Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 57341 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 287(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57341 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 287(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
“She’s going to smart off at the wrong person one day, Prez,” Gregory stated, but it sounded more like a threat.
And that shit would get his ass killed.
I bristled and narrowed my eyes at him. “Was that a fucking threat?” I snarled as I stood up from my barstool, keeping Adelaide close to me.
Gregory put his hands up in a surrendering gesture, but I didn’t miss the heated glare he sent in Adelaide’s direction before he walked away, his steps quick and angry.
Clenching my jaw, I nodded once at Tristan when he turned to look at me. I needed to get Adelaide home. Today had been enough for her, and right then, I didn’t fucking trust Gregory. I wanted her far away from him.
“Sam will make sure you and your club get settled in for the night,” I informed Tristan. His eyes flickered to Adelaide, but I was sure to keep her attention focused on me. I hated it when she tore herself down, and every time she looked at him, that was exactly what she did. “Enjoy the drinks, and have fun with the women. I’m taking Adelaide home, and I probably won’t be back here at the clubhouse until sometime in the morning once she wakes up for the day.”
Tristan nodded in understanding, for once staying silent. I placed my hand on the small of Adelaide’s back, leading her out to my bike, not giving her a chance to look at Tristan. I brushed my lips to her temple when we stepped outside. Her body sagged, the weight of being in Tristan’s presence lifting from her shoulders.
“Live for me,” I whispered in her ear.
She turned to me and pressed her hand over my chest, looking up at me with those beautiful, brown eyes. “Stay with me,” she said in return, her voice just as quiet as mine.
I leaned down and brushed my lips with hers. “For as long as you’ll have me,” I promised.
Chapter Six
Adelaide
My stomach was churning when I woke up the next morning. Oh, God, it was going to be one of those days. I had thought that the days of morning sickness and nausea were behind me.
With a gag, I threw myself out of bed, rushing over to the bathroom. I barely managed to drop to my knees in front of the toilet before I emptied my stomach.
River, who I hadn’t even noticed got out of bed with me, held my hair out of the way and comfortingly rubbed my back as I dry heaved a couple more times before I got sick again. Tears spilled down my cheeks. Fuck, throwing up hurt so much. And my face was fucking throbbing.
“You alright, darlin’?” he asked me once I was done emptying my stomach.
“It’s going to be one of those days,” I grumbled, my stomach still churning. I gagged again, but nothing came up that time. “I was hoping I’d left them behind in my first trimester, but I guess not.”
“Morning sickness?” he inquired, a slight frown pulling on his face as he tried to understand what I was going through. Despite how shitty I felt, it warmed my heart.
I nodded in answer. He leaned down and lifted me against his chest, cradling me in his arms as he carried me to my living room. He gently set me onto the couch and grabbed my throw blanket from the back of it, draping it over me.
“I’m going to make you some soup. Do you have any saltine crackers?” he asked. “I heard crackers are supposed to help the nausea.”
I shook my head at him. “I ate them all the last time I was sick,” I told him, closing my eyes as vomit rose in my throat. I really didn’t want to get sick again.
I slowly opened my eyes once the nausea settled, only to see him pulling his phone out of his pocket to type out a quick text to someone. After he was finished, he slid his phone back in his pocket and placed a kiss on my forehead before he walked off to my kitchen to make me some soup.
Closing my eyes, I curled into a ball, muffling a groan in the throw pillow beneath my head when my stomach churned again.
Chapter Seven
River
Asoft smile crossed my lips as I walked back into the living room, finding Adelaide asleep again, her hands folded under her head, her lips parted the tiniest bit. At that moment, she looked like an angel, albeit a broken one but an angel, nonetheless.
Fuck, she took my breath away every time I looked at her, and she didn’t even realize it. She was so blind to the effect that she had on me. I was hers—a weapon for her to wield, a soldier to command. She was the only person I would ever bow down to.