Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 78237 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78237 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
“Yeah,” he nods. “All right. Thanks again, young man,” he says to me and ambles back to his cruiser, the load on his shoulders now heavier than ever. He turns back to us and gestures to the dead body on the ground. “I don’t know anything about this, okay?”
Ace says, “About what?”
With a nod, Doherty gets back in his police car and drives off when the back door of the clubhouse opens, and Dix steps out. “Did I hear gunfire?” He looks down and sees Briseno bleeding out on the ground. “Shit. Fuck. What the fuck? I’m not getting rid of this one. That shit stinks.”
Ace nods. “Yeah, you will. Make it look like he disappeared. Take his car to the long-term parking garage at LAX. I want it found in a few days, leaving more questions than answers, got it?”
“God, I hate you sometimes,” Dix grumbles. “I’ll take Tank and Lucky with me.” He whistles and calls for the prospects, who come running quickly. “Clean up duty. Again,” he grins.
We all head inside while Dix and the prospects take care of Briseno, and I stop to check on Maven, knocking on the door before I unlock it and step inside.
“You all right?” I ask, but she’s just sitting on the bed, staring off into space. “Maven?” I say a little louder, and she finally looks at me.
“What the fuck do you think? You kidnapped me and locked me up in a dungeon, so I’m just fucking peachy,” she says, crossing her arms over her chest.
“It’s not a dungeon, it’s a bedroom. And you’re not a prisoner. You’re my…guest.” I say, coming further into the room and leaning on the doorjamb.
Okay, so she’s still upset, and honestly, I can’t blame her, but this is where we are right now. “This will be over as soon as you tell us what you know, Maven.”
She growls and picks up something from the nightstand only to hurl it toward the door and my head.
I duck just in time, and it narrowly misses me as it smashes into the door, shattering into pieces.
“Maven!” I exclaim, jumping out of the way. “I know you’re mad, but you need to calm down.”
She stands up from the bed and comes toward me, poking me in the chest. “Calm down? You want me to calm down? How do you expect me to calm down when you’ve kidnapped me and locked me up in here like some kind of animal!”
I grab her wrists to stop her from hitting me, and she tries to pull away, but I hold her firm. “I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry this happened, but it’s not like I had a choice.”
She finally stops struggling and looks up at me, her eyes blazing with anger. “And what about my choice? What about my business? I'm going to lose everything sitting here in this dump.”
“You’re not going to lose anything. Your shop is open. We talked to Willow, and she agreed to open up. We have one of our guys, Preacher, there to keep her and your business safe.”
Maven shakes her head and slams her eyes shut. “I don’t want to hear it, Wilder. The only thing I want to hear from you is that I’m going home.”
“I can’t do that, Maven. I’m sorry.” I say, and she opens her eyes to look at me.
“Why? What the hell do you want from me?” she asks, and I can see the frustration in her eyes.
“I want you safe! Until we know what’s going on with Cyrus and the Kings, you’re a target now.” I huff. Jeez, this woman is relentless. “I can’t let anything happen to you, Maven. You’re too important.”
“And why am I so important?” she asks. “Why me?”
“Because you know something that we don’t, and Cyrus wants to make sure that you don’t talk.”
“But I don’t know anything!”
“Goodnight, Maven,” I say, turning off the light and closing the door behind me.
A loud thud sounds against the door, and I grin. She’s feisty as hell, but right now, she’s a pain in my ass.
Chapter Nine
Maven
I can't believe this is happening. One day I’m just a regular person going about my business, and the next, I'm stuck in some stinky bedroom waiting for God knows what.
According to Wilder, I'll be here until I tell the Reckless Souls what I know—which is nothing.
So that means I need to find a way out.
Now.
There are two windows in the room, but for some reason, they’re covered with bars. Prison bars.
I check the bathroom. Yep. Bars in there too.
And the bathroom window is too small for my fat ass anyway.
There is no way out of his hellhole, and I drop back down on the bed, feeling utterly helpless and defeated. Worse? There’s no way out of this for me because I truly know nothing about Cyrus or his double life. If I knew then what I know now, I would have gotten away sooner, long before my heart got itself tangled up with him and his lies.