Total pages in book: 54
Estimated words: 49589 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 248(@200wpm)___ 198(@250wpm)___ 165(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49589 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 248(@200wpm)___ 198(@250wpm)___ 165(@300wpm)
“You ready? Got everything you need?” Pain asked, his voice a steady anchor in the chaos swirling around me.
I nodded, gesturing weakly toward my suitcase and backpack near the door. “That’s all I have.”
“Good. Less to worry about.” He grabbed my suitcase with one hand, his other hand still at my back, guiding me toward the truck.
“What about my car?” I asked, suddenly remembering the beat-up Fiesta. “It’s not much, but it’s all I’ve got.”
“We’ll take care of it,” Brick said softly. The big-man energy around Brick was surprisingly low for someone so large. No doubt it was a skill he’d perfected so people underestimated him.
“You ready?” Pain gave me a steady look, like he knew I was freaking out but was holding myself together by a thread. Pain was my thread.
“No,” I said honestly. “Not even close.” I shook my head. I clung to my backpack like my lifeline. Before I realized what I was doing, I’d backed away a step, looking from Brick to Pain and back again. All of a sudden, the realization crashed over me that I was in an extremely remote location with men who were big and strong enough to break me in half. I was powerless to stop them if they attacked.
“Nadine. Honey.” Pain set the suitcase down. One of the other men I hadn’t been introduced to picked it up and took it to the truck without a word. Everyone else seemed to have gone into the house. “Hey.” He snapped his fingers to get my attention. When I looked back at him, there was a worried expression on his face. “It’s all right. Do you trust me?”
“I don’t know.” My voice was barely above a whisper and even though we were outside in the open, everything seemed to be closing in around me.
“Of course, you don’t,” Pain said, his voice gentle but firm. “You shouldn’t. Not after what you’ve been through. But right now, staying here isn’t an option.”
I glanced back at my little rental house. The place I’d called home since I’d started working at the prison was about to become a crime scene. Or worse, it would be wiped clean as if nothing had happened. As if no one had ever existed here at all.
“They’re going to kill him, aren’t they?” I whispered, not looking at Pain directly.
Pain didn’t flinch or look away. “Yes.”
The single word hung in the humid night air between us. No excuses, no justification. Just the truth.
“I’m a nurse,” I said, my voice cracking. “I help save lives. I don’t take them.”
Moving closer but still keeping enough distance that I didn’t feel cornered, Pain reached in slow, deliberate movements and took my hand in his, caressing it gently. “Sometimes the world isn’t black-and-white, Nadine. You know some of what Grayson and his crew have done. Roberts told me.”
“Yes. And I’m not sure I even scratched the surface.”
“You didn’t, honey. And I don’t want you to. Some things I never want you to know about.” He gave my hand a gentle squeeze. “Look, I realize you don’t know me. Not really. Even if we’d been friends elsewhere, I’ve been through so much since I went to prison you wouldn’t recognize me.”
“I don’t… I don’t know what to do.” The words were pulled free against my will in a strangled sob. Showing weakness was the worst option imaginable, but Pain only stepped closer, pulling me to him with a growl and holding me tightly against him.
“It’s all right.” He whispered the words next to my ear. “I swear I’ll protect you, Nadine. On my life.”
For some stupid reason, my fists seemed to clutch his shirt and my fingers simply to God would not loosen so I could let go. My breath hitched and I held to him even harder.
“You guys need to get going.” I wasn’t sure who was speaking but I knew he was talking to Pain.
“Give her a minute, Roman. She’s not comfortable going yet, and I’m not forcing her.”
“Not suggesting you do. It’s just better for you to put as much distance between you and Terre Haute as possible. Venus and Piston will lead you to the compound in Evansville, then take you on to Nashville tomorrow. Me and Clutch will get you through until Kiss of Death meets you. Venus and Piston are going all the way.”
“Good. Venus will help put Nadine at ease.”
“If you want to ride with her in the truck, I can make sure your bike gets back to our compound. Otherwise, Clutch will take good care of her.”
“I know. But I want her with me.” As he spoke, Pain held me tighter, like he was as reluctant to let me go as I was him. That’s when I knew I should trust my gut. Pain wasn’t going to let anything happen to me.