Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 127390 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 637(@200wpm)___ 510(@250wpm)___ 425(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127390 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 637(@200wpm)___ 510(@250wpm)___ 425(@300wpm)
I was at the hair salon when I found out.
It seemed like an impossibility that one could get that type of news at such a mundane place. There was a sense of safety here, with glossy magazines neatly stacked, mirrors, glam décor, the scent of hair dye and the sound of blow-dryers.
I knew something bad had happened when Ranger walked into the salon. There was nothing that would force my macho man into the den of femininity unless it was bad. Well, that was a lie. He had when I’d forced him to drop me off a coffee.
But with no coffee in his hand and the grim, tight expression on his face… yeah, it was bad.
The chatter quieted with his entry. The salon was full of women I knew and had known for most of my life. Women who knew who Ranger was, knew about the club, and sensed the tension rippling off my man.
“Babe?” I asked, pulling off the cape I was wearing.
“We need to go,” he commanded, his voice flat. He was forcing the emotion out of it. This was bad.
My stomach dropped. “The kids?”
Something moved across his face as his hand reached for mine. “No, baby. The kids are fine. They are with my mom at the clubhouse. We need to get there now.”
Something inside of me, the primal mother inside of me, relaxed. But tension still coursed through the rest of my body. My children were the most important thing in my world, but I’d also been blessed to have many other precious people in my world. Many other people who could be the reason for the look on my husband’s face.
“You need to tell me what’s going on,” I urged, planting my feet firmly in place as if the tiled floor of the hairdresser’s was going to make the news any different. Was going to make my reaction to it any different.
“Lizzie,” he murmured, glancing around. “You need to come with me.”
I let him lead me out of the salon. I hadn’t paid, but no one said anything. Guessed they could read the room.
As soon as we were outside and away from any prying ears, I stopped letting Ranger lead me. He turned, brows narrowing.
“You need to tell me,” I demanded. “Now.”
He frowned, his forehead creasing into deep lines. “We need to go, I’ll tell you when we get to the club.”
Most of the time when Ranger spoke in that ‘alpha male, hear me roar’ tone, I listened. Not because I was a female who listened to a man’s every command, but because he usually only used that tone in the bedroom, and it was super-hot.
“No,” I said, arms crossed. “I am not going to get on that bike and wonder what horrible thing awaits me. I need to know right now.” I used an alpha female tone of my own.
Ranger took in a sharp breath, seemingly measuring my words, assessing his ability to be able to convince me otherwise. Beyond that, there wasturmoil in his eyes. This was hurting him. Killing him. Not just whatever the news was, but the fact that he knew it would hurt me. This was a man who’d spent the entire time we’ve been together trying to protect me from harm. He was battling with the knowledge that he had no power over this, and that he was going to have to deliver the news.
His hands settled firmly on my hips, as if he thought I’d need help standing.
“It’s Laurie, baby. And it’s bad.”
Ranger hadn’t spoken since the funeral.
There was a lot going on. Members from chapters all over the country had attended in a show of solidarity. In a show of force.
I’d been with the Sons of Templar long enough to know what this meant. War.
We’d been through several skirmishes. There were plenty of other MCs, gangs, criminals, police FBI… there were countless organizations looking to take the Sons of Templar down. We were always fighting some kind of war.
But this was different.
This was like a wall had been erected between us. Some time when I hadn’t been paying attention. When I’d been too busy trying to fathom that I’d lost my best friend. That she’d suffered some of the most horrific things a human can go through at the end of her life.
She was light, love, laughter.
Yet she’d died in an ugly, violent, brutal and bloody way.
We’d waited at the hospital knowing it was bad. Bull had become nothing but a human shaped ghost. Everything about him was empty. Dark.
The air was toxic with the truth.
That there was no way Laurie would survive what had been done to her. She wouldn’t want to survive because there was no way that any woman would be able to live with what had been done to her.
I’d prepared myself for her death. Sitting in the hospital waiting room with Ranger beside me, his hand in mine, I’d gone through the motions. Thought I had, at least.