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)
“But --”
“Be grateful I’m giving you as much as I am. I might have been the one to keep Gunnar alive when he first went on the inside, but make no mistake, I have his back as much as he has mine. Let it go.”
I sighed but nodded. “Fine.”
“Good. Now, let’s get you back in the truck and get you home.”
Chapter Three
Knuckles
There was a pressing need deep inside my soul for me to go hunting. I hadn’t been prepared for this. Not in any way imaginable. And it wasn’t just needing to hunt prey and not being able to. It was Hannah Gill. My best friend’s sister. The daughter of a man I deeply respected. She was thirty-two to my forty-five, numbers I had to remind myself of every fucking time I saw her. I knew she was trouble the second I laid eyes on her, but I hadn’t expected to watch that trouble play out in real time. I also hadn’t expected the beast inside me to rise so forcefully and violently as it had when I saw that motherfucker hit Hannah. What concerned me most was how the desire to hunt and kill the motherfucker who hit her was stunted by the overwhelming need to see exactly how badly Hannah was hurt, to do everything in my power to make it better, and to soothe and calm her fears. Then make sure no one ever fucking touched her again.
The ride to her house on a little farm outside Nashville didn’t take too long. I thought Hannah had fallen asleep but the second the truck stopped, she opened her door and stumbled out onto her driveway and toward the house.
“Hannah, wait up!” I should have known she wasn’t going to obey me. Made my hand itch to spank her ass until she did what I told her. Unfortunately, spanking her pert ass wasn’t ever going to be an option. Just meant I’d have to get creative. “Hannah!” The infuriating woman slammed the door shut just before I reached it. I heard the locks click, then her retreating footsteps. “Hannah!” I banged a fist against the door several times.
“Go away, Knuckles!” At least she was answering. The relief in my chest did nothing to ease the alarm in my brain. This wasn’t good. So fucking not good…
“Already told you I ain’t leavin’ you alone. Open up or I break the door down. Simple as that.”
There was a hesitation, and I could practically see her weighing her options. “I could call the cops.”
“Yep. You could. And when they let me out of holding later tonight, I’ll find you and handcuff you to me. Good luck shuttin’ me out then.”
As I hoped, the door opened, Hannah on the other side huffing out an irritated breath. “Fine. But don’t touch anything. And you’re sleeping on the couch.”
“My, you’re a regular little ray of sunshine now that you’re gettin’ your wits about you.” I gave her a smirk to which she responded with a scowl.
“And you’re an asshole!”
Instantly, the good humor I was trying my damndest to project snapped like too much tension on a rubber band. “This asshole saved you from a beatin’ of epic proportions, Hannah!”
She gasped and took a step back before lifting her chin and putting her shoulders back. “I would have handled it.” Her voice was tight with emotion. Mostly anger.
There was something in the back of my mind, some little voice inside my head telling me I needed to take a step back and regroup. Unfortunately, my fucking mouth didn’t get the message in time. “Looked to me like you were already trying to handle it. And failing miserably. Do you think anyone in the fuckin’ club would’ve come to your rescue?”
“Clearly, someone did.” She raised an eyebrow at me.
There was a full beat of silence before I exploded. With a ferocious roar, I pivoted and threw a haymaker at the wall, putting my fist through the drywall. “Fuckin’ hell! Have you not looked in the mirror, Hannah? That motherfucker hit you! Repeatedly! In a fuckin’ public place!” The more I yelled at her, the more out of control I was getting. None of this was her fault. None of it! Why was I taking my anger out on her? The answer was clear. Because I knew, in my fuckin’ shriveled up heart, this wasn’t the first time she’d been hit by that bastard. “If he’ll hit you so casually and viciously where others are watching and had no fear of someone callin’ the cops, where do you think he’ll stop when you’re in private? Huh? You think he’ll stop beatin’ you after you pass out? Will it be too late when he does?”
“I know exactly what he’ll do in private, Knuckles! I know exactly! And I forced the whole situation where I knew he would hit me in public!”