Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 70940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 355(@200wpm)___ 284(@250wpm)___ 236(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 355(@200wpm)___ 284(@250wpm)___ 236(@300wpm)
“God,” I screech. “You’re a fucking asshole!”
He steps closer, leaning a little closer to me. “Get fuckin’ used to it.”
Oh, my god.
What a jerk.
“You’re a fucking pig! Seriously!” I yell loudly, throwing my hands in the air. “You know what, I’ll find someone else to help me. Fuck you.”
I spin on my heel and storm toward the front door but my head stops me. A sudden sharp pain, clearly brought on by yelling, has me wincing and gripping the sides, dropping it forward as the pounding pressure becomes too intense. Sometimes, when I’m not thinking about it, I actually forget I have a life-threatening tumor in my fucking brain. I forget that I have to have a surgery that could kill me.
I forget all of it.
Until the crippling pain reminds me I can’t escape it.
“Hey, whoa,” Mykel says, grabbing me and spinning me around toward him. “You okay?”
I can’t even answer him. The pounding is so hard I feel like I’m going to vomit all over the floor. Oh, god.
I am going to vomit all over the floor.
I lurch forward and fall onto my knees, retching in the most horrifying way as the pain becomes too much to bear. I wail in between retching and grip my head so tightly it feels like I’m going to push my fingers through the sides of my skull.
“Briella, hey,” Mykel says, now on the ground beside me, his hands on my shoulder.
“What the fuck is goin’ on?” Samson asks. “Get some water.”
I clench my eyes closed and try to take a few deep breaths; I don’t want to vomit all over this floor but I can feel the burning bile creeping up my throat as the pain threatens to do me in. I need to calm down. If I don’t calm down, I’m going to end up hurting myself even more. I do know one thing—I need to go to the hospital. I can’t risk my life by ignoring this.
“Mykel,” I croak, between pants of pain. “Take me to the ER.”
He must look at someone, because suddenly Alarick is leaning down in front of me, his face showing concern, which is surprising. “What’s goin’ on?” he asks.
“Please. Just leave me alone,” I snap. “Mykel, please, take me to the ER now.”
Mykel moves quickly then, scooping me into his arms and carrying me out to his truck. He puts me in and pulls my seatbelt over me.
“You fuckin’ tell me what’s goin on with her,” I hear Alarick order.
“You’ve done enough, Prez,” Mykel mutters. “I’ll handle this.”
“You fuckin’ call me, Mykel.”
Mykel slams the door and drives the car out of the lot and toward the hospital.
“You doin’ okay?” he asks me.
“Yeah, I just have something going on. It’s nothing to worry about,” I lie. “But I just need to see a doctor.”
“You sick?”
“No, no,” I mumble. “It’s fine. I promise.”
He doesn’t look convinced, but he doesn’t say anything more, either.
He knows I’m lying.
I know I’m lying.
But right now it’s all I have.
7
THEN – BRIELLA
16 YEARS OLD
“Ugh,” Magnolia whines, throwing herself onto my bed and spreading her arms out, her drama really taking front. “I wish Mom and King weren’t so damned strict. I mean, he runs a biker club for crying out loud. If I want to go to a party, I should be able to go. I’m so over this.”
“I feel you,” I murmur, glancing at my phone, hoping that I’ll get a message from my boyfriend, Xander.
We only just started dating a few weeks ago, much to everyone’s disgust. It’s like they’re all in denial that their once sweet little girl might actually want to grow up and have a life. I’m with Magnolia here, I wish they weren’t so strict. The party that’s on tonight is one I’ve been waiting for for at least two months. It’s the biggest party of the year, and I want to go so damned bad.
“Let’s just sneak out,” she says, sitting up, her eyes lighting up at the thought.
“We’ll be slaughtered if we sneak out. King would have those bikers trailing us everywhere.”
“Not if he doesn’t know,” she points out. “What if we wait until they’re in bed, or out, and we just go. No one will ever find out because we’ll be back by morning.”
I hate to admit it, but it’s tempting. I really want to go to this party, and I really want to see Xander. The only way I’m going to be able to do either is to sneak out. I grin at Magnolia and she immediately claps her hands and squeals with delight. Then, in a hushed tone, she says, “We have to act sulky still, otherwise they’ll know. We’re pissed they’re not letting us go, we need to keep being pissed.”
“Sounds like a plan. What time are we going to get out?”