Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 71444 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71444 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you, Wilson?” Hyde says darkly. “Sloppy fourths?” His laugh comes out maniacally, and the man flinches and steps back.
Wilson’s weasel face falls. I guess he’s not so keen to share pussy with the men he’s paid to control.
My limbs are frozen, and my eyes are wide and glued on the men vibrating with tension. When Wilson’s arm goes around my neck, I gasp and grip the flesh of his forearm as he hauls me into his body. “Maybe this bitch could be mine.”
Kinkaid and Hyde are a blur, crossing the room as Wilson tightens his grip. I choke as the bones of his forearm dig into my windpipe, and then I’m suddenly released.
I fall to the floor, my hands and knees hitting at the same time. Kinkaid’s voice behind me is cold as death. “You lay another fucking finger on her, and it won’t just be you we snuff out. It’ll be everyone you share blood and air with outside these walls. Do you understand me?”
I turn in time to watch him release Wilson, who stumbles forward, the baton flailing. I guess having it didn’t help him avoid Kinkaid’s grip.
Wilson’s eyes narrow to slits as his face flushes bright. “You’ve got nothing in this place. No control. No power. Nothing.” His hand rubs his throat, making his point mute. Kinkaid has enough power and control to free me and restrain Wilson.
Hyde offers me a hand, and I rise to my feet. I’m passed into Rock’s waiting arms and shiver against his solid form.
Wilson strides back out the door. His black boots ricochet off the floor like gunshots. Rock turns to watch what happens next.
The guard’s eyes scan the board games spread out on the table and the TV in the corner, the half-empty cans of soda, and half-eaten snacks. It looks like a scout camp down here rather than an illicit sex orgy.
“Don’t get too comfortable,” he growls, swiping some playing cards onto the floor. “I’ll be back. And you’ll be in the general population before you even blink, and then you’ll be mine.”
I shiver as the sinister undertone of his voice fills me with unease. The threat isn’t directed against me, but the prospect of this asshole having any kind of power to hurt Kinkaid, Hyde, and Rock makes me seethe.
When he’s left, it’s like he takes half the oxygen in the room with him. Hyde kicks the wall, and Kinkaid folds his arms across his chest. Rock lumbers to the door and listens to the asshole walk away. I wait for them to say something before responding myself.
Questions invade my mind. What would happen if I had to leave after only a day and a half? Would I get paid the full amount or a tiny proportion? Would I get in trouble? I need all the money to help my sister. I rub my throat. There’s no pain there, just an awareness of my fragility.
“We’re fucked.” Hyde paces back and forth, his motions jerky. “Wilson’s going to spill everything, and they’re going to take Lory away from us.”
“Warden will fix this. He has to. There’s no way he’ll let that asshole get one over on him.” Kinkaid’s confidence sounds genuine, but I suspect he’s gotten good at saying what it takes to soothe Hyde’s anxiety. But Wilson was mad, and madmen make foolish, uncalculated moves.
“What can Grady do to stop him from talking?”
“He must have something on the bastard. Wilson’s as dirty as they come. If he wants to keep his job, maybe that’ll be enough to keep him quiet. Maybe Grady will have to offer him a sweetener.”
It all sounds too easy to me, but Hyde takes it on board.
“This shit is getting expensive for Grady,” Hyde muses in response.
“It’s worth it to him. What we did doesn’t have a price.” Rock looks at me when he says it, wondering if Grady told me what they all did to deserve me. He didn’t, but now I wonder. Was it something violent? Something that should scare me? Whatever it was, it was big enough to take this massive risk.
Kinkaid’s solemn gaze shifts between me and Rock, the weight of his words hanging heavy in the air. “If Wilson spills, Lory might have to leave. Maybe you should take her to bed before that happens—if that’s okay with Lory.”
A flood of emotions rushes through me—unease, anticipation, a flicker of fear—but I nod. There’s an unspoken agreement, and when I glance at Rock, his cheeks flush. For such a big, burly man, he’s surprisingly bashful sometimes. He’s waited patiently, always the quiet protector, and it strikes me that he deserves his turn as much as any of the others. More than that, there’s something about being held by Rock’s solid, imposing form that feels like it’ll be reassuring, a fortress in human form.