Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 75478 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75478 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
“Badass, I told you,” Sully called from beneath me, making me roll over onto my stomach to look down at him.
“I don’t know if Fallon agreed to this yet,” I called down to him. “But you absolutely have to build this at the clubhouse.”
Fischer helped me back up out of the net, and we finished the course, leaving me feeling exhilarated, accomplished, and so freaking sore that each step back toward the front of the compound felt like a challenge.
Sully slung an arm over my shoulders, hauling me up against him as we walked.
“So fucking proud of you, baby,” he said with a quick kiss to my temple, his words making my heart squeeze in my chest.
There was no more talking then as we finally entered Hailstorm.
It was a real labyrinth inside, parts of it disorienting at times because there were no windows or signs telling you where you were going.
Fischer would occasionally toss out a little factoid about a room we were passing, but for the most part, we walked in silence until we seemed to reach the innermost part of the building.
The claustrophobic feeling immediately eased as we stepped into a large, open, octagonal space with a ton of overhead lighting to brighten it.
Desks sat around the outside of the room, no fewer than a dozen people hard at work on… whatever they even did at this place.
That was a question to ask some other time, I decided, as a pretty blonde woman approached Sully, hand outstretched.
“Chris,” he greeted her.
I was given a quick introduction, but then the two of them quickly slipped into an intense conversation about Sully’s past, leaving me a bit left out.
“Fisch, man, we gotta talk about phys. ed,” a guy said, walking up to Fischer, who was standing next to me. He was tall and just shy of gaunt, with brown hair stuck up at all different angles like he’d just climbed out of bed, and dark blue eyes.
“Man, for the hundredth time. This ain’t high school. We don’t have physical education. We have drills,” Fischer said, tone frustrated, but there was a smile tugging at his lips.
“Well, I think I should be excused,” the younger guy said, nodding.
“For what reason?”
“Moral objections.”
“Moral objections… to exercise?” Fischer asked.
“Precisely,” the younger guy said, making Fischer battle with his face to try to keep from smiling. “Oh, hi. I’m Cain. Cain Brewster,” he said, smiling at me.
“Oh, hi. I’m Bonnie. Bonnie Clewski.”
“What?” Sully’s voice barked, making my blood go cold as ice slid down my spine.
He moved away from Chris, stalked back toward me, his eyes so intense that I almost went back a step.
But this was Sully.
He wasn’t going to hurt me.
“What did you just say?” he asked. A muscle ticked in his jaw, it was so tight.
“Just… my name,” I said, hating how small my voice sounded.
“The fuck is your problem?” Fischer asked, stepping halfway between me and Sully.
“What is your last name?” Sully asked. And, to his credit, he was trying to make his voice calmer.
“Clewski,” I told him. “I know. It’s a silly one,” I added, trying to lighten the mood.
“Clewski,” Sully repeated. “You got a cousin named David?” he asked, and now my belly was twisting like a wrung-out dishcloth.
“No. I had a brother named David.”
“David Clewski is your brother.”
“Was,” I clarified. “David died.”
“I know,” Sully said, eyes unfathomable depths, making another chill move through me. “I was there.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Sully
It was the perfect damn day.
Even if Chris didn’t actually have anything I thought was actionable.
Getting to wake up with Bonnie, spend the morning reading together, having sex, watching her overcome her fears and have fun on the playground, seeing her come out of her shell around the Hailstorm crew.
It had been fucking great.
Until she finally said it.
Her last name.
And it all fucking… fell into place.
It had been so jarring that I’d snapped at Bonnie, whose fucking gorgeous face fell, not used to me speaking to her that way.
I mean, Christ, it was enough of a bark that Fischer stepped between us.
But Clewski?
Fucking Clewski?
“Baby,” I said, exhaling hard. “Why didn’t you ever tell me you had a brother?”
“I guess because I don’t anymore,” she said. “And I don’t really like talking about my past at all.”
That was fair.
Aside from knowing her old man was a nasty drunk and she’d gone no-contact with them, I honestly didn’t know anything. That little tidbit about the chickens was the most she’d said about her childhood in days.
“But you had a brother. David. Who joined the military when he was—”
“Seventeen,” she said. “My mom signed off on it. I think she knew that he was going to kill my father if he didn’t get out of there.”
“There must have been a big age gap.”
“Yeah. I was a later-in-life oopsie. Believe me, I was well aware of how unwanted I was. ‘Coulda been living the high life by now if she didn’t get her dumb ass knocked up’ was one of my father’s favorite things to say to me.”