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)
Blood continued to stream from Gentry’s broken nose as Stone fisted the man’s shirt and yanked him out of the car, flinging him to the ground.
Before Gentry could recover, Stone had his boot jammed on the man’s neck.
Wouldn’t take much to crush it.
And damn, was he tempted.
Pulling in a breath, Stone then pushed it out along with that urge.
He promised Taryn and he always tried to keep promises, whether they were good or bad.
“Gonna tell you this fuckin’ once and it would be damn smart of you to heed my fuckin’ words. Whatever you’re plannin’ to do to Taryn…warnin’ you now, just forget it. Forget she exists. Forget your son exists. Did your fuckin’ time, you can go on about your life. Stop fuckin’ with hers.”
Gentry wrapped the hand not cupping his broken nose above Stone’s boot, trying to prevent his windpipe from being crushed. “It was because of her I ended up in prison.”
Stone put a little more weight on that leg. “The fuck it was. Coulda exchanged your son without issue, then spent time with him as planned. ‘Stead you decided you needed a vacation in the hospital, then an extended one in prison.”
“Because of you!”
“All ‘cause of you. You beat the fuck outta your ex, then I beat the fuck outta you. Only fair, right?”
“She was trying to get full custody of my son.”
“I don’t fuckin’ blame her. And after what you did to her in that parking lot, she’ll never hand over her boy to an unhinged motherfucker like you.”
“You’re the unhinged one!”
“Imagine thinkin’ two things can’t be true at once, you dumb fuck.” He kept his boot on Gentry’s throat to the point that if he fought back, he’d no longer be able to breathe or swallow.
Gentry continued to claw at Stone’s leg. “Help! Somebody help me!”
“A squirrel ain’t gonna be able to do jack shit besides shove an acorn in your pie hole. Your screamin’ is annoyin’ the fuck outta me. Sure it’s annoyin’ them, too.”
“Help!”
Stone leaned down and growled, “Shut the fuck up.”
“Help! Someone! Anyone!”
Stone was done with this bullshit. He needed to deliver his message and get the fuck out of there.
Peeling Gentry’s hand off his jeans, Stone twisted the man’s fingers until they bent in a direction they shouldn’t.
“What the fuck!” Gentry’s scream echoed through the woods.
Christ, his fingers itched to slice that fucker’s throat to shut him the fuck up.
The asshole moaned as he clutched his mangled hand to his chest. “You’re going to pay for this.”
“Don’t even think about callin’ the pigs ‘bout this. Promise you, you do, a whole fuckin’ army’s gonna hunt your ass down.” Another promise he intended to keep. “We know your name. Where you work. Who your family is. Know where you live now, too. You fuck with Taryn or her son, that’ll be the last thing you do. Today was child’s play. You hear me?” Stone roared in his face.
“Fuck you,” Gentry groaned. “Fuck you!”
Stone popped him in the mouth, then stared at the man writhing in pain on the ground. “I’ll be the one teachin’ your son how to kick a soccer ball since it won’t be you. Lemme show you my skills.” With that he hauled off and kicked Gentry in the ribs, hearing a satisfying crack.
Still not good enough.
Gentry, now curled in a ball on his side, exposed Stone’s next target. This time he aimed for the man’s kidney.
Oh yeah, that would leave a mark.
But Stone still wasn’t satisfied that the man had learned his lesson, so he delivered one last blow.
A boot to the temple put Taryn’s ex into a temporary time-out.
Stone - 2. Vic the Dick - 0.
For a final parting gift, he unzipped his jeans, yanked out his dick, and pissed on Gentry’s busted up face.
That was going to sting.
Too bad he didn’t need to take a shit, too.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Stone took it as a good sign that a whole month later they hadn’t heard a fucking peep from Vic the Dick. The warning that Taryn still didn’t know about—nor did she need to—must have been effective.
Using Gentry’s release as an excuse, he had convinced her to stay with him a while longer—for her and Wren’s safety, of fucking course—and continue playing house with their little patchwork family.
Crazy enough, that was what it had turned into. An actual family.
One Stone found he didn’t mind coming home to.
No invisible collar choked his neck like it had when Sheena told him she was pregnant. He’d hardly been able to breathe for a fucking week.
At the time, he thought the life he loved was over. It turned out he was wrong. He didn’t need to take Sheena as part of the deal when it came to his daughter.
Was she a thorn in his side? Damn right she was. But he didn’t need to share a home or bed with her.