Total pages in book: 38
Estimated words: 33577 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33577 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
I nodded, but rest was the furthest thing from my mind. I had a blonde waiting in my room, and a whole lot of explaining to do.
By the time I made it back to my room, a pale light crept through the compound's high windows with the coming dawn. My body ached from the fight and the hours spent in that uncomfortable chair at church. The distant thump of music still pulsed from somewhere in the building. Some of my younger brothers were determined to salvage what was left of the party. Idiots. We were at war, and they were still trying to drink and fuck like nothing had changed.
Later. I’d deal with that later. Fucking morons.
I turned the key in the lock, pushing the door open quietly in case Honey had managed to fall asleep. But she was wide awake, curled up on my couch with her knees tucked against her chest. She looked small there, vulnerable in a way that tugged at something buried deep in my chest. Her leather top from the party was tossed on the floor next to where she sat on the couch. The T-shirt I’d given her fell off one shoulder, her honey-blonde hair tousled. Dark circles had formed under those amber eyes, which darted nervously to the door when I entered.
"You're still up." I closed the door behind me and engaged the deadbolt.
She nodded, her throat working as she swallowed. "Couldn't sleep."
I crossed to the mini fridge tucked in the corner, pulled out a beer, and popped the cap against the edge of the counter. "Want one?"
"No. Thanks." Her voice was soft, uncertain. Nothing like the women who usually found their way to my room.
I sank into sofa next her, groaning as my muscles protested after the long night. The silence stretched between us as I took a long pull from the bottle, letting the cold beer soothe my parched throat.
"So," she finally said, "am I a prisoner?"
I lowered the bottle, meeting her gaze directly. "No."
"But I can't leave."
"Not if you want to stay alive." I set the beer down on the side table with a dull thunk. "When I told Shank you were my old lady, two things happened.” I waited to see if she would ask or hurry me but the girl surprised me by holding my gaze with hers and waited for me to continue. “First, it made him let you go without me killing him and possibly hurting you. Second, it made him pull his men back from our compound until they could deal with the fact they’d just assaulted the president’s woman. While none of us are above hurting women if necessary, the only time families are attacked is if we don’t care if we go to war. In fact, targeting families would mean we were taking out a rival completely. The Copperheads aren’t ready to do that. At least, not yet.” I paused. “I claimed you in front of Shank and I did it intentionally. In their eyes, in my club’s eyes, you're my property now. That also puts a big target on your back for my enemies."
She flinched at the word 'property,' but didn't look away. "And what am I in your eyes?"
Shit. How was I supposed to answer that? I didn’t know what she was to me yet. Only that she was mine. "You're under my protection," I said finally. "That's what matters right now."
"For how long?"
"Until this shit with the Copperheads blows over. Then you can go." The words tasted bitter in my mouth, though I couldn't say why. I'd only just met this girl. Had no reason to want her to stay. I decided to push her a little. I’d put my reputation on the line by claiming her. If she was more than I suspected she was, if she was a plant or a spy, then I’d not only lose the presidency of my club, I’d forfeit my life. "We've got a leak somewhere in the club," I said finally, gaging her reaction for anything to give me a clue she wasn’t on the up and up. "Someone’s feeding information to the Copperheads. That's why they hit us tonight. They knew we had business coming our way. We believe this was an attempt to hijack that business." I was careful how I phrased the information both to be deliberately vague and to throw her off guard.
Her eyes widened slightly. "You think it's me? Because I swear, I don't know anything about—"
"No," I cut her off. "I don't think it's you. If it was, Shank wouldn't have been asking what you knew."
She nodded, relief washing over her face. The girl visibly sagged and one tear escaped her eye before she batted it away with a snappish movement. "So what happens now?"
"Now we find the leak. And we prepare for the Copperheads to hit us again." I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees. "And you stay here, where I can keep you safe."