Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 76780 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76780 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
“Jeremy cornered me in the bathroom at Blur,” I murmur. “He broke my phone.”
Atlas pulls back to pin his eyes on me. “Did he hurt you?”
“No. But, I left and went home after that. He pissed me off, and I missed you. I wasn’t having fun tonight.”
He reaches through the bars and dusts some snow out of my hair. “I got another call from that number saying they had you. Since I couldn’t reach you, I started to panic. As soon as they hung up, I got a call through the dispatch. Someone said they saw a guy getting…” He makes a choked sound. “Assaulted and that they were undressing him.”
Oh my God.
He thought it was me and was scared shitless.
Those bastards set him up.
“When I, uh, got there, I heard screams. I was so fucking terrified they were hurting you. Callan, I…”
“Hey,” I whisper. “I’m okay. I’m right here. Not hurt. Still alive and kicking.”
His smile is brief before he returns to his story. “I saw red. They were hitting some guy, and he was naked. I yanked the guy—Jeremy—off and started beating the fuck out of him. And then…” He shoots me a devastated look. “My dad was there. Filming us. You were gone. Nothing made sense.”
His own father was in on this?
What a monster.
“He won’t get away with this.” I stroke my fingers along the stubble on his cheeks. “I promise you.”
So often Atlas is the strong, powerful one, but right now, he’s vulnerable and broken. It ignites a fire of anger inside me so high and so hot, I want to burn everyone down with it. He doesn’t deserve this—to be here in this cell. This is so fucking wrong.
“I arrested Jeremy and dragged him down the stairs. Then my sister and Jax were there. Everything was confusing, and the next thing I know, Jax was putting me in cuffs.” He scoffs and side-eyes the cell. “I’m all alone in here, so clearly, Powers got away with this shit.”
“He didn’t get away with it. Maybe for now, but he won’t by the time I’m done with him.”
Atlas scowls. “Don’t do anything. Let Jax handle this.”
“Because he’s been great at handling things so far,” I hiss. “No. I’m tired of these assholes dictating things around here. This is our home, and I refuse to let them ruin my life.” I cradle his jaw with my palm, running my thumb along the bone. “You are my life. They’re trying to destroy yet another part of me, and I’ll be damned if I go down without a fight.”
“Callan…”
“Do you trust me to fix this?”
He studies me for a beat, searching my eyes. “Yeah. Yeah, I do.”
“Good. Now don’t say anything to anyone. I’m going to call an attorney.”
“Dad is friends with all of them,” he grumbles. “Good luck finding one to represent me.”
“I’m not hiring one from around here. Trust me. I’ll take care of this.”
I start to pull away, but Atlas drags me closer, his lips pressing to mine again through the bars.
“I wanted to tell you something, Callan, and now it feels more important than ever.”
I grin at him. “I know. I love you too.”
His eyes gleam with happiness. “You do? Isn’t that a little too soon?”
“Says who?” I sass.
“The world? Society?”
“This is our business. Not theirs.”
“I love you,” Atlas growls. “So damn much.”
We share another long kiss, and I reluctantly leave him so I can get started on fixing everything.
“You can’t be mad at me,” I tell Dante. “You know I have to do this.”
He scowls from behind his steaming mug of coffee. “I know.”
I’m tired as hell from spending the night up at the station. Jax and Dante don’t look any better. Brie crashed up at Cato’s for a few hours, so the two of them are bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. I’d be annoyed, except they snuck out to Beacon Island Donuts and grabbed breakfast. Atlas’s favorite, the maple Long John, was in the box, and I already pulled it aside for him. He’s also sleeping but on the uncomfortable bench in the cell.
“Do you still have his number?” My attention is on Dante, but I feel Jax’s curious stare darting between us both.
“Nope. I deleted it. But, you can get ahold of him at his office. I’m pretty sure he’s still there.”
I know it pains Dante to talk about his ex or even associate with him, but Toby McAdams is one of the best attorneys in New York. He’ll, at the very least, be able to give us advice. Shelly said that when Hank put me in the hospital, Toby had come back, trying to win my brother’s heart. It was terrible timing, and Dante was already with Jax, so Toby was sent along his way with his tail tucked between his legs. Though they parted on bad terms, I have to believe that Toby will help us.