Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 112736 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 451(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112736 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 451(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
He shuts my door for me then takes a step back and smiles.
I take one last look at his face and hope this isn’t the last time I see him. I’ve got this terrible feeling though that things aren’t going to work out like we planned.
“Is Uncle Robert not coming with us?” Levi asks.
“No, sweetheart. He’s not coming with us,” I say and turn my attention to the dashboard in front of me.
God, it’s been like two years since I’ve been behind the wheel and I’m a little nervous. Mikhail never let me drive anywhere. If he wasn’t doing the driving, one of his men was doing it for me, even when I did small errands like running to the grocery store.
It’s just like riding a bike, though, right?
I grab the gearshift beside the steering wheel and put the van in reverse. Releasing the brake, I push down on the gas.
The pedal ends being a little more sensitive than I anticipated and we reverse a little too fast. The van jerks as I immediately slam down on the brake again to stop us.
Fuck.
Squeezing my hands around the steering wheel, I suck in a deep breath before I try again.
Goddammit, I hope I don’t get us killed…
“Where are we going?” Levi asks, completely unperturbed my little fuckup just now.
“To our new home in Kentucky,” I answer.
If I can get us out of this parking lot.
“What’s in Kentucky?”
Feeling bolstered by Levi’s newfound curiosity and absolutely determined to get us out of this state, I twist around and ease my foot down on the gas again.
We reverse much more smoothly this time, and I feel it all coming back to me.
All the little muscle memories I feared were gone kick back in, and I twist back around to put the van in drive.
Robert lifts his hand, giving us a wave, as I pull us up to the street.
“What’s in Kentucky, Mommy?” Levi asks again because I didn’t answer him the first time.
I hit the blinker and feel pretty damn proud of myself for remembering that.
It’s a little victory, but a victory nonetheless.
And if we’re going to make it through this, I need every victory I can get.
“I don’t know, sweetheart,” I admit as I peek up at the rearview mirror to check on him. “I’ve never been there before, but Uncle Robert says it’s great.”
Chapter Five
Coy
Louisville, Kentucky
There’s a lot to be said for the hills of Kentucky. It’s got all the beauty and charm that big cities don’t have.
It’s also got some long-ass gravel backroads.
“Fifty says he screams like a bitch for the first sixty feet then passes out,” Grem says from beside me as we watch two prospects attach a naked, squirming man to the back of a pickup truck by a long chain.
“I’ll take that action. I say he lasts until about seventy-five.” I grin at him.
“Hey prospects!” Grem shouts to the guys chaining this douchebag up.
“Mark the spot where you start, we got a bet goin’ on,” I say, pushing the hair from my eyes.
“Alright,” the one they call Hammy shouts back. “Anything else we need to do?”
“You got a measuring tape?” Grem asks me.
I smirk. “The twelve inches in my pants.”
“I’ve seen that pencil you call a dick,” he laughs and then yells to the prospect, “One of you find a way to measure how far he gets dragged till he passes out.”
Hammy looks up at us after finally getting the guy’s wrists locked into the chain. “How we supposed to do that?”
“Fuck if I know, boy,” Grem growls at him. “Figure it the fuck out.”
“Jesus, are they all this fucking stupid?” I ask, and again I have to push my sweaty hair out of my eyes.
“Probably,” Grem says then looks at me. “What do you want us to do with the body after we’re done here, Pres?”
That’s me now—Pres.
Five years in the Royal Bastards and I’m the head of the Louisville Chapter. The transition five months ago lost us a couple of the guys who weren’t ready for a young prick like me to take over, but it wasn’t too much of an issue. To most, I’m just a carryover from what my old man started. I haven’t tried to reinvent the wheel. I just keep the profits moving and the guys out of prison as much as I can.
“Drop his body on their fucking doorstep,” I say and stare at the naked fucker rolling around on the gravel.
“You ready for the blowback, Coy?” Grem asks me quietly enough that I know he’s not trying to question me as much as he’s makin’ sure I’m ready for what will happen.
Gremlin has been with the club for ten years now. He’s a hardened veteran of quite a few wars with rival factions. I don’t doubt his loyalties or his convictions to the brotherhood, and I don’t doubt his faith in me.