Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 25339 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 127(@200wpm)___ 101(@250wpm)___ 84(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25339 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 127(@200wpm)___ 101(@250wpm)___ 84(@300wpm)
Every time he tells me that, my heart flutters. I blush, clutching his arm.
“I love you too.”
He pulls me close and kisses me, deeply and hungrily. It would be a perfect moment if it weren’t for the nervous, twisting sensation in my stomach.
It’s a short drive to Dad’s shop. I keep my head leaned up against Slate’s muscled back, basking in the warmth of his body, my eyes closed. I open them when I feel the bike slowing, and when I see the door to the garage, I instantly know something is very wrong.
It’s hanging half-open, the metal all dented in and torn like someone took an axe to it. I see bullet holes. Inside, tools are scattered everywhere. Several of the bikes have been completely destroyed, and others are missing. Stolen.
Slate stops the bike, and I quickly leap off and run over to my father, who is standing in the middle of the mess, hands on his hips, head down.
“Dad!” My voice is trembling as I step up beside him.
He spins around, eyes blazing. “Ivy? What are you doing here? I called you and told you not to come in today!”
Shit. Guess I should have called him back. “What in the world happened?”
“They were here,” he growls as his hands curl into fists.
“Who is…they?”
He pauses, then hands me a note on dirty notepad paper.
Debts are not forgiven. Traitors face punishment. We do not forget.
-Smoke and Skulls
My stomach turns to ice.
“Smoke and Skulls…” I mutter as it all comes rushing back to me. “That’s the gang who–”
“Who your mother tried to…” My dad’s voice trails off. Even he doesn’t want to go back to when all that happened. I can see he wants to break something. “Yeah, that’s them.”
No, it can’t be. My dad fixed all that. It’s supposed to be over.
Slate stands silently beside me. I’m surprised he’s not growling threats or expressing some kind of rage. He’s just standing there, rigid, his jaw clenched and his eyes narrow, flicking back and forth as if searching for options.
I try to catch his eye, but his gaze is vacant. Focused on something I can’t see.
When he speaks, my blood runs cold.
“I have to go.”
I blink, unsure if I heard him right. “Go? Go where?”
Slate turns to his bike, already reaching for his key. “I’ll be back.”
My dad laughs bitterly, his voice rough as he shakes his head.
“Should have known. You didn’t say a damn thing when you heard who did this.”
“What does that mean?” I snap, my heart absolutely racing.
Dad’s glaring at Slate as he picks up a hammer. “It means your boy here already knew.”
“Knew?” I stammer. “Knew what?”
My dad growls, takes a step forward towards him. “Knew who left the note.”
Massive adrenaline dump.
I’m cold as I turn back to Slate, searching his face as he stands there still. When he finally brings his eyes to mine, I see something there I’ve never seen before. And it terrifies me.
“Slate?” The words barely escape my lips.
“Don’t worry,” he says slowly, his voice barely audible. “I will fix this.”
Before I can reply, he’s speeding away, his bike roaring and tires screeching against the pavement as he disappears down the street.
My mind whirls. The world begins to crumble around me.
And something inside me snaps.
My chest is tense, my pulse hammering so hard that I can feel it in my teeth. I hear the sound of Slate’s engine fading into the distance, and with it, the trust I had placed in him and was so sure of moments ago.
Today was supposed to be the day we stopped hiding. He was supposed to stand here beside me while we told my dad the truth–that Slate was no longer a Heartless Bastard. That I belonged to him now, and that he would devote his life to protecting me.
But he just left. No explanation other than he’d “fix this.”
Fix what?
Dad’s words sink into me like rusty nails, driving heavy doubt into my chest like old iron sinking into deep water. “Your boy here already knew.”
No.
No, that can’t be right.
Slate wouldn’t lie to me. He wouldn’t betray me. He wouldn’t crash into my life like a wonderful storm, swearing he loved me, just to tear the floor out from under my feet.
Right…?
I gave my virginity to him, for God’s sake. But I can’t stop thinking about the way he stood there with his eyes down and jaw clenched tight. The way his whole body was tight like he actually was expecting this.
Like maybe he…deserved it.
A sick feeling twists in my stomach, and I’m hit with a wave of nausea. I don’t want to believe it. I don’t want to doubt him. I love him. But the truth is, I just can’t know.
Dad’s still muttering curses under his breath as he moves around the shop, examining the wreckage. I want to help out, but when Dad gets like this, it’s best to just give him his space. So I head to the office to make sure it didn’t get trashed too.