Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 76448 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76448 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
“Rose, baby, don’t go.”
She ignored him. “I want to go back home. Can you please keep him away from me?” Rose spoke to Tiny with her back to Hardy.
“Are you sure about that?”
“I’ve tried to get some time to myself. He won’t give it me, and this is the next best thing.” She tucked some hair behind her ear. “This is the only way.”
Tiny looked over her shoulder toward Hardy.
“No, Tiny, please, man, don’t do this. Rose, baby, we can fix this. I promised you we could fix this. It was ten years ago.”
She whirled around and shoved him away hard. Hardy was invading her space. “It was ten years ago, but what have you given me, Hardy? What do I have to show for this? You’ve gotten everything you ever wanted. I was so scared of losing you that I changed. I never did anything wrong. In all the time we’ve been together I never once looked at another man, yet all you did was look at other women. I know you do. I don’t care how long it has been or what you need, Hardy. This is what I need, and for once I’m going to handle what I need.”
She was wrong about Hardy looking at other women. Whizz may have been mistaken about who she was with regards to the club, but Hardy didn’t look at any other woman but Rose.
No one stopped her as she climbed back into Tiny’s car. Whizz followed Tiny’s gaze to see him looking toward Eva, who was nodding her head. She agreed with Rose. It was time to take her home until Rose made a decision that was entirely her own.
Whizz’s heart broke for Hardy as he watched Tiny pull his woman out of the clubhouse. No one could stop this. Tiny had made his decision.
“I don’t get it. What does this mean?” Ink said.
“It means Hardy can’t leave the compound without one of us,” Lash said. “Rose doesn’t want him near her. It’s our job to keep him contained and away from her. Tiny makes sure women have a choice to leave the club without their man. This is a safety net for all women. It also stops any brother who is beating on his wife from getting away with it.”
He watched Hardy’s chest rise and fall with each indrawn breath. “It means she’s done with me. She’s going to divorce me now.” He turned away walking toward the clubhouse.
“Hardy,” Whizz said.
“Don’t, Whizz. I shouldn’t have hit out at you. This is my problem and has been for ten years, but I was too fucking stupid to see it.”
No one stopped Hardy as he made his way back into the clubhouse. The defeat could be seen in the way he carried his shoulders. The fight had left Hardy.
Slowly, the rest of The Skulls made their way to finish their business. Baker stayed behind. “How do you become a member?” he asked.
Frowning, Whizz turned to the prospect that he knew was favored to be voted in first. “You mean to tell me you joined a club where you don’t know how to become a member? Do you know how messed up that is?”
Baker shrugged. “The Skulls’ reputation is something I want to be part of. You’re a family. I see that every day I’m with you. I don’t have a family. I don’t have anyone. I’d rather do some crazy shit that makes me part of it than not.”
“What if we want you to take a woman’s cherry? Or sacrifice a chicken at dawn or some shit?” Whizz couldn’t believe there was a man who didn’t have the first clue what to do to make him part of the club.
“Then I’ll do it.”
Shaking his head, Whizz looked toward the door to see Eva standing there, waiting for Tiny to get back.
“We all agree that we want you to be voted in, and then we head up to the warehouse or we do it right here. You take on the brothers. If you’re still standing, you’re in. If you go down with one punch, you’re out.” Whizz hit him on the back. “Want my advice? Start practicing. These bastards will fucking kill you.”
He headed toward Eva. She was stood nibbling her lip looking nervous.
“Are you okay?”
“I don’t know. Tiny doesn’t look in the mood to deal with my dad, does he?”
“Is Tiny ever ready to deal with Ned?”
“I don’t know, but he’s going to have to.”
“Ned’s on his way here?”
“It has been too long since he’s been here. He’s coming for a visit. Gonzalez is gone as are all the threats. Daddy will be here by tomorrow morning.”
Whizz whistled. “I look forward to it.”
“He’s bringing some of his fighters for the trip.”
“Okay, that’s a shock.” Whizz frowned.
“I don’t know why.” Eva nibbled her lip.