Total pages in book: 39
Estimated words: 35974 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 180(@200wpm)___ 144(@250wpm)___ 120(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 35974 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 180(@200wpm)___ 144(@250wpm)___ 120(@300wpm)
Somehow, I managed to roll over on my stomach and push myself at least part way off the floor. Sure enough, I vomited in an explosive rush. A whimper escaped me when the very last thing I wanted to do was show weakness to not only Dillon, but every motherfucker in this stupid club. I might die right here on this funky-ass floor, but I would do it in silence. Well, except for the retching.
The noise around me was gradually drowned out by the roaring in my ears as I vomited again. Just as I was about to collapse in my own puke, someone wrapped a beefy arm around my waist and pulled me off the floor to my knees.
“Easy there, girl. You’re OK.”
“Get… off… me.” I could barely gasp my words, but I didn’t want anyone touching me.
“I ain’t gonna hurt you, honey. Just tryin’ to get you off the floor.” The guy’s voice was deep and gruff. Not like Dillon’s. And shockingly familiar. I was afraid to look up at him out of fear I was right, and I knew who this guy was. I was also afraid maybe I was dreaming, and it was Dillon. And he was going to finally beat me to death.
“I’ll call Pain and tell him we’ll meet him in the infirmary,” a second man said. I couldn’t get a good look at any of them because my eyes were blurry from the blow to my head and the tears streaming from them after puking my guts up.
“Knight gettin’ the cage?”
“Yeah. Glad you decided not to ride to this meeting.”
“Something felt off from the start. Still feels off. I thought we might need the extra cover if there was too much trouble. Wasn’t plannin’ on this kind a’ trouble, though.”
I turned my head to look up at the guy. Again, he was sickeningly familiar, but my eyes refused to focus on the large blob looking back at me. And honestly, I didn’t want to confirm what I knew in my heart was true. The man who’d come to my rescue was fucking Knuckles. “Don’t want to be no one’s trouble.” It was embarrassing how sulky I sounded. And how hurt.
“Poor choice of words, honey. I’m glad I was prepared ’cause you ain’t in no shape to ride a bike, and no way in hell I’m leavin’ you here for any fuckin’ reason.”
“If you could just help me home, I promise I won’t be any more of a bother.”
“Like fuck.” Knuckles scooped me up in his arms. The guy was freakishly strong, because he picked me up in a deadlift before settling me against his chest with one arm around my back and the other under my legs. He might have been picking up a gallon of milk for all the effort it took him. “I’m takin’ you home with me. Pain’ll take a look at you. You might be hurt worse than you realize.”
“Where’s Dillon?” I couldn’t help the question.
I realized it was a mistake to say Dillon’s name when Knuckles stiffened around me. “Dillon.” He spat out the name like it left a bad taste in his mouth. “I hope you’re talkin’ ‘bout your pet chihuahua and not the motherfucker who hit you.”
I sighed. “Look,” I said in a soft voice for Knuckle’s ears alone. “You know as well as I do, you can’t disappear him now. Too many people saw the fight.”
He took me out of the club in long, confident strides. I clung to him, ducking my head but resisting the temptation to bury my face in his chest. That would be too embarrassing for words. Especially when he was my twin’s best friend.
“Fully aware of how to carry out a hit, sweetheart.” His voice was as soft as mine had been when he spoke to me. “You know he’s gonna die. If not by my hand, by Gunnar’s.”
“No!” My heart pounded at the thought of Gunnar killing to protect me. “Not again.” The last two words were said in a whimper. I struggled to get out of Knuckles’s hold, but I might as well not have tried. I wasn’t going anywhere Knuckles didn’t want me going.
“Trust me to know what I’m doin’, Hannah. Ain’t no one goin’ back to prison. I made a promise to myself after I killed the motherfuckers who hurt my sister, I wouldn’t do anything like that without a plan ever again. Not because I regret what I did, but because I took action without a plan firmly in place to buffer the fallout.” He met my gaze with a steady one of his own. “Make no mistake, baby, Dillon’s gonna die. But not before I’m ready.”
Knuckles slid into the back seat of some kind of SUV. My vision still wasn’t right. Probably because one eye was starting to swell where Dillon had backhanded me with the first blow. The car door shut, then a few moments later, we sped off.