Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 94834 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 474(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94834 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 474(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
Sawyer’s father, Nikolai Thorne, steps out of a side room, his sharp gaze locked on his son. “Sawyer,” he demands, his tone low and full of authority.
Sawyer nods and takes off to meet his father, and I watch with a sharp eye. Down here within the walls of Empire, Nikolai is a straight-to-business kind of guy. He’s one of our twelve Circle members, and when the time comes for him to pass, Sawyer will take that position. Nikolai’s been training him his whole life, pushing him to be the best, and it’s paid off. Sawyer is more than ready to walk in his father’s shoes. Despite Sawyer having absolutely no interest in taking over the position from his father, that won’t stop him honoring the tradition and duties expected of him. It was what he was raised to do.
Me? Not so much. My father was a piece of shit, and the day he died was the best day of my life.
With Sawyer occupied, Zade looks at me. “Know what you’re doing?” he questions, flicking his gaze to Dalton, and despite being on different pages when it comes to Oakley, I know Dalton will always have his back.
I nod, my stare sweeping the room—a room full of suspects. “We’ll find this fucker,” I promise him. “The asshole was as good as dead the second he decided to step out against us.”
“Keep your eyes open,” Dalton says, reaching out and taking a glass of whiskey from the waitress getting around in nothing but black lingerie, fishnet stockings, and a pair of black heels that make her ass look good enough to bite. He lifts the glass to his lips and finishes every last drop in one swig. “Whoever this bastard is, he’ll be here tonight trying to cover his tracks. After his hit went south, he’ll be desperate and will eventually slip up.”
Zade nods, his sharp gaze out at the mingling crowd. “Good. Find this bastard and bring him to me,” he says, his tone chilling and cold. “In the meantime, I’m going to have a nice little chat with my Circle members.”
Chapter 14
OAKLEY
My eyes are wide as I stare at Cara’s small TV, listening to all the sordid details about the DeAngelis brothers in the latest True Crime serial killer documentary. I hoist my blanket up, covering my mouth and nose while my eyes peek out over the top, unable to look away despite knowing the three psychopathic brothers are going to make frequent visits in my dreams, and it won’t be the good kind of dreams.
They’re ruggedly sexy, but there’s something in their eyes, something that reminds me of Zade and Cross, and I don’t like it one bit.
Chills sweep over my body, listening to the descriptions of exactly what these brothers have done and I tug my blanket right up. “I don’t know how the hell you watch this shit,” I say to Cara, my throat straining with every word.
“Isn’t it awesome?” She beams and reaches forward to grab my bottle of water before double-checking how much I’ve drank. “You sound like shit, girl. What did I tell you about drinking water? If you don’t keep it up, it’ll never get better.”
I groan and grab it from her, hating that we’re talking about this again. Wednesday night was one of the worst nights of my life, and I’m still a little foggy on the details. One second, Zade’s hand was around my throat, and the next thing I know, I might have been dead on the ground . . . or maybe just passed out. I have no fucking idea, but if that’s what it feels like to die, I don’t want anything to do with it.
I’ve never been so terrified. The way my lungs ached and my body gave up on me . . . it was terrifying.
I remained on Zade’s bedroom floor for nearly two hours, not having the strength to get up and cross the hall to my apartment. But the moment I did, I fell through the door and right into Cara’s arms. She nursed me back to health as I sat with tears streaming down my face, then she climbed into my bed with me and told me everything was going to be okay. I feel like shit for being suspicious of her before.
Cara has been a great friend, even going out and finding me a new concealer to mask the bruises Zade left on my skin. Though, to be honest, I think it’s easier to go for the whole turtleneck look, despite how much I loathe anything touching my neck right now. Either way, I have work tonight, and there’s no way in hell I’m about to walk into Danny’s Bar sporting my new temporary necklace—courtesy of Zade.
“You know,” Cara says as the documentary flashes to a still shot of a beautiful woman looking back over her shoulder, an image that looks as though it must have been taken by the feds. “That chick there, Shayne something. Apparently she’s with all three of the brothers.”