Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 94076 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94076 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Beast crosses his arms across his chest. “If you work here, then you’re family, and all family is invited. Besides, that asshole of an enforcer of mine should’ve already asked you.”
“Lars was going to ask me to the wedding?”
“Apparently.”
“Then why didn’t he?”
He cocks an eyebrow. “You ask a lot of questions.”
“I can’t help it, it’s in my nature.”
“Does your nature include getting your ass ready in time for a wedding?”
I look down at my denim shorts and band T-shirt, then look back up at Beast. “But I don’t have anything to wear.”
“I knew this dress would look good on you,” Belle says, stepping back to inspect her work, her gaze sweeping over the silk dress she’s just zipped up my back.
We’re in her bedroom, one fit for a president and his first lady, with its high ceilings, stunning stained-glass windows, massive fireplace, and a ginormous four-poster bed that looks right out of a fairytale.
“You look beautiful. But something is missing.” She tilts her head to study me when suddenly her eyes light up. “I’ve got it.” She walks over to a large wood dresser along the wall and rummages through a three-tier jewelry box.
Coming back to me, she tightens a single-strand diamond choker around my neck.
She turns me around so I can see myself in the full-length mirror.
And there she is. The old me.
The girl who used to wear designer labels and shoes that cost a small fortune. The girl who used material things to comfort the hole in her heart left behind by the loss of her mom. The girl who spent more time on how she looked than she did on forming friendships with those around her.
A girl who no longer exists.
Because I’m not her anymore. And seeing myself all glammed up feels as foreign to me as the cowboy boots and denim shorts did two weeks ago.
Yet, it does feel nice to be dressed up.
And to know that later today this dress will be peeled off me by a six-foot-six biker with big hands and an even bigger cock.
I smile at my reflection, but it fades suddenly.
Because I know I am being swept away by whatever this is. And eventually I’m going to betray these people. Hell, I already have by coming here.
If you work here, then you’re family.
Beast’s words come back to haunt me, and the guilt I feel is almost overwhelming.
“Lars isn’t going to know what hit him when he sees you,” Belle gushes, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. “I bet he falls in love right on the spot.”
Before I can answer, there’s a knock on the bedroom door and Beast walks into the room.
“Doesn’t she look beautiful, baby,” Belle says to him with a big smile.
But Beast seems to be a man of few words. He kind of just grunts as he walks over to a chair beneath the window and sits down to remove his giant motorcycle boots.
“Thank you,” I say to him. “You didn’t have to invite me.”
“Yes, he did,” Belle says. “A good president leaves no man behind.”
She winks at her husband, and he cocks his eyebrow at her. “Yeah, I’m the fairy fucking godmother.”
CHAPTER 47
Lars
Checking out the possible Olicheckoff compound doesn’t take us long. Bear and I set trail cams on the roads leading toward the property, which looks vacant, then watch for any sign of life. A car arrives, but it isn’t Viktor who climbs out. Bear shoots a round of photographs from a long lens camera.
“He’s Bratva, all right,” he says, clicking through the images. He zooms in on a distinctive tattoo on the man’s neck. A gothic script O.
Olicheckoff.
I look out the window at the gated estate. “Gotcha.”
Up ahead, I notice a bronze Cadillac pull into the street and drive slowly toward us. As it passes, I make eye contact with the driver. He’s fifty or sixty. Italian. I don’t recognize him. But the car looks like the one that pulled into the Blue Lagoon Motel the night I followed Ella home.
I open the van door to climb out, but the Cadillac speeds off as soon as it passes by.
Bear looks at me. “Friend of yours?”
“I don’t know who he is. But I’m sure I’ve seen him before.”
I check the side mirror, but the Caddie has gone.
It might be nothing. He could be a wealthy owner of one of the many estates in this area.
But my gut tells me otherwise.
“You want to catch up to him?” Bear asks.
Yeah, I do. But another check of the mirror tells me he’s long gone.
My phone vibrates with a message. It’s from Belle.
Meet Ella at the base of the staircase in an hour.
And don’t keep her waiting.
I smile. Any mention of Ella, and I can’t help it. My heart starts to beat faster.
“Let’s get out of here,” I say. “We’ve got a wedding to get to.”