Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 45797 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 229(@200wpm)___ 183(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45797 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 229(@200wpm)___ 183(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
“Don’t thank me, thank Savage,” Doc said, pulling away, and that was when she saw Savage coming up the dirt path, as well as the sound of the bike.
“But I don’t understand,” Charlotte said, pulling away from her father to go toward Savage.
He put his arms around her. “Paulie told me about the text you and Maeve had gotten, but more importantly the location. I was able to track you guys down and get here before anything serious happened. I took the shot,” Savage said, pointing toward the tree line. “I wasn’t going to have a gun pointed at your head. I wasn’t going to risk him taking you away from me.”
Charlotte went to him, throwing herself into his arms and holding on tight. At that moment, Martha let out a little grunt, and Maeve quickly rushed over and removed the binding across her mouth that was silencing her.
“Thank you, what a terrible human being,” Martha said.
Charlotte tensed as she thought Martha was talking about Savage. Only, she moved toward Andy and did as Doc had done and kicked him with her foot. “Thank you, all of you. I don’t know what I would have done if I had to put up with another moment of that ... nonsense.”
Martha explained that Andy had gone off the deep end when he realized more people were aware of Maeve being part of Martha’s inheritance. Also, the fact Betty couldn’t be found, and he couldn’t contact the two guards he had placed on her. Charlotte listened as Doc revealed that Grim had gotten to Betty’s location, removed the problem, and extracted Martha’s niece without a single hair gone from her head. Everything had worked out.
“Not everything,” Savage said, and while her father witnessed, Charlotte was in shock as he got down on one knee. “Charlotte, marry me. I don’t have fancy words, or a big speech. I love you. Every single part of you, and there is no one I want more than you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Loving you, now and forever.”
“Yes,” she said. “For a guy who didn’t have a good enough speech, that was pretty epic.”
As Savage got to his feet and pulled her into his arms, she heard the sound of bikes approaching. She didn’t care, because he kissed her, and thankfully, her father didn’t rush over and kill him right there on the spot.
She had a feeling with Savage and her dad, it was going to take time, but she was willing to be patient and give her dad the benefit of the doubt.
****
Savage sat in Lucas’s bedroom. His parents were out of town, and Lucas was on a date. Savage had already looked around the young man’s room, and it was not thrilling what he had found. Porn magazines, shelves lined with movies and games. Pictures of naked women on the walls. The boy was exactly that—a boy.
“Is he there yet?” Paulie asked.
“Nope, not yet.”
“This is fucking boring. Does he have any interesting shit you could take?”
“You want me to steal from him?” Savage asked.
“He’s the one that made an enemy out of you.”
Savage smirked, but at that point, he heard the downstairs door open. Taking his seat on the kid’s bed, he even crossed his feet at his ankles.
“Are you nervous?” Paulie asked.
“Shut the fuck up,” Savage said.
“I am nervous.”
He just shook his head.
Savage didn’t have to wait long for Lucas to enter the bedroom. At first, the boy tensed up, and then quickly looked around as if to find something that could help him.
Savage let out a little click of his tongue. “Hello, Lucas, remember me?”
“What do you want?” Lucas asked.
He always found it interesting how this could be all balls and threats to Charlotte, but the moment he was faced with a real man, he turned into a fucking coward.
“You sent a private video of Charlotte and myself to her father. You attempted to ruin her life as well as my own, and that,” he clicked his tongue, “I can’t accept.”
“Look, I thought her father—”
“Stop talking,” Savage said, getting to his feet. “I want you to know I am watching you, and if you ever come near my woman again, I will turn your whole world into pain.” Savage climbed off the bed. “Play it, Paulie.”
The recording came over the cell phone and it was of Lucas, sobbing and begging for a second chance. Lucas had a little problem when it came to girls, and he kept visiting a brothel. Lucas finished way too fast and kept visiting the brothel in the city, attempting to figure out how to last longer.
“Do we understand one another?” Savage asked.
“You can’t do this.”
“Oh, but I can. This is not all I have on you, Lucas. Trust me, you will do exactly as I say, when I say it, because if you don’t, I will follow you wherever you go. You made my woman’s life misery in high school. You tormented her, hurt her, and then you were going to sexually assault her. Now, you try to ruin her life with me. That made you my enemy, and if you leave town, I will follow you. Consider this payback, or more politely, the consequence of bullying. You ever heard of Karma? Well Karma’s a bitch, and you just met yours.”