Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 75414 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75414 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
If you ever want to get away, I’ll help you.
Now she’s in his town, looking over her shoulder, carrying dangerous secrets and a heart that never forgot him. He’s her only chance at freedom. The only man she can trust.
But even as the connection between them grows, the past she’d been running from is catching up with them both
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
CHAPTER ONE
Nave
I was still rubbing sleep out of my eyes as I made my way toward the kitchen, stopping short when I caught Fallon and Brooks talking in the darkened common room, voices low.
“Is this an ‘I need to turn around and grab my gun’ thing, or can I get coffee first?” I asked.
Both men turned toward me, Fallon wearing his trademark smirk, Brooks’s face as unreadable as ever.
“For once, shit is calm,” Fallon said.
“Shit, man. Now you fucking jinxed it.” Outside, explaining why it was still dark at six in the morning, thunder rolled hard enough for the ground to vibrate under my feet. “Ha. Yeah, that’s not a bad omen or anything.”
“We’re just discussing prospects.”
“More? Thought we were waiting for the next set of legacies.”
“We got word of some up-and-comers in the area,” Fallon explained. “We were discussing if it might be smart to snatch them up if we can before the Vultures take them. Or even Cian O’Donovan.”
“Is Cian recruiting? Don’t they need to be Irish to be in the Irish mob?”
“We don’t know as much about the Irish mob around here to know if they hire associates outside of the family or not,” Brooks explained. “But if they do, these guys we have in mind would be at the top of his list.”
I had to admit, since taking over for my Uncle Reign, Fallon had been busting his ass trying to expand not only our main mother chapter but also grow out to sister chapters as well. He was still as picky as his old man had been about who was allowed to get a patch. But it seemed like Fallon was taking his legacy and reputation seriously.
“Are you gonna invite them to an open house?” I asked, stifling a yawn.
“Seems to be the best way to get everyone’s opinions on them.”
“Alright, well tell me…” I trailed off as the door flew open, revealing a walking wall covered in a poncho that was raining down all over the floor.
“Perish, the fuck you doing outside in this?” Fallon asked, waving toward where the rain was pelting against the windows.
“Haven’t had rain in a few weeks. And we’re under a water restriction. Had to put some fertilizer down.” He reached to whip off the soaked poncho.
“You’re practically as tall as the trees,” I reminded him. “You’re a lightning rod out there.”
“All gonna die someday.” He shrugged as he balled up his poncho.
“Right. But I waited a long time for your ass to come off probation. So I’d rather you not go down because you’re obsessed with the fucking lawn,” Fallon said.
“It is looking good this year, though,” I said, shrugging. We all had our hobbies. At least this was harmless. Or, if not harmless (judging by Billie’s nonstop lectures about ‘rewilding’ the lawn for the native pollinators), at least not harmful. And with a guy like Perish, who leaned toward violent and impulsive, it was good to have some mundane obsession to keep him occupied.
“Fucking grubs almost got us,” Perish agreed, following me into the kitchen.
I forced my lips into a straight line at that, knowing not a single other member of the club—least of all me—cared about the lawn.
“Then the grubs bring the fucking skunks to claw up the lawn. Had to sit outside all night for two weeks to scare the fucker off.”
Well, that explained why Voss’s dog, Nitro, got skunked twice over the summer. The poor fuck still had a bit of a smell when he got warm or wet.
“So what was that about?” he asked, nodding toward the common room.
“New prospects.”
“Already?”
“Yeah.”
“They gearing up for something we don’t know about?”
“Not that I’ve heard. But I haven’t been doing any eavesdropping either.”
“Well, it’s Navesink Bank. So the next fiasco is never too far off.”
“Don’t gotta sound excited about it.”
“Hey, I was basically on house arrest for years. After being locked up. I’m down for excitement. Making up for lost time.”
“I don’t mind the calm.”
Unlike Perish, before joining the club a few years back, I was not laying low. If anything, my entire life was a revolving door of chaos, uncertainty, and violence. And I handled most of that shit without the security and backup from club brothers.
So I was happy to have the downtime when it came around. Hang with the club, see my family, maybe find a woman to spend the weekend with.
But most of the club had no fucking idea what I’d been up to all those years I was off on my own. Hell, even my parents and Fallon only had the CliffsNotes version.
“I keep hoping something pretty will roll into town trailing trouble behind her for me. Everyone else got their chance at that adventure.”
“Never know, maybe you’ll be next,” I said, clamping a hand on his shoulder after picking up my cup of coffee.