Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 94076 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94076 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
She sighs with contentment as I hold her close.
I don’t love Alice.
But one day I will.
Two months later
Late afternoon sunlight glints on her long blonde hair as we stand at the edge of the park kissing in the warm spring air. Alice is still not showing, but according to the books she’s made me read about pregnancy, it won’t be long before her belly pops out.
A few yards away from us, the club celebrates a family day with a cookout in the park. Kids run around and play on the swings, while the Knights and their old ladies eat burgers and some of the best damn barbecue there is.
It’s been two months since Alice told me about the baby, but we haven’t told anyone about it yet. She wanted to wait until she was past the three-month stage, which is today.
Which means we’re about to drop a bomb on the cookout.
I’m hoping it’s going to go a lot better than what my gut tells me it is. It will be a shock, but it’s good news. And good news is exactly what the club needs right now. For the past few weeks, we’ve had several deals go bad and a rival club has been making its presence known. Not to mention, a syndicate out of Chicago trying to muscle in on Knights’ territory.
Things have been tense. But they’re under control.
I break off our kiss.
“Are you ready to tell them?” I ask Alice.
She gives me a nervous smile and nods. “Are you?”
I grin. “Baby, I was born ready.”
She chuckles and then bites her lip. “They’re going to call us crazy.”
“And they’d be right. But I like crazy.” I take her face in my hands. “You know I’ve got you, right? We’re in this together.”
“You’re a good man, Lars Andersson.”
She presses her lips to mine and slides her arms around my waist.
It all happens so fast.
The bark of gunfire appears out of nowhere while I’m kissing my girl. One minute her mouth is moving gently against mine, the next I feel her jerk against me, and her lips go soft. Our eyes meet and I see the life drain out of hers. Horror crashes through me when I see the red stain spread across her belly. She starts to sink to the ground. I try to hold her up, but my hands lose strength, and I can’t stop her from falling. That’s when I see the hole in the front of my shirt. At first it is just a hole, but then blood begins to spill out of it.
I’ve been shot.
And it’s the last thing I think before my world vanishes into darkness.
“Hey, baby.” The soothing voice pulls me out from the gray. Before I open my eyes, the pain greets me. A sharp stab in the belly.
I blink awake and look up into my mom’s face. She’s leaning over me while I struggle to make sense of what has happened.
I was with Alice.
We were kissing.
Then there was gunfire.
Thinking I’m still on the ground in the park my eyes dart to my mom. “We’ve got to get to safety. We’ve got to get everyone out of here.”
“Oh baby, we’re not in the park anymore. You’re in the hospital. You’re safe.”
Frowning, I close my eyes. Everything is muddled. I can’t think straight. I was at the park. And now I am here.
If I’m here, then where’s Alice?
My eyes flick open, and I try to sit up, but the sudden movement shoots rays of pain into my abdomen. “Where’s Alice? I’ve got to help Alice.”
My mom’s eyes soften. “Take it easy, sweetheart. You’ve just had surgery to remove the bullet.”
But I don’t care.
I want to see my girlfriend.
“Where is she?” I demand, forcing myself to sit up despite the pain ripping apart my insides. “I want to see her.”
Oh God. The baby.
Fear crawls along my skin. “Is she okay? Where are they?”
Mom looks sad. “She didn’t make it, son. Alice died.”
I stare at her.
No.
That was not how this was meant to play out.
I shake my head. She was just in my arms.
“No, this isn’t right.” I pull back the covers. I need to find Alice.
“Buddy, you need to take it easy,” Beast says, stepping forward. My best friend since we were kids, he towers over the hospital bed. “You’ve taken a bullet to the gut. You need to rest.”
“I want to see my fucking girlfriend.”
“She’s dead,” Beast says. “It was a drive-by. The syndicate out of Chicago. Your old man and my old man have gone to take care of it.”
“Fuck you,” I growl, the fear and agitation and pain all colliding inside me. “She’s not dead.”
“She is, buddy.”
“The bullet passed through her and into you,” Mom says. “She died instantly.”
I struggle to swallow but a cold ache has closed around my throat.
“She’s pregnant,” I whisper, my brain scrambling to understand what is happening.