Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 151097 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 755(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 504(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 151097 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 755(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 504(@300wpm)
Leaning back in my chair, I rubbed my temples. “Coby…I need you to be honest with me, baby, and it needs to happen now. Do you understand?”
“Y-yes, I think so, but you’re scaring me.”
I swallowed the apology on my lips and held her gaze. “What the fuck is going on between you and Hunter?”
“What?” She visibly paled, and I felt my eyes narrowing at the nearly imperceptible step she took away from me. “What are you talking about? I already told you. She’s my best friend.”
“Cut the bullshit!” Abel roared. The stitches in his cheek that Niamh had just sewn together stretched tautly with his anger. “That bitch just tried to blow us up! Ain’t no friend doing all of that!”
“Aye!” I shouted at my head of security. “Unless you want me to finish what Hunter started, check your goddamn tone when you’re speaking to my wife.”
I heard a gasp and swung my attention back to Coby. “What is he talking about? Are you saying Hunter did this?” Coby’s gaze swung back and forth between Abel and me. I honestly didn’t know if her confusion was genuine or a ploy to throw me off the scent, and that’s what worried me, especially when her next question made it even more clear where her allegiance stood, even now. “Is she okay?”
Abel tossed back his head and laughed hoarsely at the ceiling before staring at me like I was the dumbest man in the world. “What more proof do you need, Ocean? Open your goddamn eyes. You almost get blown to pieces, but your wifeis only worried if Hunter is okay.”
“First of all, I can clearly see that my man is fine, so how about you kiss my ass? You don’t know me!”
Abel’s only response was to suck his teeth and then kick a chair across the room, which made Coby jump. And that I couldn’t have.
“Abel…” I inhaled a calming breath. “Go take a walk, man. I got this.” It was an order that he knew to follow because I was one more dirty look thrown at my girl from fucking him up.
Abel left without another word but made sure to slam the door so hard that a framed picture of my great-grandfather fell from the wall and crashed to the floor.
I didn’t react. Quiet as it was kept, I understood his anger. Would I go to war for Abel? The closest person I had to a friend?
Yes.
But I would be smart about it. I wouldn’t recklessly throw myself into the line of fire when there was a smarter way. Hunter had won a few battles, but the war was far from over when it had barely even begun. Most importantly, she couldn’t win. Eventually, when her rage subsided and reality set in, she would be forced to see that.
The question is, would it matter? Or would she throw her life away to rescue a friend who didn’t care to be saved? If Hunter kept going like this, by the time she realized it was all for nothing, that Coby was here of her own free will, and that she was marrying me because she wanted to (something I don’t think even Coby has realized yet), it would be too late. My mercy and that of the Fola would be long spent.
The crushing weight of that impending eventuality had me replaying my argument with Abel on the way home.
“Ocean, this bitch is drawing too much attention,” he argued. “She’s more than just some loose end. She’s clearly a threat. We need to neutralize her right fucking now.”
“I’m not killing my wife’s best friend.”
“You think it will be any different once your father finds out who’s doing this and puts a price on her head?”
No.
It won’t.
Coby would still blame me, and rightfully so.
I’ve been dealing with Hunter with one hand tied behind my back and wrapped in kid gloves because of what she meant to my wife, but as the death toll rose, it was becoming clear that it wouldn’t be enough.
Coby was soft and ripe for the picking like a grazing doe in the woods, but Hunter was clearly a different kind of animal. She was an apex predator stalking from the shadows and just waiting for the right moment to pounce. Like me.
It was past time I started acting accordingly.
Resting my head back against the seat, I closed my eyes and prayed to God I’d have the strength to resist temptation. I waited for an answer, but God was woefully silent, making it clear I was on my own.
All too quickly, the SUV turned into the underground garage at Glainne. I’d run out of time, so I opened my eyes and met Abel’s bloodthirtsty gaze. Anticipation was already injecting itself into my veins, setting my blood on fire at the promise of possessing Hunter soon.