Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 57341 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 287(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57341 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 287(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
River stepped around me, his glare fixed on Tristan. The door opened behind me, and Joey stepped in. He flashed me a warm smile that made my heart flutter in my chest before he focused his attention on the scene unfolding in front of him. “You should have fucking called me the second someone got wind of her being pregnant!” River barked at Tristan.
“Woah—what the fuck is going on?” Joey demanded as he stepped to my other side, his muscular arms crossing over his chest.
A humorless laugh spilled past River’s lips. I swallowed thickly. River angry and pissed at Tristan? I could handle it. I knew he wouldn’t hurt Tristan because River loved me too much.
Joey, though? Joey might love me, might have changed for me, but putting my life in danger drew the line for Joey. He would drop bodies regardless of the pain it caused me.
“Fucking dimwit here decided that instead of informing me that someone is after Adelaide to get to him, he would take care of shit himself. Now, the mother fucker—the only person we know that holds the answers we need—is fucking MIA, and Tristan got himself shot trying to talk to the fucker instead of getting the answers he needed and putting a goddamn bullet through the traitor’s skull.”
Joey moved to lurch forward, but River intercepted him despite the pure rage simmering in his gaze. “You hurt him, you’re fucking hurting her,” River growled at Joey.
Joey’s eyes flashed dangerously. I shifted Axel to one arm and settled my hand over Joey’s bicep. His jaw flexed as he turned to look down at me.
“I’m holding you with me,” I whispered, willing him to stay with me and to not hurt Tristan, silently begging him not to.
He leaned down and brushed his lips to my forehead. My heart squeezed in my chest. “I’m stepping out,” Joey growled, taking a step back from Tristan’s hospital bed. “River, I’ll catch up with you in a bit. I need to cool the fuck off, or I’ll be eliminating one dumb fuck from your woman’s life.”
I frowned after Joey as he stormed out of the room.
“I was trying to do fucking damage control without worrying Adelaide,” Tristan snapped at River, drawing River’s attention back to him. “I knew the second I told you, you would tell Adelaide because you just can’t keep your fucking woman out of club shit. Adelaide is too unpredictable, can’t fucking trust her to not take shit into her own hands. This is club shit.”
“This club shit involves her!” River roared at him, stepping back from me as he started losing his cool.
I reached out to River, gripping his cut. He swung his burning, blue eyes to me. “Stay with me,” I pleaded.
He drew in a deep breath, nodding once at me before he turned his attention back to Tristan.
“Fucking hell, Tristan, I tell Adelaide shit because if she knows, then she can take necessary measures on her part to keep herself safe, and she won’t feel fucking trapped when I do what I have to do so that she’s protected,” River growled, but he wasn’t shouting anymore. “You still haven’t grasped that fucking concept when it comes to her. Keeping her in the dark about shit will only get her stuck in the same fucking position she got herself into a year ago, or it’ll send her back into that same fucking hole she got into with Joey.”
“River…” I called softly. His words were cutting me, no matter how true they were. I was doing my damnest to not be that woman anymore, and he knew that.
River shook his head at me, his blue eyes blazing with rage. I swallowed thickly. “Nah, darlin’, he needs to hear this shit. You and everyone else has sugar-coated this shit way too much. Yes, you made some dumb ass decisions on your part, but Tristan played a fucking hand, too. I don’t give a fucking shit how close you two are. I will never trust him to keep you safe because he just can’t seem to fucking understand how to do it.”
Axel began crying in my arms, and I bounced him gently, quieting his cries. “Watch yourself, River,” I warned him, my guard going up hard against him to protect myself.
River stepped up close to me, his hands clamping down on my hips when I tried to take a step back from him. His grip held me in place. “Remember what I told you?” he asked. “I will never lash out at you, Adelaide. But you and Tristan are extremely toxic for each other. I promised you that I would never make you choose between me and someone else, and I’m not going to, but I will step in when it’s necessary to make sure that you, Axel, and our unborn baby are safe, and right now, Tristan needs to understand that this was a dumb ass fucking decision on his part. He put you in grave danger. It’s not just you that all of us have to worry about anymore. You’re pregnant, and you’re Axel’s mom. He should have been thinking clearer instead of being prideful and deciding to not reach out for help.”