Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 95906 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 480(@200wpm)___ 384(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95906 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 480(@200wpm)___ 384(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
If only I could've gotten to that room sooner…
I shook my head, because that wasn't really the problem, was it? The problem was that I’d spent all these years burying my head in the sand when it came to Brady Fox and his family. If I’d just manned up and kept tabs on what was happening to the man whose life I'd pretty much stolen, perhaps I could've done something to prevent fuckers like Ricky and Barry from entering Micah's life.
Maybe if you hadn’t let yourself go to shit, Barry would still be willing to pay top dollar for your ass!
Fuck.
I fisted my hands and began looking around for something to take my fury out on, but when someone called out my stage name, I forced myself to turn in the direction of the voice. A young man dressed in a valet’s jacket trotted toward me with a wide grin on his face.
“Oh my God, it really is you,” the man said. “I'm such a big fan,” he gushed and then he was reaching out to grab my hand to shake it. I welcomed the sting of pain in my knuckles as he squeezed my hand. The kid didn’t even seem to notice the dried blood on my skin.
“Thank you,” I managed to say. Usually, I could turn on the charm button with ease, but I wasn't feeling it today.
The young man must've sensed that because he said, “I hope your friend is all right. I saw you drive up.” He fished into his pocket and pulled out my car keys. “I parked your car for you. I'm happy to hang on to these so I can get the car when you're ready to leave.”
“I'd appreciate that,” I said. “What's your name?”
“Dale,” the guy said eagerly. “Dale Messing.”
I reached into my pocket and pulled out my manager’s card. “Call this number in the morning. Julia will get you hooked up with some tickets for my next fight.”
Dale's eyes grew wide. “Oh my God, are you kidding me?”
“Do you have a way to get to Vegas?” I asked.
“Um, no, but—”
“You do now,” I said as I pulled my phone out of my pocket. “Julia will handle the details,” I added as I sent my agent a text telling her to take care of the guy. I left the excited fan and returned to my spot outside Micah's room to wait out the hour.
One hour before I could see for myself that he was okay.
One hour until I could touch his skin to make sure it glowed with life.
One hour to figure out how to make things right for Micah after a lifetime of doing it all wrong.
One hour… it might as well have been forever.
Chapter Five
Micah
No, Ricky, don’t. Please don’t.
Panic surged through my blood as I took in the hunger in Ricky’s eyes.
But not hunger for me.
He wanted only one thing.
No! I cried with a shake of my head as Ricky yanked me to my feet and dragged me from the narrow gap between the bathtub and toilet that I’d been trying to cram my body between. I began sobbing as he pulled me toward the small room at the back of the house with the dirty little mattress and creaky springs… toward the inevitable conclusion that no amount of begging would save me from…
“Micah, wake up, damn it!”
I jolted at the unfamiliar voice. Barry never yelled. He never called me by my name either. And I knew his and Ricky’s voices like the back of my hand.
Firm fingers bit into my arms as the incessant sound of some kind of beeping grated on my nerves. “Stop it!” I screamed, though I had no clue if I was directing the order at Barry or that god-awful beeping.
“Micah, sweetheart, open your eyes. You’re safe.”
My limbs felt heavy as I tried to place that voice. It was both familiar and not. That endearment, though… where had I heard that before? No one had ever called me that.
No one.
No, not no one, an inner voice whispered, though I wondered how I could hear it above that beeping and Barry’s grunts of pleasure as he—
“Please, Micah,” came that pained voice again, and this time I was sure one of those hands was on my cheek. A calloused, heavy hand that should have hurt but didn’t.
Barry’s smooth hands always hurt…
The fog in my head began to lift as Barry’s weight on my back fell away and heat began to wash over my skin.
Why was everything so dark?
Thankfully, the beeping began to slow a bit, so I was able to focus on the other sounds around me. A rush of footsteps, what sounded like a voice over some kind of PA system, and the sliding of a door that muted loud voices every time it opened and closed with a soft swish.