesn’t change what they did.
“If I’d had it in me to beat the hell out of three kids tonight, I’d have all the money I could dream of,” I say.
“They put you against kids?”
“They’re sick, and they’ve been dragging me down just by being near them. They’re scumbags. They drug women. They don’t give a damn.”
My voice is getting louder as the rage in me boils over. That prick had plans for Maya, and none of them were good. Nobody gets to treat her that way. Nobody gets to hurt her. Nobody gets to threaten her. I just won’t let it happen, ever.
With all this mayhem swirling through me, I don’t have it in me to question it. I want to keep her safe.
“We can fight back,” Tank says.
“I’m ready,” I growl.
“And the home?”
I swallow, thinking of the dogs. “I’ll make it work. Get me a contact for those firearms.”
“Ooh-rah.”
“I’ll pick them up from the safe house.”
“What, now?”
“I won’t be sleeping tonight. Will you?”
“Not now,” he laughs savagely. “Wilco.”
I hang up. This is all a huge risk, but the way people get sucked into the grimy underworld is by letting things slip bit by bit. Then, before a man knows it, he’s forgotten who he is. I hurt people for the Mob. I did terrible things, worse than just hurt them, but I always drew the line. Raffie should’ve taken that seriously. I couldn’t live with myself if I let this fly.
Not kids, dammit. Raffie should’ve known that. We were both getting our asses kicked when we were kids. We both knew how unfair it was, how much bigger they were. After riding our bikes and sitting on the hill, he’d say, “When I’m bigger…” Then he goes and throws me in there against … But that was crap anyway. He got bigger, and he still took his beatings like the coward he was.
It’s not him. It’s me. It came from my selfishness: my ego, thinking I could make a difference. I love dogs so damn much, but I can’t let this pass. They were dealing with a desperate man before. Now they’re dealing with a cold operator.
Ooh-rah.
I need to find a way to get Maya somewhere safe. Strange, that thought hits me, but there it is. If I’m going to be cold, I need to be cold about that situation, too. I feel something for her. There’s a stirring in me. The physical hunger is borderline feral. I get hard just thinking about her, especially tonight with her dress hugging her fine, thick body.
Yet it goes deeper than that. She’s tough. She’s honest. She’s good, but she’s too innocent for this world. I can’t let myself …
I have to remember Vanessa. Sure, it was different with her. I never felt like this, whatever it is. It was more … what? Forced? It was twisted. It was wrong. That’s why I have to keep to the path.
I’ll stay in my lane—the Good Samaritan doing a woman a favor. That’s it.
A minute later, I get a text. It’s from Maya. All my employees have my cell in case of emergencies.
Can I still come to work tomorrow?
Using voice-to-text, I reply, It’s Saturday. You can stay home.
I want to earn my keep, she replies. I need to pay Mom’s nurses. So it’s her mom who’s sick.
I pull up at the side of the road, taking out my phone. I know she’s still feeling hazy. I only left her thirty or so minutes ago.
I’m sorry about your mom.
It’s fine. She just hasn’t got long left. That’s the truth. I wouldn’t say this or even type it usually, but tonight is weird. You’re weird, Tristan. Marine. Dogman. Underground fighter.
That’s not who I am, I reply.
Who are you, then?
I stare at the words for a long time, unsure how to reply. I’m just trying to do the right thing.
You wouldn’t have been doing that fight unless you needed the money, right? You’re bankrupting yourself to pay me.
No, I’m not, I type quickly, but in the back of my head, Tank’s there, telling me the same thing. You’re a hard worker. See you tomorrow.
It’s the opposite of what I should be telling her. I can’t take in every stray with a sob story, but there’s just something about Maya. I can’t let her go, knowing it would mean her life imploding.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
MAYA
“Thanks for agreeing to stay,” I tell Lacey at the door, shouldering my bag. A cold shower and two coffees have made me feel just about human, but the effects of last night still linger. It all feels so surreal: the fight, the drugging, the ride home. However, the texts prove it all happened. “I know it’s a lot.”