Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 77236 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77236 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
“Whoa,” I said, moving forward, physically pushing him back down on the mattress. “Relax,” I demanded. “The fuck you gonna do with your guts all fucked up?” I asked, waiting until he relaxed back against the bed.
His jaw was ticking as I moved away, touching Siana’s hip as I passed to call the nurse, telling them he’d accidentally pulled his IV out.
Then all three of us sat and stood in pained silence as the nurse dealt with the IV, before moving back out of the room, casting curious glances between us, likely feeling the tension crackling in the air.
“They threatened you?” Kylo asked, trying to keep his voice calm, but the rage was etched all over his face.
“They did more than threaten her,” I explained. “When she saw them the second time, she panicked, and ran to me. Once she was settled, I came back to take a look around.”
“And?” Kylo asked, his dark eyes boring holes into me as he waited for the last piece of information he was seeking.
“And they completely tossed her place. Destroyed damn near everything in there. Even the fucking books,” I said, shaking my head.
“I’ll replace all of it,” Kylo swore, giving Siana a look so intense that she didn’t insist that it wasn’t necessary, like I knew she wanted to.
“I don’t know if they thought you had something going on with Siana,” I said. “If maybe she could have something stored at her place. Or if they are just assholes…”
To that, Kylo snorted hard, then winced as, I imagined, his stomach hurt. “They’re assholes. And dumb as fucking rocks. Real lethal combination there,” he said, exhaling slowly.
“Who are they? What are you into that they are involving an innocent woman in this shit?”
Kylo shook his head, his gaze moving around to make sure no one was eavesdropping. His eyes moved over my chest, taking in my cut, a muscle ticking in his jaw, trying to decide if he could trust me or not.
“If it helps, he’s the less than legal kind of biker,” Siana offered up, making a snorting laugh escape me.
“She’s not wrong,” I admitted.
“Ever hear of Lucy Lou?”
“Who is she?” Siana asked.
“Not a person,” he said, giving her an indulgent bigger brother smile, amused by her naïveté.
“It’s a designer party drug,” I told her, rubbing her lower back. Lucy was the street name for acid, but word was that someone with the know-how to figure this shit out, had tweaked it to make something a lot safer and enjoyable. And named it Lucy Lou.“You deal in it?” I asked. “I thought it was impossible for dealers to get their hands on these days.”
“It is. The chemist who makes that shit decided to ease back on production. Word is because it was getting too popular, and they don’t want any bodies on their conscience when, inevitably, people do stupid shit like take a handful of it.”
“But you got your hands on some?” I asked.
“Yeah. Fucking mother load of it. Back before the chemist stopped making it in bulk.”
“How?”
“Someone I knew who was a close contact of theirs got gunned down for some bullshit rivalry.”
“And?”
“And I happened to know where he liked to store his shit.”
“You stole it.”
“Is it stealing if there’s no one around to claim it anymore?” Kylo asked, shrugging.
“Fair enough,” I agreed. When you lived and worked on the wrong side of the law, you had to accept a lot more gray area in life than the typical person. “How much is your stock worth?”
Kylo’s gaze slid to me, shaking his head.
“Five-hundred-k.”
“You’re not fucking stupid enough to keep that kinda supply at home, are you?”
“Alaric,” Siana hissed, shooting me big, scandalized eyes.
“No, of course not. But like I said… they’re fucking stupid. And when it was obvious the shit wasn’t in my place…”
“They started to try to extract the address,” I guessed, knowing he’d been tortured before they pulled out the guns.
“Yep.”
“Who are they?”
“Honestly don’t even know names. Know faces. Got ideas. But I don’t know for sure.”
“This always been your business?” I asked.
“No. And yeah. Do whatever brings in the money, man,” he said, shrugging it off.
And this was going to be his big paycheck, something to help him maybe set something else up.
He was one tough fuck to take a beating and two bullets and not give up the details.
“I get that,” I admitted. “What are your idea—“ I started, then glanced at Siana.
How much did I want her to know?
Especially this early in our relationship.
“Baby, do you mind if I talk to Kylo alone for a minute?” I asked.
“Oh, yeah, okay,” she agreed immediately, not seeming the least bit off-put by the request. “I think I might go get some coffee,” she said.
“Coffee? You?” I asked, never having seen her drink anything but tea.
“I know,” she said. “Gross. But I think it might help this headache,” she admitted. “Do you want one?”