Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 107118 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 428(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107118 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 428(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
“My husband is not a beast!” Maddie snapped. I tensed at her words. It was the most feisty statement I had ever heard from her mouth.
“I . . . I wasn’t.” I leaned forward. “It’s a saying, darlin’. I wasn’t actually calling him a beast.”
Maddie’s green eyes stayed locked on me as she read my face. Apparently sensing I was telling the truth, she relaxed. “Then he is well, thank you,” she eventually said and again returned to her stitching.
“I didn’t mean to offend, Madds. I was simply asking how it was, being with him. You seem . . . you both seem so happy.” They were, from what I’d seen. They were rarely at the bar, but when they were, she never left his side. His big arm was always holding her, like she was his anchor. He adored her, and she him. It truly was fucking beautiful to see.
Maddie gave a small smile but continued with her sewing. I knew that was all I was getting from her.
“More tea, Sia?” Lilah asked as she rose from the table. “Grace returns from school soon, so it’ll have to be our last, ladies. Slash will be coming to take me to collect her.”
All the others agreed, but I was barely listening. My hand tapped on my knee. I couldn’t take this. I had to get out of here. That swirl in my stomach, as destructive as a whirlpool, sank further and further south until it began to consume me. I tried to breathe, but it switched north to my lungs, swallowing the air inside them.
“Sia?” Lilah was watching me. Unable to sit still, trying to escape the all too familiar feeling of falling apart, I jumped to my feet.
“I . . .” I rubbed at my chest and bolted for the door. “Sorry. I gotta go.”
I burst out of the cabin onto the grass. I ran into the woods that led to the compound, just in case someone tried to follow me. I took shelter against a large tree. Bracing my hands on my knees, I tried to breathe deeply . . .
“You’ll wear the red dress, bella. I like you best in red.” I stared at the dress. It was beautiful. No doubt expensive. But all I saw was a cage. Only the bars weren’t made of iron, but of satin and lace.
Juan gripped my face and yanked my head towards his. His grip was so hard that I whimpered. “You will wear the dress. Yes?”
“Yes.” I forced a smile. His eyes flared at my submissiveness. Releasing my face, he moved around me. I clutched tightly to the dress in my hands like a lifeline. My eyes closed as he circled my naked body until he stopped at my back. I winced when his finger ran over my shoulder . . . over the tattoo he’d had branded on my skin that morning.
“Mmm,” he murmured, pressing a kiss on the still-raw flesh. “Mine, bella . . . mi rosa negra . . .”
I gasped, trying to the shake the fucked-up memory from my head. I knew it was because I’d been away from my ranch for too long. Doing nothing but grocery shopping, drinking tea, cooking, baking, and caring for Grace wasn’t enough to occupy my busy mind. I needed the laborious work the ranch provided. I needed to be so exhausted by the end of the day that I fell into a deep enough sleep to ensure the nightmares didn’t return.
I ran my hand down my face, knowing my eyes wore dark circles as if they were the newest fashion from Paris. I needed my horses. Needed the comfort they gave me. I needed my familiar little ranch house with its creaks and groans. I needed the aches in my muscles and the smell of leather soap permeating the air.
Here, I got no sleep.
Here, I didn’t fit in.
I was fucking done.
Launching into a steady jog, I ran all the way to the compound, knowing that was where I would find my brother. I burst through the door off the yard and beelined toward the clubhouse bar. You ever needed a Hangman? If they weren’t on a run or at church, they were slamming back shots or fucking pussy in the clubhouse.
I opened the door of the bar to see all the brothers sitting around. Their eyes fell on me. “Sorry, darlin’,” Bull said. “No bitches in here unless it’s during the permitted times.”
I swung to face what looked like three hundred pounds of Samoan and cocked my head. “Yeah? Well, lucky for you, big boy, I ain’t no fucking bitch.” I walked close to his folded arms. “Unless you piss me off. In which case I can be the baddest bitch you ever saw.”
Bull’s surprised eyebrows pulled down. He was about to say something when I heard my brother’s usual curt voice shout, “Sia!”