Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 37111 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 186(@200wpm)___ 148(@250wpm)___ 124(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 37111 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 186(@200wpm)___ 148(@250wpm)___ 124(@300wpm)
Sting’s face hardened. “I see.”
Warlock sighed, scrubbing a hand over his face as if it were just one more nail in his coffin. “Is that true, Bev? Has all this been some elaborate long con to get information about the club?”
She shrugged. “Conspiracies. Sword obviously got them to believe a lot of things about me, and Chloe is simply helping them buy into me being the bad guy here. They’re the ones who’ve kidnapped my daughter! It’s your duty to bring her home!”
Warlock and Chloe looked at each other a long time. Neither said a word, but I got the feeling there was a wealth of communication going on. “I don’t think so.” Warlock met my gaze again. “You take care of her. She’s right. I tried to keep my distance from her, too. But I always watched out for her. It was the only reason I let Bev talk her into coming to the clubhouse to meet Sting. I knew my son would take care of Chloe, too.”
“Well, thanks,” I said with a little sarcastic sneer. “But you can’t have her. She’s mine.”
Sting raised his hands. “Ain’t sayin’ it woulda been hard to make her my ol’ lady. But if she’s happy, I’m not going to take her away from you.”
“The hell you’re not!” Bev rounded on Sting, crossing in front of Warlock. “You’re going to get my daughter and you’re going to make her your ol’ lady. Then you’re going to welcome Warlock back into the family, and we’re all going home!”
“That’s enough!” Sting dismounted his bike and stomped toward Bev. Instead of backing off, the other woman lunged for him. Too late, I realized what she’d done.
Bev snagged Sting’s gun in the holster at his hip. He’d unsnapped the strap securing his weapon for ease of use, and Bev had known he’d prepare. I called out a warning just as Bev took aim at Chloe and fired. I tried to dart in front of her, but something knocked me out of the way in a full-on body tackle. With a roar, Sword flung his body between Bev and Chloe, flattening me in the process. The gun went off just as he hit me. His body jerked with the impact of the bullet, knocking him to his back on the ground. Chloe screamed as several men from Bones surrounded us, all of them pulling their weapons but not firing. They were too well-trained for that. They wouldn’t pull the trigger unless Cain gave the order.
Warlock had Bev’s gun hand above her head, his other arm around her body, pinning her other arm to her side and her body to his. He looked at Sting, who shook his head slightly, then reached for the gun in Bev’s hand, taking it from her. All the while, Bev screamed obscenities at them both.
“I’ll make sure you both go to fucking prison! Let me go, you bastard!”
“Stop struggling.” Warlock didn’t sound winded or strained in the least. “Why would you think you could send us to prison?”
“Because that’s my job!” She spat the words. “You don’t honestly think I stayed with you all this time because I liked your company, do you? Heaven knows you’re not a good fuck. I was tasked with finding out what your stupid club does with the people you hunt down. We know you kill them. That makes you all serial killers!”
“I thought you were looking into Argent Tech.” Sword sounded pained and hadn’t gotten off the ground, but it was clear he wanted to know what this was all about, too.
“They were. With ExFil. Someone at Argent found out and warned them off or something. I don’t know. Don’t care. I do what they tell me to.”
“They?” Cain took a step toward Bev.
“The feds. CIA. FBI. ATF. Whatever.”
“How much are they paying you?” Sting now crossed to stand beside Cain, both men between Bones and Iron Tzars. Bev and Warlock stood between the Tzars and Bones.
At first, Bev refused to say anything. She just stuck her chin up stubbornly. Then Warlock slid his hand up her body to circle her throat, squeezing. I winced and glanced at Chloe who, surprisingly, was beside Sword on the ground, holding pressure to the wound in his shoulder. Her face could have been made from stone.
“How much, Bev?” Warlock’s voice could have been a caress had he not started to squeeze the woman’s throat like he meant business.
Bev struggled, her free hand going to Warlock’s big, muscled arm. “Three thousand a month,” she got out. “Three thousand!”
Warlock let up on her, then wrapped his arms back around her, taking her arms with him to pin against her body again. If the situation had been different, it would have looked like he was embracing her instead of restraining her. His face was at her neck as he whispered something into her ear. She shivered, but I didn’t think it was with arousal. She suddenly looked terrified.