Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 22167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 111(@200wpm)___ 89(@250wpm)___ 74(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 111(@200wpm)___ 89(@250wpm)___ 74(@300wpm)
CLARISSA
All week I’ve felt off, as if I should watch my back. Between school and helping my best friend Emily move her stuff out of her abusive ex-boyfriend’s apartment, life has taken a toll on me.
These are the moments that I wished I had someone to lean on. A mom to go home to, and a dad to tell me it will all get better. The only person I have in life who knows me is Emily, and now she is hundreds of miles away in Utah, trying to put distance between herself and Roy.
My back makes me want to scream as I get myself out of bed, remembering Roy’s rage. He wasn’t supposed to be home when we were clearing out, but just like any good abuser, they never keep to their promises and ache to have one more go at their victim. If having a sore back and being in pain means that my best friend is finally free of that lunatic, so be it.
I walk over to get a cup of coffee started, when my buzzer goes off. I have no clue who’s come to see me at the ass crack of dawn. I glance down at my barely there tank top and panties and shuffle into a pair of jeans and a green sweater lying by the bed.
I open the door to my apartment just as a delivery guy shows up with bags of groceries. I don’t remember the last time I’ve actually seen so much food. “I’m sorry, but I think you have the wrong address.”
“Clarissa Roberts?” the man asked, looking at a delivery form.
“Yes, that’s me.”
“Then I’ve got the right person.”
I move to give him a tip, but he waves it off. “No need. It’s all already been taken care of.”
As I bring the bag in, I can’t think of who’d have sent me such a generous gift. Other than Emily, I have no one else who would even think of me, let alone fill my fridge with groceries.
I unpack the groceries, full of meat, vegetables, fruit, and chocolate. There is everything I ever dreamed of. When my hand hits the bottom of the bag, I find a white envelope.
I slowly open it, pulling out a pretty white card.
Clarissa, I wasn’t sure what you liked, so I got a little of everything. If you need anything else, use the card I gave you.
I glide my fingertips along the card. Vance is hard and, from what I’d seen, scary as hell. I'm really not sure what he wants from me, but I definitely am prepared to find out. Hopefully, it won’t be the biggest mistake of my life.
Chapter Five
VANCE
“You ever leaving your car?” Enzo asks over the speakerphone.
“I will once I collect what’s mine.”
“She isn’t going anywhere. There is shit that needs your attention at the club.”
I let out a sigh. “I’m sure you’re more than capable of taking care of it.”
Enzo is a scary motherfucker, No one messes with him and expects to live. We’d come up together. I trust him more than my childhood best friend. Tristan doesn’t really know what I am, but Enzo knows the face of my monster because he is one too.
“You’re fuckin’ obsessed, man. Nothin’ will happen to her if you leave for a few hours.”
“I’m not riskin’ it. Take care of whatever needs to be taken care of.”
I look up to Clarissa’s apartment and see her leaving wearing high heels and an all-too-short black dress that looks like feathers are coming out of it. I smile, thinking how she actually looks like a raven. A fucking hot one.
I watch as she gets into a car in the back seat. Good, it isn’t a date. I don’t have to kill the poor fucking driver. It is probably an Uber or Lift.
I start the car and follow her. I'm not sure where she is heading at ten at night, but there is no way I'm leaving her alone. Plenty of men prey on women. I know exactly who they are. My world is full of them. Anyone touches a hair on my raven’s head, and they will have me to deal with, and I'm not the type of man you want knocking at your door.
The car she is in starts driving on familiar streets, places I see daily rushing by as I follow her.
Is she going to another club, someplace where I don’t know the layout and can’t protect her as easily?
Fuck.
I really don’t want to kill someone tonight, but seeing how she looks, it might be inevitable if men see her.
I inhale a sigh of relief as she gets out of her car and steps into the club. My club. There is no running away. She is stepping into my castle, and here I am, motherfucking king. Soon she will find out what I will do to make her my queen. My fucking raven. My little bird. Mine.