Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 44899 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 224(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44899 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 224(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
The medicine cabinet above the sink hung slightly ajar. Such mundane normality from someone who had fought like a demon to protect me, who had held me while I fell apart. I closed the cabinet, unable to make even a small invasion of Sully’s privacy after he’d seen me at my most vulnerable. I understood what it was like to have yourself stripped bare. I chose to show him my soft spot. He hadn’t given me the same permission.
A knock at the bathroom door made me flinch, sending a jolt of pain through my side. “Darby?” Sully’s voice was low, concerned. “You okay in there?”
“Just admiring my new look,” I called back, aiming for lightness and missing by a mile. “Purple’s really my color, don’t you think?”
I heard his soft sigh through the door. “Knuckles sent word. Your father’s here. In the common room.”
My father. The words hit me like another punch to the ribs, stealing what little breath I had. I braced myself against the sink, watching my knuckles turn white with pressure. “He’s not my father,” I said automatically, the denial like a prayer I’d repeated too many times to believe anymore.
“Tonio Miles is waiting,” Sully amended, his tone careful. “And according to Knuckles, he’s not the kind of man who likes to wait.”
No, he certainly wasn’t. Antonio Miles had spent twenty-three years not knowing I existed, and now suddenly I was supposed to drop everything because he’d decided to play Daddy? I’d spent the last three months making as much a nuisance of myself as I could so he’d forget this ridiculous notion we were going to somehow make up for all the years we’d lost and we’d magically be a family. I didn’t believe in fairy tales.
“Give me a minute,” I said, turning on the cold water and splashing it over my face, careful of my split lip. The shock of it grounded me, bringing me back to the hard edges of my reality. When I emerged, Sully was leaning against the wall opposite the bathroom door, his arms crossed over his chest. He’d changed his shirt to a clean black tee that hugged his muscular frame. His gaze tracked over my face, lingering on the bruise with a flash of something dangerous.
“You don’t have to see him,” Sully said quietly. “Say the word and I’ll tell them you’re not up for visitors.”
I almost laughed at the absurdity of it. The most feared crime boss in Nashville, reduced to a “visitor” in Sully’s world. “And then what? He sends more guys to collect me? Puts a price on your head for interfering?”
“He didn’t do any of those things, honey. Knuckles said if you didn’t want to go with him you didn’t have to. So I will pull the plug on this.”
I shook my head, regretting it immediately as pain lanced through my temple. “I need to face him sometime. Might as well be now.”
Sully nodded once, then pushed off from the wall, offering me his hand. I hesitated before taking it, not sure how I wanted to enter the room with my father holding Sully’s hand. No matter how bad an idea it was, I knew I couldn’t let go of Sully. Not on my own.
He led me out of the warehouse and back to the main building where the common room was. Sure enough, we turned a corner, and I felt the atmosphere change. The hallway widened, the lighting grew warmer, and the sound of voices became clearer. Sully squeezed my hand, a gesture of support that sent an unexpected flutter through my stomach.
“Remember,” he murmured as we approached an open doorway, “you want to leave, say the word. I don’t give a fuck what Tonio Miles wants.”
I smiled up at Sully. “Thanks. I’d appreciate it if you stayed with me.” I stiffened and dropped his hand like he’d burned me. “I mean. Never mind. I’m good.”
Sully snagged my arm, bringing me to a stop. Gently, he turned me to face him. “Darby, I got you. I have your back. No matter who you’re facing.”
“I’m not afraid of him.” I knew I sounded defensive, but it was actually the truth. Tonio Miles wasn’t a good guy, but I could tell he put a lot of belief in protecting family. “He’s never hurt me or even hinted that he might.” I shrugged. “He gave me a place to live. I just don’t like to follow rules. He needs to figure that out.”
“Good. I’ve still got your back.” He snagged my hand and gripped it firmly, making his point.
We stepped into what could only be the common room. Leather couches and armchairs were scattered throughout the room. A bar ran along one wall; pool tables rested in one end of the vast room while the other had big screen TVs. Kind of a giant man cave.