Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 60852 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 304(@200wpm)___ 243(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60852 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 304(@200wpm)___ 243(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
I give her the best smile I can muster up. “Thanks, princess.”
That seems to take away her concerned expression, but she still stares at me skeptically before finally turning and leaving.
Spike takes a step toward me. “Beer?”
I would love nothing more than to go and drink this problem away, but, right now, I have no other choice but to deal with it. I’ve been given a time, a time to go and ... see. To see my past. To see the one thing I thought was gone. To see the woman who I gave my heart to a long fucking time ago, but I thought she was dead.
I was so sure.
When she went missing ... Fuck ... How could I be so wrong?
And what the hell am I going to do now?
“COME ON, BRIAN.” HARPER grins, waving her hairbrush in my face. “You know I’m good with hair, and you’ll look so handsome when I’m done.”
I grunt. “Not a fucking chance. Touch my hair, and I’ll put you over my knee.”
Giggling, she lurches forward, and I catch her, pulling her onto my lap. She stares down at me with those perfect blue eyes, her face framed by her straw-colored hair that curls around her chin. She’s fucking beautiful, and I’ve spent every damned day of my life looking at her and praying for this very moment. When she finally agreed to be mine, my world became complete.
But Harper lives a dangerous life.
Her parents are the town’s biggest drug dealers, and her dad runs a gang that I, for one, would never cross.
How they created this innocent, beautiful child, I’ll never know.
We all grew up on this street together and created a friendship that is unwavering. Harper, Charlie, and me. Charlie, a lone wolf, quiet and reserved, somehow fit in with us and, together, we had each other’s backs. There isn’t a single good moment of my life that those two aren’t in.
Now I have her.
Forever.
“I might like it if you put me over your knee,” Harper murmurs against my mouth as I bring it down over hers.
“Careful what you wish for, little flower, I might just deliver.”
Tangling her fingers in my long, thick hair, she kisses me deep, and fuck, I find it hard to think about anything else but the way her soft lips travel over mine. I love her so fucking much it burns. The thought of ever being in this world without her is enough to suck the soul from my body.
She’s my forever.
“Brian.”
Shaking my head, forcing the memories from my brain, I stare at the officer in front of me. Everything inside my body has recoiled to the point where it feels as though at any moment it could spring free and rip my very heart from my chest. It fucking burns, and no amount of trying to force it away is making any difference. I can’t make this go away. It doesn’t matter how hard I try.
I can’t fucking escape.
“I’m ready,” I grind out, standing at the large front door to a house that isn’t familiar to me.
It’s big, white, and looks like something out of a movie. I know it can’t be hers, but maybe it belongs to someone in her family. Either way, it’s over the top and I feel uncomfortable just standing on the perfectly manicured lawn, let alone going onto the porch with my boots and jeans. I feel like a fish out of water, and I know I look like one, too. Cops and the club don’t usually see eye to eye, and the way this one keeps giving me those looks, tells me she doesn’t trust me at all.
Ditto, woman.
Hesitating, I pause and take a deep, burning breath. I’m about to face the one thing I never imagined in my wildest dreams.
I wished for her for so long, but I accepted her fate a long time ago.
I was wrong.
All this time, I was wrong.
“There are certain things that cannot be discussed at this stage, until we are certain that she is safe. You cannot ask her why she was in protection. Are we clear?”
Protection.
She was in protection.
Nodding sharply, I follow the officer through the door and into a large living area. She leads me down a long hall, and I pay attention to nothing. I couldn’t tell you what color the paint is, or how many doors there are. My vision is blurred, my skin is prickling, and everything inside me feels as though it is going to explode. A part of me, a big part, is hoping I’ll step into that room and it won’t be her.
I pray it’s not her.
Yet, at the same time, I fucking pray that it is.
“She’s in that room, an officer is in there with her to ensure her safety and to ensure that nothing about the case is discussed. When you’re ready, you can go in.”