Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 69993 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69993 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
I don’t wait for an answer. I just tighten my grip on his throat and drag him out of the house and dump him on the porch.
Then I turn to Gia. “You good?”
Her eyes are wide, and she nods quickly. “Better than him, anyway.”
I smile at her spunk and go back inside to get the other one. I stand over him and say, “You want to leave the easy way or the hard way?”
He smiles like he has some kind of secret before his leg sweeps the floor to take me down. I lift my left leg easily and bring it down on his ankle.
“Son of a bitch!” He tries to get up and fails.
“It’s not broken, but it’ll hurt for a while. Should’ve chosen the easy way,” I tell him as I grab a handful of hair and drag him out the front door and toss him on top of his friend.
“If you boys come back here or come after her in any way, I’ll have no choice but to send you back to your mamas in body bags. Got me?”
They both nod and help each other to their feet. The one with brown eyes limps down the stairs, his friend practically dragging him down the street and into a black van with the windows blacked out.
I watch the tires screech and peel away from the curb until soon the van disappears from sight. Only then do I allow myself to relax.
“Wow. That was kind of…hot.”
I turn to the beautiful woman with blue hair and smile. “I aim to please,” I tell her. “Get inside.”
This time Gia goes without argument. “So, what are you?” she says with the beginning of a smile. “Some kind of white knight?”
I close the door and lock it behind me. “I’m nobody’s hero, Gia,” I tell her, trying to avoid staring at the swing of her hips and the way she sashays to the kitchen in shorts too small for public consumption.
“What do they want with you?” I ask. I’m not sure if I can trust her yet, but it’s my duty to try.
She shrugs. “I have no fucking clue. In fact, I have no clue about anything that’s happened over the past few days. No one knows about my computer skills, but I already told you that.”
“You did,” I agree carefully. “But those guys who broke in here? They were Iron Kings, Gia. Bikers. And they didn’t show up on bikes. They came in a van, and there’s only one reason to do that.”
She folds her arms defensively and gives me that look that says she doesn’t care, but her hands tremble slightly, and the pulse in her throat is beating like hummingbird wings.
“Enlighten me.” Before I can answer, she turns to the fridge and pulls out a water filter jug.
I watch as she pours two tall glasses of water with hands still shaking and offers me one.
“To kidnap you,” I tell her easily as I accept. “Best case scenario, they keep you somewhere to hack into places for them. Worst case, they turn you out and use you up until you kill yourself.”
“Well, shit,” she says with a sigh and drops down onto a kitchen chair. “Don’t sugarcoat it or anything, handsome.”
“I won’t.” I smile. The panty-melting one.
Gia motions for me to sit. “All right, then. Thank you for saving me from what sounds like a hellish existence. More than my current one anyway.”
I lean forward, intent on getting her attention. “Gia, I need you to be honest with me. Tell me why the Kings are so interested in you so I can help.”
She eyes me carefully, trying to figure out if she can trust me. I see the wariness swimming in those honey-brown eyes. “Who says I need your help?”
I smile. “The fact that you’re still here and not strapped to a bed in some flop house being pumped full of heroin, for starters.”
“Okay, I’ll give you that one. What else?”
I laugh ruefully and shake my head. “This is no laughing matter, Gia.”
“If I don’t laugh about it, I’m going to cry, and my eyeliner looks too fucking good today.” She looks to the living room and sighs. “I have to clean this up before my mom gets home.”
I finish the glass of water and stand, holding my hand out to her. “Let me help since I’m partially responsible for the mess.”
“Partially?” She laughs. “You kicked their asses and literally wiped the floor with one of them. It’s the only reason I’m accepting your offer instead of making you clean it all up on your own.”
I shake my head and pull her into the living room, and then I walk all the way to the other side of the room because I like her. A lot. She’s feisty and sexy, and has a smart mouth, almost as if God took all the ingredients I love in a woman and sent her to me in an irresistible package.