Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 110721 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 554(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110721 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 554(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Stone and Ogre exchanged amused glances as Shit Stain hurried back to the kitchen for his next delivery.
“Goddamn prospects,” Stone muttered with a shake of his head.
“Necessary evil. Can’t forget we were all wet behind the fuckin’ ears once.”
“Don’t think we were that fuckin’ stupid.”
“Problem is, stupid people don’t realize they’re fuckin’ stupid.”
Wasn’t that the fucking truth?
Chapter Twenty-Five
Taryn needed to decide what she was going to do next. The million dollar question was: should she stay or should she go?
If she stayed, could she live with what the Kings—and Stone—did to those other bikers?
If she left, could she live with herself if something happened to her that would take her away from her son, leaving him motherless? Or could she live with Vic kidnapping Wren and taking him somewhere Taryn couldn’t find them?
When it boiled down to it, the reality was she was in more danger from Vic than sticking around with Stone and his brothers. Vic had a personal vendetta against her. While the Kings, despite how dangerous they might be, had her back.
Her moral dilemma was likened to friending someone because they’d always been kind to her, then finding out they were a serial killer.
However, her only other option would be for her and her son to disappear to somewhere no one could ever find them. Unfortunately, that would take a lot of planning and money. It also meant they’d be leaving her mother, Wren’s only remaining grandparent, behind. And maybe never see her again.
Not only would they have to change their identities, she would need to find a new source of income. Not an easy thing to do. Plus, it would tank the career she’d worked so hard and spent so many years building.
Right now, her business was the only thing holding her life together. She couldn’t afford to give it up. While she wished she had enough equity in the house to be able to do that, the reality was, she didn’t.
She also didn’t want her and Wren to be forced into hiding or on the run like fugitives for the next few years, if not even longer. To always be looking over their shoulders.
Such an abrupt change in his life wouldn’t be fair to him, either. It would affect his education, his healthcare, his…everything.
She slapped a hand over her forehead and sighed. It was all too much but the reality was, Vic would be freed in less than forty-eight hours.
She was trying not to panic.
She was trying not to worry.
But the truth was, when Vic was released, he would be out for blood.
She knew that because he had said so at his trial. That threat in front of the judge was one reason he got more time than Stone for practically the same offense.
While he wouldn’t know where she and Wren were currently living at first, it might not take long for him to find out. If her ex was determined to find them, he’d pull out all the stops to do so.
He might want to steal Wren simply for revenge since doing it legally might now be out of his reach with his aggravated assault conviction. Especially since he was violent in front of his own son.
Even so, she did not trust the legal system to protect them. She couldn’t count on the useless Protection From Abuse order. She also couldn’t risk the judge handing even partial custody back to Vic. In the end, she had to rely on her own decisions to protect both of them.
That meant she needed to do whatever was needed to keep them both safe. Right now, that meant staying where she was. Even if it wasn’t the most ideal situation.
Damn it.
She was stuck between a rock and a hard place. That “rock” being Stone.
She liked him. She really, really did. More than she ever thought she would. If she didn’t, she wouldn’t have been sharing more than the same roof.
That said, she didn’t like some of the things he did. What she knew of, anyway. Guaranteed, she didn’t know even a fraction of it.
He also wasn’t a great role model for Wren, even though that was supposed to be Vic’s job, not Stone’s. One that her ex failed miserably at.
Bottom line, if she was staying, she needed to accept the way Stone lived his life. The Kings clearly lived by a code, even though it might not be one she agreed with. The bikers were loyal, protective, and treated each other like family. Proof that some shiny spots could be found on that tarnished lifestyle if you looked closely enough.
In addition, she needed to appreciate everything he had done for her, when he didn’t have to, and stop freezing him out.
And if she had to admit it, she missed him sleeping next to her.
She missed the intimacy. Missed the way he curled around her at night, making her feel secure. And wanted. Something that had been missing in her life for the last few years.