Total pages in book: 30
Estimated words: 27958 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 140(@200wpm)___ 112(@250wpm)___ 93(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27958 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 140(@200wpm)___ 112(@250wpm)___ 93(@300wpm)
I watched him tap on a laptop as I sat.
After a minute, he wrote something on a slip of paper and handed it to me.
“The head of the family in Chicago”—and by family, he meant the Mafia—“is a good friend. Kye explained your situation to me, and I reached out to Francesco to see if he could be of any help.”
I glanced at the paper and saw the name Francesco Bianchi and a phone number.
“He offered to assist in any way he could. He was already familiar with the organization that you’re trying to take down. They knew about the drugs and prostitution rings but not that the girls were being bought and sold. Like me, Francesco does not tolerate human trafficking. As you’ve discovered, they are not easy to infiltrate, and taking them down one by one is a long-drawn-out process. He has some ideas on how to move forward that I think could be very valuable.”
Nic gestured to the paper. “He’s expecting your call.”
“Mine?” I raised a brow, and Nic cocked his head as she studied me. “Kye said you were in charge of the operation to nail these figli di puttana. Was I misinformed?”
“No,” I replied. I was gonna fucking owe my prez big for giving this to me. Especially when I’d been such a bastard lately.
“Thanks,” I said with an appreciative nod as I stood. We shook hands, and he inclined his head. “Buona fortuna,” he said, wishing us luck.
2
BRITTA
The past two years had been pretty good to me. My mom and I were safe in the small town where we’d settled. Money wasn’t as tight as it’d been growing up since she was working in a bar owned by the Hounds of Hellfire, a club with which the Iron Rogues apparently had a loose connection. I’d been so far ahead in schoolwork when transferring that I was able to graduate a semester early last month. And my mom had stayed away from men, which had done wonders for our relationship.
The only thing missing from my life was Stone.
None of the boys I’d met in school had caught my interest the way he had. They all seemed so…young in comparison. Which made sense when you considered they were only teenagers and he was in his thirties. But weirdly, I felt as though there was more of a gap between those boys and me than what I had with Stone.
My childhood had left a mark on me, and I felt older than the eighteen years I’d celebrated with my mom a few months ago. Being abandoned by your father, your mom getting hospitalized by her abusive boyfriend more than once, and running for your life tended to do that to a person. So did being mostly on your own.
Since I had serious trust issues from my dad, I’d always had a hard time making friends. Everything that had happened with Tommaso had sent my walls higher, so I hadn’t made any close ones since we left Chicago. And I wasn’t allowed to talk to Izzy because it wasn’t safe for her or me. We had to go to those lengths so my mom and I couldn’t be traced. Cutting off contact with everyone we knew from our previous lives.
These were deep thoughts for the grocery store, so I shook them off and headed toward the checkout area. I flashed the cashier a half smile as she scanned my items.
“Having a good day?” she asked.
I nodded. “Yup.”
“You’ve lived here a couple of years now, right?”
I pressed my lips together to hold back an irritated sigh. “Mm-hmm.”
Her gaze darted around to make sure nobody else was nearby before she leaned forward. “I could swear I’ve seen you talking to a few different members of the Hounds of Hellfire. Are you a club girl or something?”
I’d learned as much as I could about club life since we came here—figuring that it would help if my dream of being with Stone ever came true—but I had no idea what she was talking about. “Am I a what?”
“You know…a club whore or whatever the Hounds of Hellfire like to call the women who are there for them to sleep with whenever they want.”
My head jerked back, my eyes going wide. “Absolutely not.”
Her gaze raked down what she could see of my body and back up again, her lips curving into a smirk. “Yeah, now that I think about it, that’s kind of a ridiculous question. You look way too innocent to be banging a bunch of bikers, most of whom are twice your age.”
With the Iron Rogues and Hounds of Hellfire looking out for my mom and me, I’d spent a few days each at a couple of different clubhouses. Not once had I ever seen anything like this woman was describing. But I didn’t bother correcting her or defending my looks since she wasn’t worth the effort—and I would never betray a club secret, no matter how small or unimportant. Not when they’d done so much for us. Or with my feelings for Stone.