Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 106003 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 530(@200wpm)___ 424(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106003 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 530(@200wpm)___ 424(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
His arms tighten around me, and I count his vertebrae with my fingers to remind myself that he really is safe now. “He just roughed me up a bit. Earlier he… well, he dragged me here, but then they called him over and he left. It’s just bruises, Creed, I swear,” he whispers straight in my ear.
I'm so happy I might just cry after all, because my sweetheart deserves all the best. I’m so happy Angel is in my arms, alive and more or less fine. To think that it was the call from the Butchers that saved Angel from even more suffering? I don’t regret making a scene in front of Prophet.
I kiss his temple. “We need to go tell the others what happened. I’m… I’m so glad you’re okay, baby. You’re my whole life, you know that?”
He leans back, so very fragile in this dirty basement, but he has so much inner strength and wipes the bits of brain off my face before leaning in for a kiss that feels ceremonial.
He is the love of my life, and I will make sure no harm ever comes to him.
“Of course. We will always take care of each other.”
I nod and give him one more kiss when I hear banging on the locked door. “We’re fine!” I yell out to whoever might be listening at the window I slid in through.
Angel reluctantly rises off my lap, but as soon as I see that he’s barefoot, I pick him up and put him down by the door so he doesn’t risk stepping into gore. I grab his clothes, which are fortunately only stained with a few specks of blood.
He dresses without a word while I fish keys out of Domino’s pocket, and we walk through the basement in silence. I know he’s also wondering what could have happened here if I didn’t know about his past, but each time I let my mind wander, terror and grief rip me apart, so I open the door, eager to be back out in fresh air.
Yeti is busy tugging on Rooster’s legs a bit farther down the wall, and he lodges the kid free the moment Prophet pulls both me and Angel against him. “Thank fuck! So he really had you? In this old sawmill?” he asks, letting me go so he can focus on the bruises turning Angel’s face into a patchwork of color.
“Thank you for… coming,” Angel says softly, but his body jerks in response to the friendly pats given by my brothers, and I need to intervene.
“You’re family now,” Road says to him, but winks at me.
I’m not sure what it’s supposed to mean, but I was never very good at reading social cues.
Prophet leads us to a large fallen tree we can sit on, and I’m glad, because I’m aching all over, especially in the damn shoulder. “I’m guessing Domino’s not walking out of there?” He sighs and hands me a cigarette.
“He deserved it,” Angel says, resting his head on my healthy shoulder. He lacks his usual energy, drained by the horrid experience of the past few hours, but he’s here with me. Nobody will ever hurt him again.
Prophet’s brows go up as his gaze meets mine, but before he can speak, Angel bursts out laughing and squeezes my hand. “My man did a fantastic job.”
Prophet hums as he lights both mine and his cigarettes. “You know what this means though. We need to cover it up somehow. The Butchers don’t all sing “Kumbaya” together, but they’ll be looking for him, they’ll have suspicions. They might know of this place.”
I shake my head. “They probably don’t. He wouldn’t have brought Angel here if they did.”
Road steps closer, rubbing his hand over his buzz cut. “And if they find out Creep killed him, they won’t believe us what happened.”
Rooster rushes over, red in the face, followed by his father. “Well, maybe he shouldn’t have made his villain monologue then.”
When I frown, unsure what he’s talking about, Rooster pulls out his phone and plays back the moment when Domino announced he knew about Angel being my property and promising me death. Even with the pain in my shoulder, I smile. He fucked himself over.
“Rooster strikes again!” Prophet laughs and pulls him in for a hug while Rooster’s dad messes up his mohawk with his hand.
“That’s my boy! I knew you were cut out for this!”
With the shadow of danger gone, the men celebrate, and Rooster even flies up a couple of times, but Angel remains stiff at my side. “Will this be enough?”
Clyde captures his gaze and places his hand on Angel’s shoulder, giving it a mild squeeze. “I used to be one of them. With you being a man… it is unusual, but nobody should mess with a man’s property, and you’ve got the patches to prove it. And believe me, they don’t want anyone to know that their road captain got offed because he went after a boy he shouldn’t have chased.”