Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 24377 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 122(@200wpm)___ 98(@250wpm)___ 81(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 24377 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 122(@200wpm)___ 98(@250wpm)___ 81(@300wpm)
She huffed again but began eating. I pressed a kiss to the top of her head. Ink came out of the back with a shit-eating grin on his face. I shook my head, not even wanting to know what the hell they’d just done. Only one thing in the world could put that kind of grin on a man’s face. “She’s eating. Church,” I ordered, heading to the chapel where most of everyone was already at.
Wouldn’t be shit to discuss today, but we could all bullshit. It was what we normally did anyway.
CHAPTER TWO
Alejandro
I glanced down at the Rolex on my wrist, frowning when I saw it was nearing eleven and Elaina still wasn’t up. That wasn’t like her. Normally, she was out of bed shortly after we were, even if Joey and I did everything we could to make sure we didn’t wake her up. She had a sixth sense for when we got up for the day.
Glancing over to where Antonio was playing, I saw he was occupied with blocks and a Tonka truck, not a care in the world. Joey was punching numbers into a calculator, pouring over paperwork. I didn’t like disturbing him when he was double-checking his secretary’s numbers, but one of us needed to check on our woman.
“It’s almost eleven, and Elaina isn’t up yet,” I told him, glancing down at my lap and brushing a couple of pieces of lint off my slacks.
His finger stopped right above the eight key on the calculator before he grabbed his phone, glancing at the time. “Fuck,” he muttered. He reached up to rub his fingers over his forehead, no doubt a bit stressed. He hated paperwork. “She may not be feeling well.” He looked over to where Antonio was playing, just as I had. “He’s preoccupied. I’ll watch him while I finish this up. You mind checking on her?”
I shook my head, and stood from the chair I’d been sitting in, pushing it under the table. Joey snorted, still finding it weird that I did that, but I treated his clubhouse just as I treated my home in Mexico. It actually drove me a bit nuts that his club members were disorganized and a bit untidy, though I kept my mouth shut. We may work together, but at the end of the day, his club members were his men—not mine—and this was also his clubhouse—not mine.
I listened, taking in the silence as I made my way down the back hall to the room I shared with Elaina and Joey. There was no sign that she was up yet, and my frown deepened. I didn’t like the fact that she may be unwell. Didn’t settle right in my gut. And it made me feel volatile when there was something wrong with her that I couldn’t immediately fix.
Our relationship had started off incredibly shaky. She’d been trapped under her father’s thumb, forever destined to do all of his dirty work. But the moment I saw her, I knew she needed my help. And her sick sperm donor had been all too eager to earn three million dollars from me, so I purchased her.
A rare soft moment for me. I wasn’t known for them. Normally, I didn’t care if women suffered. It wasn’t any of my business, and I had enough shit to deal with on a daily basis.
But something about Elaina had called to the very depths of my soul.
So, after the purchase, I fucked her, needing her father to think I didn’t give a damn about her pleas. But I made sure she enjoyed it—at least somewhat. I refused to rape the beauty that was now mine. She was too beautiful to be marred, too sweet for cruelty.
After her father was satisfied, I helped her escape, where she then ran here, obviously knowing through the grapevine that Joey’s club was somewhere she’d be safe and protected. I kept tabs on her at all times, always knowing exactly where she was at. But I, surprisingly, had not been aware of her falling pregnant with my child until Joey called me, wanting to figure something out, not wanting me as an enemy.
It’d caused a huge fucking mess. Joey found out she’d lied about most of what she’d gone through and, unsurprisingly, he hadn’t taken it well. He sent her back with me, not giving a damn about her fear, but it didn’t take him long to come to his senses.
She’d been a scared girl in self-preservation mode, terrified of the unknown that was her life at that point. I never blamed her for her actions. Part of me was proud of her for doing what she thought she needed to rather than bending to the will of those around her. She’d made sure she survived, and I would always be proud of her for that.