Total pages in book: 38
Estimated words: 35763 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 179(@200wpm)___ 143(@250wpm)___ 119(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 35763 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 179(@200wpm)___ 143(@250wpm)___ 119(@300wpm)
I rap my knuckle against the door. It swings open. The man at the door looks up and down at me.
“You got any weapons on you?”
“No.”
“All right.” He nods for me to enter. I was entering one way or another.
Security isn’t stellar, but then again, all of this is illegal, but I’m wondering if King, as everyone calls him, has the police in this island town paid off to not pay attention to the dock.
When I pressed Zero about finding out more about Vasily King, he told me no. This leads me to assume that Vasily King is among Zero's numerous clientele. That gave me some level of reassurance that the man wasn’t utter scum, but that doesn’t mean he’s on the up and up. Everyone has their own set of morals.
Down the long entryway hall, I can hear the chanting of the crowd. My phone goes off in my pocket, and I pull it out, seeing a message from my security saying they lost the girls in the crowd. That King had taken a shine to them and was leading them toward the front of the ring.
The fuck. I pick up my pace, a sense of unease gripping me. When I get to the end of the hallway, my eye catches on dark chocolate hair being pulled into a room. Hair that I would know anywhere.
No one is paying attention; the crowd is focused on the ring. I sprint forward, adrenaline coursing through me. Thoughts of my mom fill my head. I found her after she committed suicide. At least that is what they said happened.
I will never know the truth. That died with my father, but either way, if it wasn’t him and she’d taken her own life, he’d driven her there. It was still blood on his hands. I know the cruel things men can do to women, and anything happening to Teddy, the only other woman in the world I have loved, getting hurt, would destroy me.
When I get to the door, it’s locked, but I hear a small scream. A chill runs through me, knowing Teddy is on the other side of that door. Instinct takes over, and I lift my foot and kick as hard as I can. The door bursts open to reveal Derrick with his hand over Teddy’s mouth as she fights him. Derrick's eyes widen when he sees me standing there, and all I see is red.
I lunge for the asshole. The next thing I know, two people are pulling me off Derrick from the floor, where I’m still landing blow after blow. My back hits a wall as each man has one of my arms, but I’m still trying to get back to Derrick, far from done with him.
“Teddy! Help us here,” I think I hear Rich shout.
“West.” Teddy appears in front of me, her hands coming to my face. “Let him go.”
Tentatively, Rich and King release their hold on me, and I grab Teddy, pulling her into me. "I'm okay," Teddy keeps saying as I lift her, burying my face in her neck. Breathing in her heavenly sweet smell. "You saved me." She runs her fingers through my hair, like someone trying to soothe a rabid beast.
Once my mind clears and the adrenaline starts to subside, I begin to calm down. She’s the only one that has this effect on me, who can soothe that side of me. A side I wish she never would have had to see. A slight panic starts to fill me that she will be scared of me. That she will think I’m like my brother and father.
“I’m not like them,” I whisper so she can only hear me. I can hear the vulnerability in my own voice, something I haven’t allowed myself to be in a very long time.
"To me, West, you are unlike anyone else. You’re different and everything I never knew I needed.” I lift my head to meet her smiling face.
"I tracked you here," I tell her, not wanting to hide anything.
“Not surprising with some of the inventions you’ve told me about.”
“That doesn’t scare you?”
“West, you have never scared me a day in my life. Not even that first day.”
“Really, because you scare the shit out of me.”
“Good.” She lets out a small laugh.
“Take him to the mainland.” Teddy turns her head, and I slowly put her back to her feet to see King issuing orders. Two men pick up a bloodied Derrick and drag him out of the room. The door falls closed behind them, leaving King, Rich, Willa, and us. “I’ll clean this up.”
“Why?” I wasn’t worried about it, but I’m curious why he’s so quick to help. Then again, I'm guessing he doesn't want an ambulance and police coming down here to collect Derrick.
“I have my reasons.” His eyes flick to Willa.