Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 67975 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67975 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
“Cohen, not now.”
“All this fuckin’ time.”
“Not. Now.”
He glares at me, with a look that brings me more pain than I expected. He’s my best friend, and if anyone in the world should have been told the truth, it’s Cohen.
I don’t have time to explain everything to him right now, though.
He’s just going to have to hate me for a little longer.
“We’ll split up,” Bohdi says. “See what we can find.”
Samson and a few other guys follow Bohdi into the bushland, and Cohen, Kendric and I load the two men into Cohen’s truck before I get into Briella’s car with Karen and her, and we all make our way back to the club.
“You girls doin’ okay?” I ask, glancing at Karen in the rearview mirror and seeing her looking more than a little pale. “Karen?”
“I’m okay, just shaken up,” she whispers.
“Lie down, try and calm down.”
She does as I ask and lays across the back seat. I reach over and take Briella’s hand, squeezing it. “You okay, babe?”
She nods, exhaling. “One thing is for sure, I’m getting sick of running away.”
“Least you’re alive.”
“Yeah,” she whispers, staring out the window. “But is King?”
That’s a question I can’t fucking answer.
But it makes the pit in my stomach grow even bigger.
One thing at a time.
“YOU CAN’T BE FUCKIN’ serious?” Mykel barks over the Facetime call we’ve made during Church later that evening.
He has a right to be involved in this discussion, as much as anyone else in the club. It’s big news, and he needs to be filled in on how it’s all going. I’ve just told them all about King, and how he’s been alive the whole time, why he was hiding and everything about Cova, Briella’s mom, and anything else I know.
“This is fuckin’ insane,” Kendric murmurs. “How the fuck did all of this slip by without you tellin’ us?”
“You can hate me as much as you all want, but I had to do what I had to do. No fuckin’ point in goin’ on about it. King needed my protection, he had somethin’ he had to do, and that was the best option at the time.”
“You didn’t think we’d like to be told?” Cohen growls. “You didn’t think you could trust your fuckin’ club with this?”
“This ain’t about you, Cohen. Know you’re pissed, more so than anyone, but this ain’t personal.”
“Isn’t it?” he snarls, glaring at me.
“I’m not here to fight. Shit is goin’ down in a big way, and frankly, we don’t have time to worry about anythin’ else. King is missing, we’re in over our heads right now.”
“We’ve got the cop,” Cohen says, his voice still low and angry.
“What?” I ask, narrowing my eyes. “You’re only tellin’ me this now?”
“To be fair, you’ve been fuckin’ busy the last five hours savin’ your girlfriend yet again.”
“Cohen,” I warn. “You’re pushin’ my buttons.”
He glares at me but says nothing more.
“We’ve got Bennett in the location you asked for,” Bohdi tells me. “He’s secured and we’re ready when you are over there.”
“You got the fuckin’ cop?” Mykel asks over the phone. “Since when?”
“Since we needed to knock Dax’s legs out from beneath him. Bennett is his legs, and we’re goin’ to make sure he doesn’t walk steadily again, you can count on that.”
“You’re goin’ to kill him,” Mykel says, narrowing his eyes.
“Not discussin’ that over an open line.”
“So, where to from here?” Samson asks, crossing his arms.
“Dax has got King for a reason, he’s goin’ to make a demand soon. We’ve got the cop, but I’m not entirely sure he knows that yet. He’s goin’ to want to make a deal, and when he does, we’ll be ready to make it. Until then, don’t touch the cop. If we do and the deal is his safe return, we ain’t gettin’ near King. We’ll take this one step at a time.”
“Any idea when he might pop up?” Kendric asks.
“No fuckin’ clue,” I murmur. “But it’ll be soon. Until then, I want to talk to Bennett and see if we can get anything out of him. We’ve got him now, which means we don’t need that other motherfucker we captured.”
“What do you want done with him?” Samson asks.
“You know what I want done with him, the same fuckin’ thing I want done with those other two that you caught together. Fuckin’ remove them.”
Samson nods, and he and Kendric stand.
Cohen turns the phone back toward himself and tells Mykel they’ll call in later and hangs up.
He and Bohdi stand.
“We goin’ to see Bennett?” Cohen asks, his voice strained.
He’s angry.
Fucking wild.
But he knows now is not the time to make a scene.
Not with me.
“Let’s go.”
Fuck.
I pray for one fucking thing to go right.
Just one.
20
BRIELLA
“I’m with the cop,” Alarick tells me over this phone, his voice ragged like he’s been panting.
“You promised me I would be there when you spoke to him ...” I say, a little frustrated because I’ve been promised a lot of fucking things that aren’t being held up.