Total pages in book: 29
Estimated words: 26277 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 131(@200wpm)___ 105(@250wpm)___ 88(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26277 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 131(@200wpm)___ 105(@250wpm)___ 88(@300wpm)
A hard knock on the front door pulled me out of my thoughts, and I set my laptop down on the coffee table before padding over to see who it was. It was a good thing I wasn’t a gambler like my dad because if I’d placed a bet on who it was, I would’ve lost.
Almost as if I’d conjured him out of thin air, the man from the sidewalk stood in front of me. “It’s you.”
“Damn straight it’s me.”
He gripped my waist to nudge me back into the house, kicking the door shut behind us. I should’ve been scared by the big stranger who’d basically just forced his way into my home, but he’d been so gentle with me when he’d done it. And there was a tender gleam in his eyes that tugged at my heartstrings. “I don’t understand.”
“I couldn’t leave town knowing that I left you behind with bruises on your pretty skin.” He wrapped his fingers around my wrist and carefully turned my arm. Fury filled his blue orbs as he stared down at the marks my father’s fingers had left behind. “Need to know who I’m gonna end for hurting you.”
His eyes flicked to a family portrait on the wall, and I briefly wondered if he knew it was my dad.
Was he serious? Whoa. He really was my knight in shining armor.
4
PHANTOM
I’d been across the street from her house in a motel parking lot for nearly four hours. Ever since Grey had tracked down her location—which had taken far too fucking long. Fifteen years with The Company had taught me how to be inconspicuous. I’d been waiting for her father to leave before approaching, knowing it would be a fuck of a lot easier to get her away.
But looking at her bruises, part of me wished he was still around so I could give him a taste of his own medicine. I didn’t want my woman witnessing that kind of brutality.
That might send her running and screaming in the opposite direction, though. So it was for the best that we were alone.
“Um, kill?” she asked in a breathless voice.
I wasn’t sure if it was fear or excitement, and that intrigued me. I doubted she was a bloodthirsty little thing, so I hoped it was more of that fire I’d glimpsed inside her.
My brain told me to tread lightly and not let on how absolutely obsessed I already was with her, but my hands had a mind of their own, and they cupped her cheeks. “I would do anything to protect you, sweet girl.”
Her eyes widened with surprise, but a glimmer of hope emanated from their depths. Maybe I should have expected her reaction because she’d been made just for me.
“Now, tell me who hurt you.”
“I…I don’t even know your name,” she whispered, making no move to free herself from my hands.
I closed my eyes and shook my head, exasperated with myself and more than grateful that she was taking this all in stride. “Sorry. I’m Phantom.” For some reason, that didn’t sit right. “Actually, my name is Kian. You call me Kian,” I corrected myself.
“Phantom?”
I smirked. “It’s my road name, sweet girl,” I explained, then released her to twist, showing off the back of my cut. “But like I said, you call me Kian.”
“Okay,” she agreed, making me smile.
When I turned back around, she was studying me curiously. “The Silver Saints? You’re in a motorcycle club?”
“Yeah.”
“Like in the movies?” She actually looked eager for me to confirm her assumption, which I found adorable as fuck.
But I rolled my eyes and took her hand, leading her over to a couch in the small living room to our right. “The movies are shit,” I told her as I gently pushed on her shoulders to sit, then I took the cushion right next to her. “Don’t get me wrong, there are some fucked-up clubs out there, ones similar to what Hollywood portrays”—I chuckled, thinking about some of the old ladies in the club—“and those smutty books chicks read.”
Tessa’s cheeks bloomed with pink, and a devilish smile spread across my face. From what my brothers had told me, the stories were garbage, but they had some excellent ideas to try out in bed. And other places.
“Um, so…anyway…I guess I should tell you my name is Tessa.”
“I know.”
She frowned, her face clouding with confusion. “How do you know…wait. How did you even find me?”
“Connections. I’ll explain another time. Right now, I need you to answer my question. Whose motherfucking fingerprints are those?” I gestured to her arm.
Her eyelids descended as she dropped her gaze to the ground, hiding her beautiful green gems. I lifted her face with my index finger under her chin. “I’m going to protect you, sweet girl. No one will ever hurt you again.”
She bit her lip and studied me, contemplating my words until she finally made up her mind and spoke. “My father. He didn’t really mean to, sort of. He just…he was mad and being careless and…”