Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 77198 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77198 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
“How so?”
“He killed my father.” I had to fight back my tears as I told him, “He was dead the entire time, and I didn’t know it.”
“Damn.”
“Yeah, and to think I thought I’d actually saved him. The man never had any intention of letting him live, and he never intended to let me go. I should’ve known a man like Antonio DeLuca wouldn’t keep his word.”
“You did the best you could.”
“I wish I could believe that.”
“It’s true. He’s a very powerful man. There’s no way you could’ve gone up against him alone.”
Billy had barely finished his thought when his phone rang. He quickly pulled it out of his pocket and answered, “You’ve got Billy.”
Billy waited as the person on the other end of the line spoke, then quickly replied, “Not a good time.”
After another brief pause, Billy stood up and walked out of the room. “Where’s the game?”
He continued down the hall as he answered, “I see... And how many are playing?”
It seemed odd that Billy was interested in playing some dumb game, especially with the conversation we’d been having, but he was nonetheless. So much so, he got the information he needed, then disappeared into his bedroom. Moments later, he came out and the sight of him nearly took my breath away.
He was wearing a neatly pressed white button-down with the sleeves slightly rolled at the wrists and a pair of fresh khakis. His hair was neatly combed to the side, and he was wearing a pair of horn-rimmed glasses—which I found odd. Until then, I’d never seen him wear glasses. He’d even put on a spritz of cologne—which made me wonder who exactly would be at this game of his.
I felt a twinge of jealousy when he came into the living room and announced, “I have to go.”
“Okay.”
“I will be gone for several hours.”
“Okay.”
“I should move you into the bedroom.”
“Probably so.”
He nodded, then came over and lifted me in his arms. His entire body felt tense as he carried me back into the bedroom and laid me down on the bed. His tone was brusque as he ordered, “Stay put until I get back.”
“Okay.”
“I mean it, Everleigh. Don’t move until I get back.”
“Okay. I’ll stay put.”
With that, Billy walked out of the room and closed the door behind him. Seconds later, I heard the door’s lock engage, and just like that, I was being held prisoner once again.
BILLY
As much as I hated to leave Everleigh at the house alone, I didn’t have a choice. Viper and the boys had a situation at their strip club, and they needed my services. Even though the timing wasn’t the best, I couldn’t turn Viper down—not after all the help he’d given me with Everleigh.
Thankfully, it was a small job I could handle on my own, so I secured Everleigh in the bedroom and rushed downstairs to grab my things. Moments later, I was in my van and driving toward the city. When I arrived at Stilettoes, I was surprised to find that the place was not only open but slammed-packed. I was concerned that I might’ve gone to the wrong address, so I grabbed the phone and called Viper.
As soon as he answered, I asked, “You said Stilettoes on North, right?”
“That’s the one,” Viper answered. “You here?”
“Yeah, just pulled up.”
“Good. I’ll meet you around back.”
I ended the call, then drove around the back of the building and parked. I went around and grabbed my things, then headed inside. I’d barely made my way through the door when Viper and Hawk came rushing up to me. Viper sounded troubled as he said, “Hey, brother. Wish I could say that it was good to see you.”
“Same.” Time wasn’t on our side, so I asked, “So, what are we dealing with here?”
“Come on.” Viper motioned me forward as he continued, “I’ll show ya.”
He and Hawk led me through the crowd and down the hall to the private rooms. They were all blocked off and were being guarded by Country and Lynch. As soon as he saw me, Country, my soon to be son-in-law, gave me one of his friendly smiles and said, “Billy, my man! How’s it going, brother?”
“It’s going.”
Before I could say anything more, Viper walked by me and said, “Back here.”
I followed him to the last room down the hall, then waited as he opened the door. When I stepped inside, I found a man in his late fifties with a Burt Reynold’s mustache and a protruding beer gut sitting in one of the plush chairs. When I stepped closer, I saw that the guy had a large knife wound in his neck and had bled out all over the place. “Damn.”
“Yeah, I knew she wasn’t ready.”
“Hold up... One of your girls did this?”
“Yeah, she sure as fuck did, and that shit’s on me. I knew better.” Viper’s tone grew angry as he said, “It’s only been a couple of months since that asshole fucking raped her, and Misty shows up here acting like everything’s right in the world. All was good until this motherfucker decided to get handsy. Misty lost her shit and stabbed him.”