Total pages in book: 169
Estimated words: 167671 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 838(@200wpm)___ 671(@250wpm)___ 559(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 167671 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 838(@200wpm)___ 671(@250wpm)___ 559(@300wpm)
“What’s up?”
His darkening gaze makes me realize this is serious business.
“Last night, your mom’s men found bones buried in the woods near the house.” His penetrative stare forces me to sit down. “Human bones.” He squints but I stare him down. “Do you happen to know anything about that?”
I shrug. “I don’t fucking know what y’all are up to. What’s it got to do with me?”
“Silas …” he grits. “Don’t lie to me.”
“Lie about what?”
He rolls his eyes. “You think I don’t know what you do? How long do you think we’ve been cleaning up after you?”
I swallow away the nerves.
Fuck.
Was it that obvious?
He grabs a cigarette and lights it right here in the room, taking a deep drag. “You’re callous.”
“It’s gone, isn’t it? No one fucking saw.”
“Our men saw,” he says, taking another drag. “And they will pin this on you if they ever go to the cops.”
“Then I’ll kill ’em too.” I shrug.
His jaw tenses. “It’s not that easy.”
“Yes, it is.” I tilt my head. “They’re your men. If you can’t trust them … why are they near our family?”
He takes another deep drag, staring me down like he’s disappointed in me.
But we both know why I am the way I am.
“Who was it?”
“A nobody,” I respond.
“Where did you find him?”
“Why does it matter?”
“Because I need to know if there are any loose ends,” he grits, slamming his fist on the table. “Goddammit, Silas. I told you to be more careful.”
I look away. “I took care of it.”
“And my men had to clean up after the mess you left,” he says. “That’s not going to happen again, do you hear me? You can’t jeopardize your mother like this. What if the cops find out?”
“They won’t,” I retort. “Because you’ll take care of it.”
His nostrils flare and it takes him a while to respond. “No. Not anymore.”
I frown. “What?”
“You.” He points at me. “You will stop.”
I clutch the chair’s elbow rests. “No.”
He can’t ask this of me. He knows why I do this.
“Yes,” he reiterates. “You will.”
I stand and kick the chair away. “The fuck I will!”
“You have no choice.” He takes another drag before marching over to me and grabbing me by the collar of my shirt. “Stop playing around. This isn’t some fucking game, kid. You take the wrong guy, and you’re done for. Over. You don’t know the kind of monsters that live in this fucking city and what they do to protect their own. Your mother and I have been fighting tooth and nail to keep our kids protected, and goddammit, I won’t let you screw this up.”
“I need this,” I say through gritted teeth.
“Take out your anger on something else,” he says, grabbing my shoulders instead. “Go to a shooting range. Go join an axe-throwing group. Fuck, you can even join that dojo that friend of Heath’s father owns. What’s his fucking name … Blaine Navarro. He’ll give you something to take your anger out on and let it go.”
I jerk free of his grip. “I don’t want to fucking let it go.” I laugh out loud. “You think I do this because I’m angry?”
“Silas …”
“No, you don’t get to give me this talk. I fucking know what you and Mom did back in your days.”
Shock riddles his eyes.
“Yeah, Heath told me about his father’s big shoot-out at the Torres casino, one in which you took part. You act like you’re some goddamn good guy, but you’re not.”
“I never said I was, but I did it for the right reasons.”
“Fuck the right reasons,” I spit back. “I don’t need a reason to kill.”
I turn around and storm toward the door.
“Silas, you’re not going to dump any more bodies on my property, do you understand?”
I pause as I grip the door, my nails digging into the wood. “I am this way because of you.”
And I bolt down the stairs before he can say anything else.
CHAPTER 25
Ivy
As I walk through Spine Ridge University’s main building after my classes are all done, Aspen hails me and drags me into the friends group.
“Finally, I found you. Where’ve you been?” Aspen asks. “Thought you’d ghosted on me.”
“Sorry, I got carried away with … work.” I chuckle. “But you can PM me anytime.”
I hold up my phone and show her my profiles.
“Oh, I’m gonna add you,” Xavier says as he butts in. “Never hurts to add another lady.” He makes click-clacking noises with his tongue.
Aspen grumbles with embarrassment. “Jesus, Xav.”
“What? A man’s got needs.”
“I thought you had the hots for Sunny—”
He smashes his hand in front of my mouth, shushing me. “Don’t. Don’t ever say that out loud again.”
I make a face when he finally removes his hand. “Okay, sorry.”
“Ignore him. She does the same,” Aspen says, rolling her eyes.
“Hey, she’s not ignoring me. We just haven’t … talked. At all. Yet.” He shrugs.