Total pages in book: 40
Estimated words: 38829 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 194(@200wpm)___ 155(@250wpm)___ 129(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 38829 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 194(@200wpm)___ 155(@250wpm)___ 129(@300wpm)
“Fuck you, asshole,” he growls.
“Let’s all sit down and talk this over, King. We don’t want to lose you,” Hangman wades in.
“My mind isn’t going to change unless he does. I’m heading to Diesel’s club to help them for a bit. I think I need to reevaluate shit.”
“King—”
“Let him go,” I mutter, more than ready to get him out of my office.
King gets to the door, then turns and stares right at me. I hate to admit it, but the fucker has balls, and I like the way he doesn’t back down. He’d be a successful addition to the club. “If I find out you went through with your plans, I’ll be back and I’ll take her out of here myself. I get vengeance. I spent my life searching for it myself. It almost cost me everything that makes my sorry life worth living right now. Keep that in mind.”
He leaves with a slam of the door, and the room goes quiet for a bit. I rub the back of my neck. “Why do I get the feeling you all know more about Olivia than I do?”
“Because we bothered to find out more?” Sasa mutters.
“You too, Hangman?”
“Nah, me and Viper are a little clueless, but we’re not really happy with your plans, so we decided to follow Cross and the boys here.”
I let out a sigh. “I will admit that after seeing Olivia at the funeral, I’m rethinking things. That woman was not the same one that I met two years ago when Eyeball had the prison warden deliver me to him so he could beat the shit out of me and used Olivia to hurt me even more.”
“Did it ever occur to you that Olivia was trapped as much as you were?” Cross asked, anger bleeding through his question.
“It sure didn’t seem like she was that night,” I mutter.
“You have to know with that fucker Eyeball, things were never what they seemed,” Sasa answered.
I nod, rubbing the tension that’s gathering between my eyes. “This whole thing is fucked up. I lost years of my life here. At the very least, if Olivia had come forward about her brother, I could have been home grieving Bear instead of in hell, taking shit from the crooked guards and that shit-for-brains warden.”
“Olivia did everything she could to help you—when she was able,” Cross adds.
“What does that mean?” I ask, confused as fuck.
“It’s not my story and I’m not going to tell you. I will tell you that Olivia did everything—absolutely everything—she could do to make sure Bear survived. It wasn’t enough. It was never going to be enough, but that woman endured horrors you couldn’t imagine for Bear. So much that it completely broke her. It took a year to just get her functioning, and when that happened the first thing she did was talk to the Commonwealth’s office and the prosecutors on your behalf.”
I look at him like he’s grown horns out of his head. It couldn’t surprise me more if he started spouting right in front of me. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“I’m telling you that the only reason you’re sucking clean air right now is because Olivia went to them and convinced the prosecutors that you were set up. The Commonwealth Attorney said there was no way the conviction could be overturned based solely on her say so—especially since she wasn’t exactly steady around people.”
“So, you’re saying the meltdown today at the funeral wasn’t an act? How can you be sure?” I ask, still not truly believing it—no matter how convincing she seemed at the funeral.
Something flashes across Cross’s face. It’s not guilt, but it’s clearly along that vein. A shiver moves down my spine—a foreboding that whatever comes next, I’m not going to like it much.
“Because Bear left me a note and asked me to take care of her. I couldn’t—not until she finally showed up. I’ve been doing everything I could for her since.”
I look at Cross, the flush of betrayal burning in my gut. “Say what?”
“Bear left four letters. He left me a note that I found when you were arrested. The note told me how to find them and what he wanted done with them,” Cross explains.
“My brother left letters, and you didn’t think this was something I needed to know.”
“Blade—”
“The brother I had lost? The fucking brother I was in jail for murdering?” I growl, my voice rising.
“Blade, brother—” Cross tries again, but I keep going.
“Did you all know?” I snap, standing up, feeling as if I’m about to explode.
“About the letters? No. We did know Olivia tried to help you.”
“Why the fuck didn’t you tell me?” I bark, feeling like the walls are closing in on me.
“Every time we brought her up, you closed off. You began spouting your vengeance and asking if we were against you, threatening to leave the club, you name it, Blade. You didn’t let us tell you shit when it was about Olivia,” Viper huffs.