Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 79137 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79137 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
"No," I admitted.
"And you're friends with him."
"Not close, but yeah."
"I'm not saying he will get in. I need to see how he interacts with all you probies as well as Wolf, Cash, Repo, Duke, and Renny. The women and kids too goes without saying. And I want Renny and Mina to give their opinions and maybe have Janie and Alex look into his past. I'm not saying he's in. I'm saying I am going to give him a chance to prove he deserves to be."
"And talk to Ross," I advised, knowing that while I had stepped back and decided to only fight on occasion, Pagan was a huge earner still and Ross might have a big problem with possible conflicts of interest.
"Ward and I will talk," he agreed, nodding. "Not trying to step on any toes. Don't see it being a problem though since we have no enemies in town. We might not associate with Third Street, but they're not enemies. And since V and Lex are out of the picture, there's really no one we don't have connections with. The Mallicks, Hailstorm, Lyon, Break, Shoot, and the Grassis are all people we are friendly with."
That was true enough.
I nodded. "Just making sure you know what you're getting into here. I don't know what you're men were like before the war, but I honestly don't know if you have ever had someone like Pagan to deal with before."
To that, he shrugged. "Maybe not. But maybe that's a good thing. If we want to survive long term, we need a variety of different members with different skill sets. And Pagan's own brand of anarchy might prove important in the future."
"Can't argue with that," I agreed, figuring things were about to get a hell of a lot more wild in the compound. All you needed was one crazy ass fucker to turn all the rest into crazy ass fuckers.
"Alright. So you get to go tell him," Reign said, clapping a hand on my shoulder and moving back inside.
With that, I sighed up at the sky and headed back inside to find Pagan having a straight vodka drinking contest with Edison.
So it begins, I thought, shaking my head.
Things were about to get a hell of a lot more wild in The Henchmen MC compound.
Edison won, not surprising anyone who had been around him the last few months and maybe also the fact that vodka was not Pagan's drink and he came up swearing and looking for anything to drink to wash the taste away.
Spotting me, he tipped up a beer and then gave me a smile.
"I'm in, aren't I?"
And so he was.
NINE
Bethany
I woke up to a finger tracing down my jaw then pressing into the cleft in my chin. My eyes fluttered open to a mostly-dark room, but there was noise all around- music, conversational voices, yelling. Whatever time it was, The Henchmen were still whooping it up.
"What time..." I started to ask, trying to blink the sleep out of my eyes as Lazarus looked down at me.
"Late," he said. His brows were low, his eyes looking apologetic.
"Why aren't you out with your brothers?"
"Rather be with you." He gave me a smile- warm like I remember things had been before my world went dark and cold, like back when I believed in things such as hope or a future.
"Oh." The word came from some hidden depths as the fog cleared enough for me to remember we had been starting something before Reign interrupted and then I fell asleep.
"No." He shook his head gently.
"No?"
"Well, I mean... yes," he went on, smile sweet, "but not here. Love my brothers, but when they're this drunk, there's no getting in the right mood."
Confused, I felt my brows drawing together as his fingers whispered down my arm, making the skin goosbump under the attention. "Okay..."
"You want to sleep or do you want to come home with me?"
Well then.
Was there really even a question there?
As an answer, I slowly folded up, sliding my legs across his lap so I could scoot close, resting my head on his chest. "Take me home," I declared, meaning it down to my bones.
His arm slid around me and gave me a tight squeeze as his head rested on top of mine.
We sat that way for a long minute before he moved us both forward and set me on my feet. He turned, going into his closet and grabbing a heavy sweatshirt, rolling it up for me and pushing it over my head. "It's cold out," he informed me as I moved to find the flats I had arrived at the compound in instead of the loathed heels and Laz grabbed keys. He met me by the door, taking my hand, and leading me out into the chaos of the common room.
Chaos was the only accurate word.