Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 82824 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82824 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
I knew nothing of siblings. Hell, I knew nothing of friends. But I could imagine. I could imagine that bond. I could imagine the kind of gut-twisting horror you would have inside when you realized someone you loved was at the hands of Lex Keith.
No wonder he was willing to go through with the deal even though he didn't deal in women.
I looked back up, knowing there was a small piece of my heart in my eyes. “What do you need from me?”
“I need to know what you have on him,” he answered immediately.
I nodded, reaching up toward the collar of the sweatshirt and reaching in, grabbing the chain I had worn around my neck for so long that I barely even realized it was there anymore. I slipped it over my head, holding it out and watching as Breaker's big, scarred hand took it.
“A key?” he asked.
“Locker key,” I answered, nodding. “To that gym on Willow.”
At this, his brow went up. “The gym on Willow?” he repeated, a smile starting to tug at his lips. “The gym owned by the Mallick's?”
“Yes,” I said, nodding.
There weren't many organizations that refused to kowtow to Lex's demands. So far, from what I could tell, the only ones who didn't line his pockets were the Henchmen MC, Lyon the cocaine king, the people of the survivalist camp called Hailstorm, and the Mallick family- a group of notorious loan sharks who didn't seem to have any alliance whatsoever to any of the other crime organizations.
I could have hid my information with the Henchmen. But, to be honest, they scared the hell out of me. And I knew Richard Lyon would have forced me into some kind of trade. And I didn't want to owe anyone.
And Hailstorm, well, survivalists were weird. I half worried I'd walk in there to make a deal and never walk out because they like... brainwashed me or something.
So, in the end, the Mallicks were the safest bet. I went to the gym, asked for Shane, and asked if he could give me access to a private locker. After about ten minutes of his shameless brand of suggestive flirting, he finally agreed to let me use a locker in the staff room in back for fifty bucks a month.
It was safe even if it was a little steep... so I agreed.
“You're smarter than I was giving you credit for,” he said, slipping the chain into his pocket.
“Gee thanks,” I said, rolling my eyes. “You'll have to bring me.”
“Why?”
“Because Shane and I have an arrangement.”
“You,” he said, his head ducking, making it clear he wasn't quite buying it, “have a deal with Shane fuckin' Mallick?”
I felt my shoulders push backward. Was this another 'because I have tits' thing? Just because I was a chick meant I couldn't have strong connections with some of the local bad guys?
“Does this deal involve you fuckin' him?”
I jerked back like he had slapped me. Surprised, sure. Offended? Definitely.
“Excuse me?”
“You met him. You know what he's like.”
“So the only way he would help me would be by extorting sex from me?” I asked, my voice getting snippy. “Just because you're a pig doesn't mean everyone else is.” There was that weird crinkling by his eyes again and I felt myself suck in a deep, steadying breath, before just... exploding, “Don't you dare eye-smile at me!”
At this, I got a surprised chuckle. “Eye-smile?”
“Yes, eye-smile. Like when your eyes go all crinkly but your lips don't turn up.”
“Been paying a lot of attention to me, huh, doll?”
Oh my god.
Seriously.
He was the most obnoxious person I had ever met.
And arrogant.
Even more than Shane Mallick.
Which was really saying something.
“I have nothing else to stare at but your ugly mug,” I spat, hoping it sounded convincing, knowing damn well it was as far from the truth as you could get.
“Ugly mug,” he mused, his lips pressing together. “Got a problem with how I look, Alex?” he asked and I felt a shiver run through my body at the sound of my name on his lips. All I could hope was the shiver was an internal one and he couldn't see.
That hope lasted about one-tenth of a second when a satisfied smirk toyed at his lips and I knew it had been a body shiver.
Damn it.
But I didn't have to suffer long in my humiliation.
Because one second, I was just standing there, arms crossed over my chest, trying to focus on not blushing.
The next I was slammed up against the wall where he had just been standing. His body crushed against mine, both his hands cradling my jaw. And before I could draw in breath to object, his lips crashed down hard on mine.
My entire body jolted in surprise, a stab of desire meeting at the contact and shooting in a straight line down my stomach to between my thighs.
I had the barest of seconds to realize that his beard tickled before my brain registered his lips on mine. Hard. Demanding a response. And mine were all too happy to acquiesce.
The second they started responding, his hands tightened on the sides of my face as his teeth dug into my lower lip. A whimper escaped me, my hands moving out to grab at the shirt covering his sides, digging into the muscles of his obliques. Because I needed to hold on. If I didn't hold on, I was pretty sure I was going to fall. My legs (and everywhere else for that matter) went liquid.
Breaker tilted my head slightly, his tongue pressing into the crease of my mouth and snaking inside. Not teasing mine. Not toying with it. Claiming it.
That was how I felt.
Claimed.
One of his hands slipped from my jaw, moved back into the hair at the base of my neck, curling into it, and yanking hard enough for me to yelp as his lips slipped around my tongue and sucked hard.
And that's when my legs gave out.
His other hand shot down my body, grabbing me around the hips and hauling me against him.