Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 94834 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 474(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94834 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 474(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
“Do you honestly think I’m that fucking stupid?” I roar, my jaw clenched as I allow the anger and frustration to fly free. “You’re a goddamn snake. I heard every fucking word, asshole. I know you’re one of them.”
“What . . . what are you talking about?” he spits. “One of who?”
As if right on cue, Zade’s door opens, and I instinctively take a step back into my apartment as he assesses the situation out in the hall. His laser-sharp stare makes me want to throw up. “One of them,” I say, narrowing my stare on Zade while discreetly holding my door, more than ready to slam it shut and lock the bastard out if he even thinks about inching toward me.
Dalton looks up as if only now just realizing Zade is here, and I have to give it to him, the asshole is a good actor. He blanches as he takes in Zade and almost tries to scurry away. He gets to his feet, his ferocious stare locked onto Zade. “Get the fuck away from her, you piece of shit.”
I laugh. “Wow, laying it on thick, huh?” I say.
He whips around with wide eyes, and honestly, that’s a dead giveaway right there. Who turns their back on their kidnapper? “What . . . what are you talking about?” he says through a clenched jaw, those startling blue eyes suddenly not doing anything for me.
“Cut the shit, Dalton. I heard every fucking word in that cell. I watched you walk back in and cuff yourself to the wall, listened to you joking around with Sawyer, heard your little plan to try and get information out of me. Surprise, asshole, I wasn’t asleep.”
I laugh, shaking my head as I watch his demeanor shift. The carefree, fun guy I’d met out on the street suddenly morphs into a cold, calculating asshole, just like his friends. “You’re imagining things, Firefly,” he says, his words now turning my blood cold.
Pulling on the door, I narrow the opening, feeling the sharp bite of Zade’s stare still heavily locked on me. He’s clearly the mastermind of this whole thing, but I keep my attention focused on Dalton. After all, Zade was clear in his intentions from the start. I knew to be wary of him, but Dalton? He’s a snake in sheep’s clothing. He deceived me, used my body, and then showed his real colors. “You almost had me fooled. Honestly, it was a good little act, getting me alone on that rooftop, making me crave your touch and fucking me until I couldn’t breathe, but now I’m done. You can go and play your twisted little games with someone else because I’m through with you.”
A hint of anger flashes in his eyes, but I’ve only stabbed the knife through his chest. I haven’t yet had a chance to twist it. “Hear me now, snake. If you even think about screwing with me again, I will make you wish you’d never met me.”
“Okay, you got me,” he says, stepping into the doorway, his foot positioned just right to keep me from being able to shut the door. He reaches up and grips the doorframe, looking like the fucking god I remember from the rooftop. “But be honest with yourself, you know there’s something between us. You felt it up on the roof, I know you did. And yeah, I might have told a little white lie, but don’t fuck this thing between us because of that.”
“Little white lie, huh?” I demand, a smirk settling onto my lips, and then without warning, I shoot my fist out, jabbing him right in the ribs where Sawyer had kicked him. He goes down like a sack of shit, falling out of my doorway and slamming into the wall on the opposite side of the hall, clutching his ribs. “You set me up to be kidnapped by your fucking psychopathic friends. You’re the worst of them all, a fucking snake. So yeah, there might have been something real up there on the roof, but let me be clear now. Any shred of feelings I might have had for you died in that fucking cell.”
Snapping my gaze back to Zade, I let him see the full extent of my rage. “You better watch your fucking back,” I warn him. “Nobody screws me over and gets away with it.” And with that, I slam the door between us, knowing without a doubt that I can’t possibly back down now.
Chapter 12
OAKLEY
My hands shake as I stand out on the street in front of my apartment complex on Wednesday night. I’ve just finished a long shift at Danny’s Bar, and as expected for a Wednesday, my tips were shit. Though at least I didn’t have four sets of eyes watching me all night like the rest of the week. Standing out here in the cold, I now know why.