Total pages in book: 44
Estimated words: 40637 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 203(@200wpm)___ 163(@250wpm)___ 135(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 40637 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 203(@200wpm)___ 163(@250wpm)___ 135(@300wpm)
“Well, fuck.” Christ, my life!
Chapter Two
Carrie
I was really surprised I managed to hold out this long before I completely lost my shit. It was the whole gristle in my teeth thing, knowing it was a person’s flesh that tipped me over, I think. All the men were looking at me like I was a complete lunatic, and I didn’t blame them. For some reason, though, out of all the men there, despite knowing I needed to fear every single one of them, the big man who'd first met me at the gate held my gaze, and I did the only thing I could think of.
“I-I’m so s-sorry. Please help me.” It was pathetic and miserable. “I did it.” I sobbed out. “I killed them.”
“I think I know where she’s talkin’ about, Bohannon.”
“Take a crew,” one of them ordered. “See what you find, then let me know what’s going on.”
“I found the incident, Torpedo. It happened just like she said.” Another guy, his gaze drifting to me once before shoving a tablet in front of Torpedo’s face.
The other man -- Torpedo, who seemed to be in charge -- viewed it and nodded his head crisply. “Back it up. Follow everyone’s movements.” Torpedo gave me a hard look.
“She needs looked over to make sure she’s not injured.” The big man stepped forward and knelt in front of me. “I’m Hawk, little lady.”
“Carrie,” she said.
“Yeah, honey. I got that.” He smiled.
“Are you going to turn me in to the cops? That’s what happens when you kill someone. Right?”
Hawk glanced up at the one called Torpedo, then at one of two other men who seemed to be part of the group but also standing apart. Torpedo turned to those two men and raised an eyebrow.
“What do you think, Knuckles? This is your outfit.”
“Take her in. Let her get cleaned up and get Pain to check her over. Knight, I want you to examine every second of footage you can find. If she’s on the up and up, we’ll take care of this… uh, how did she put it, Gunnar?”
Gunnar held up his thumb and forefinger an inch apart. “Little bit of a bind, I think. I wasn’t close enough to hear much.”
“I didn’t do it on purpose.” I sounded whiny even to myself. “OK, so I did do it on purpose, but only because they were gonna hurt me. And I didn’t kill them as a first resort. Only when the one guy brought out a knife, and I knew things were serious.”
Hawk’s brow furrowed as he studied me. I couldn’t tell if he was horrified or impressed, and honestly, at this point, I didn’t care. My hands were shaking so badly I had to sit on them.
“Let’s get you cleaned up,” he said, his voice surprisingly gentle for a man who looked like he could bench press a motorcycle. He reached out, hesitated. I swayed slightly, the adrenaline crash hitting me hard. “Your story checks out, everything will be fine.”
“And if it doesn’t?” It was embarrassing, but my voice shook. My dad would be so ashamed of me right now. He’d raised his only daughter to be as strong as her brothers. Not even one of my brothers would be on his ass in the gravel while men stood over them. They’d be on their feet ready to fight for their lives. Me? I just wanted to go home and hide for the rest of mine.
He raised an eyebrow. “Is it going to?”
I shrugged. “It’s a matter of perspective, I guess.”
“Relax, uh, Carrie.” He stumbled over my name, and I didn’t understand why. “We’re gonna look at all the footage we can find, but Knight seems pretty satisfied with the fight.”
“I think I’m gonna be sick,” I mumbled, then promptly vomited on the ground next to Hawk’s boots. Thankfully, I missed his actual footwear.
“Christ,” someone muttered behind me.
“Oh, like you’ve never blown chunks after a fight, Noose.” Gunnar shoved Noose backward. Not hard, but enough that the younger man got the message.
“I’m a sympathy puker, all right?” the younger man grumbled. “Meant no disrespect.” Several of the remaining guys laughed and clapped Noose on the back as they passed.
Hawk didn’t even flinch at the mess near his boots. “It’s the shock, honey. Happens to everyone the first time.” He looked over his shoulder. “Gunnar, can you get a prospect to get her some water?”
I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, which was pointless since my hand was as disgusting as my face. “I didn’t want to kill anyone,” I whispered, only for Hawk’s ears. “But they wouldn’t stop.”
“I know, darlin’.” I was surprised at the confidence in his tone, but as I looked up at him, he seemed sincere. Not like he was humoring me to get me to do what he wanted. “We’ll get to the bottom of this, but I believe Knight’s assessment. He’s never wrong. Besides, self-defense is a thing, you know? Ain’t no one here gonna judge you for defendin’ yourself.”