Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 134531 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 673(@200wpm)___ 538(@250wpm)___ 448(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 134531 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 673(@200wpm)___ 538(@250wpm)___ 448(@300wpm)
Instead, I turned on my heel and left.
Swiss and I weren’t speaking.
He hadn’t come back to bed after our argument. As much as I was mad at him, I missed him terribly. Sleep was impossible, but there wouldn’t be much of it anyway since the sun had risen at some point during our argument.
So I showered, on my own for the first time in what felt like forever. Even before Preston’s arrival, almost every single shower I’d taken was with Swiss.
I was under the spray of the water for a long time. Both because it took me longer to do basic things now and because I was doing my ‘full shower’ routine. Double hair wash, mask, exfoliating. I’d attempted shaving, but bending down was impossible as was lifting my arms above my head.
The shower pressure, the scents of all of my favorite products and the familiarity of the shower stall with its erotic memories did little to salve my frayed nerves and frantic heart.
By the time I dressed in a long, loose maxi dress—the easiest thing to wear yet still took me triple the time to get on—and pulled my hair into a low, sleek bun, Swiss had still not returned.
The club had woken up by the time I slipped my feet into some slides. Laughter and female voices coaxed me out of the room. I felt nervous, entering the common room without Swiss, despite having done it a number of times… before.
But now I was wearing my bruises and my truth.
Xander was running around the living area with Hulk Hands. I grinned at him as he shot past.
“Hi, Kate!” he yelled, not pausing.
His little brother chased after him in a Spiderman outfit. “Hi, Kate!” he parroted.
Macy looked up from her embrace with Hansen.
“You ruined the surprise!” she pouted, detaching from her husband.
He lifted his chin in greeting.
Macy stomped over to me in order to kiss me on the cheek before she resumed scolding me.
“You were supposed to be at the hospital still,” she snipped, eyes raking over me. “You also look very cute,” she added. “Which works for what I have planned.”
I looked at her quizzically. “You have something planned?”
She nodded before turning her attention behind us. “Honey?”
Hansen, who had been in a man-huddle with Cody and Elden—there had been a lot of those lately. I tried not to be a narcissist and think they were about me. This was an outlaw motorcycle club… They had a lot of things on their plate.
“Yeah, babe?” he replied, instantly looking up.
“Would you be a dear, and go and fetch Kate and I two coffees from Oliver’s?” she asked sweetly as her eyes found mine. “Are you hungry?”
My stomach growled, my throat still throbbing but finally able to handle swallowing real food.
I nodded. “But I can just make—”
“And two of those almond croissants he has that I’d almost sell Xander for!” she called out to him, not listening to me.
I pursed my lips. Those croissants were amazing.
“Babe,” Hansen whined, staring at her. “I’m a busy man. I’m the president of this fuckin’ club, I can’t drop everything to go on a fuckin’ coffee run for you.”
Macy linked her arm with mine. “If you could take them to the place, Kate’s surprise place, that would be great,” she added while walking us out. “Love you!”
A manly chuckle followed in our wake.
Because I wasn’t brave enough or strong enough, I didn’t fight Macy. Plus, I really wanted a croissant.
I tried not to think of Swiss as we walked out.
I failed.
Chapter Eighteen
Kate
“Are you going to tell me where we’re going?” I asked as Macy drove out of town.
She glanced over at me. “No,” she replied happily.
I pursed my lips. We were taking the desert road, out toward where Freya lived. Her house was at the very end of a quiet road with her closest neighbors miles away. The lifestyle I’d been coveting.
“Swiss wasn’t with you,” she remarked, her eyes on the road.
“He wasn’t,” I agreed. Just the mention of him had my chest burning, panic building low in my stomach.
I’d given him an ultimatum. One I’d meant. One I intended to follow through on. But what if he didn’t care? What if he killed Preston anyway?
“He’s pretty much been surgically attached to your hip since…” Macy trailed off.
“Since my husband beat me half to death?” I offered.
She sucked in a breath. “Yeah,” she nodded, her voice not as carefree as it had been moments ago. “And men, especially badass alpha male bikers, tend to keep up with that surgically attached at the hip thing long after the healing is done.” She looked at me over the top of her sunglasses. “And your healing is nowhere near done. So where the fuck is he?”
Her gentle, high voice had a hardness to it now. An anger. On my behalf.