Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 90919 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 455(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90919 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 455(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
Dragon was still in charge, and after him it would probably be the next generation that stepped up—but someday, we all knew Gray would be the Aces president.
“We couldn’t stop ’em,” Bas muttered as the girls walked toward us. “Especially since there are more old ladies on the way.”
“Should be plenty of protection for ’em,” Brody added. “If shit gets hot, you know Tommy will force her back home.”
“He’ll have to fuckin’ hogtie her.” Myla smiled at me as she got closer, and I wanted to throw her over my shoulder and bring her ass right back to Oregon and away from the mess I was in.
“I’ll hang out a couple minutes and then head over to the house and keep an eye on shit,” Brody said quietly.
For a while, things were chaotic as the girls passed out their vending machine haul and my big sister left Richie’s side to come out and say hello. When Aoife hugged Myla, she looked up and met my eyes across the room. She was glad for me.
Little did she know that having Myla there just made everything more complicated and terrifying. It was bad enough that my family was on the radar of some fucking psycho that was involved in the heroin trade. Knowing that Myla was a day’s ride away would’ve been the only upside in the whole fucking mess.
I couldn’t lie and say it wasn’t really fucking good to see her, though. The minute she’d wrapped her arms around my neck, every thought that had been racing through my mind for the past couple of days vanished. It had only lasted about a minute, but I was grateful for it all the same.
A couple hours later, Aunt Ashley had followed Brody back to the house to get some sleep, Lou had dozed off with her head on Bas’s shoulder, and the rest of us were sitting quietly when the elevator opened up and a group of familiar people started pouring out of it.
“Shit,” I said in surprise, getting to my feet. “They sent the calvary.”
“Of course,” Myla replied.
“I know, it took us long enough to get here,” Myla’s mom Heather announced. “But I got a fucking flat, and we had to pull over to change it.”
“Ironic, no?” Mack asked, his eyes meeting mine over her head.
The first time I’d met anyone in the club had been the day I’d turned fourteen, and they’d pulled over to help us when a tire on Aoife’s piece of shit car went flat. I’d gone down to the gas station to fill up her spare tire and come back over the hill to find a group of bikes and huge-ass bikers parked behind my sister’s car. I nearly pissed myself back then.
Now? I’d never been more relieved to see them.
“You look tired,” Heather said, leaning up on her toes to kiss my cheek as she hugged me. “Makes you more handsome.”
“Stop flirtin’ with the boy,” Tommy said, physically moving his wife to the side so she could pull me in for his own backslapping hug. “I didn’t drive all the way out here to kill him.”
“Thanks for comin’,” I ground out. My throat seemed tight for some reason.
“You okay?” Lily asked as Tommy and Heather headed for Myla. “How’s Richie?”
“Still the same,” I replied, leaning down to give Gray’s mom a hug.
“That’s not a bad thing,” she said quietly, pulling back to look in my eyes. “His body’s healing. Sometimes that takes a minute.”
“I hear you.”
“Dragon and Brenna send their love.”
“Brenna does,” Rose corrected as she hugged me too. “Dragon probably just grunted.”
“She’s got jokes,” Leo said, reaching out to shake my hand and slap my shoulder. “How ya doin’ kid?”
“I’m all right.”
“You look like shit,” Leo replied, looking me up and down with a nod. “But you’ll do.”
“We’ll be here as long as you need us,” Will said as Leo walked toward the couches.
“I can’t believe you guys came all the way out here,” I said, glancing at Mack, who’d joined us.
“Would’ve been more, but we made some of the boys stay back,” Mack said. “Coverin’ the garage and keepin’ an eye on shit back home.”
“They weren’t happy about it,” Will added.
“The old timers—”
“You’re a fuckin’ old-timer,” Will cut in.
Mack glared at him, then looked back at me. “People got families to take care of, but don’t be surprised if people keep tricklin’ in. Have a feelin’ once they get some shit settled back home they’ll be headed this way.”
“Might want to let them know not to,” I said, looking over my shoulder at the women who’d congregated in the sitting area I’d just left. “Gray thinks things might get a little hot here.”
“Fill us in,” Tommy ordered, squeezing my shoulder as he came up behind me.
I’d barely finished telling them what Gray and Brody had found when Myla’s arms wrapped around my waist from behind and my mouth snapped shut.