Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 81603 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 408(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81603 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 408(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
Luke, their enemy, had killed Daniella. Accepting Luke’s deal had been a mistake.
Fuck.
In the back of his mind, he saw Daisy being struck with that knife, sliding into her body, and it was like it was striking himself.
As long as Anthony could remember, he had never cried, even when being attacked and holding Tabitha after she was raped. Not even when he discovered the truth about fairy tales and Santa Claus. Not once did he cry, feel sad, or feel anything.
Staring at his dad, he suddenly couldn’t handle it.
Daisy had been struck. Luke had been the one to save her, and in that moment Anthony was finally able to break free from the choke hold. He’d slammed his blade into the enemy’s neck and went straight to Daisy.
“She’s hurt,” Anthony said.
He was not playing his dad. This was real emotion, real pain. It was raw, and it fucking hurt. Everyone looked to him as the weird one, the one who didn’t fucking talk.
He didn’t care. He didn’t see the point in wasting his time with stupid words when people didn’t listen. He had come to realize that no one listened, they all assumed, and they didn’t care. Everyone was interested in their own lives, and everyone else didn’t matter. This was why he didn’t talk.
Then there was the darkness. For the longest time, he had accepted the darkness that surrounded him. Watching people laugh was foreign to him, until Daisy. Seeing her laugh filled him with a light he didn’t know could be possible.
Daisy was everything to him. The love of his life. The light of his whole freaking world.
“I told you ... there would be consequences...” Those were the words Daisy had said to him as she pressed her hand against her stomach and started the fight to survive.
Daisy couldn’t die. He wouldn’t allow it.
His father’s face started to blur, and then he felt something falling down his cheeks. He was aware of people staring at him, and he knew his father had every right to drag his ass out of the hospital, disown him, and make an example of him. Yet, he told his dad Daisy was hurt, that there was so much blood, and he felt like his whole world was breaking down.
Nothing made any sense.
Daisy’s eyes had closed, and she faded from existence, as if she wasn’t there. He saw all of it before the doctors escorted her away. Now, there was this ... hole, like a crater within his chest, and he felt like he was dying.
Lash didn’t remove him from the hospital. He let go of his jacket, and even though he didn’t deserve it, his father pulled him into his arms and held him tightly. Tighter than Anthony had ever been held in his life.
Chapter Two
Daisy survived the surgery, but she had lost a lot of blood, and now she was in a coma.
Anthony sat in her room and saw she was hooked up to the machines. Her arm had a needle coming out of it and her mouth had some kind of breathing tube. Whizz and Lacey were dealing with all the necessary paperwork. They would not look at him, and he knew why. They blamed him for what happened, and it was true. Last night had been messed up.
In all his years, he had never once cried or needed support from his father. He was the one who didn’t need anything, who could handle whatever life threw at him. It was his way of dealing with everything.
He took a deep breath and stared at his pale girl. Daisy usually had brown hair, a dark rich color, but for Halloween, which just passed, she added a mix of red and blue highlights just for fun. That was what she told him.
It didn’t matter what she did to her hair, or even her face. He loved her. Ever since Tabitha left, Daisy had started to visit the salon and the spa a lot. She would allow a few of the cosmeticians to do her makeup and pamper her.
She was exploring everything, as Daisy hadn’t opted to leave Fort Wills and go to college. She took classes at the local college, but she worked from job to job, flitting around the Skulls. Everyone needed help, and she was there to provide—be it babysitter, receptionist, errand girl, assistant—there was a job for her to do. Everyone adored her, and deep-down Anthony knew it was part of her insecurity.
Unlike most of them, Daisy was not a real member of the Skulls. Her parents were pieces of shit who spent most of their time forgetting about Daisy’s existence. They would forget about her in school, not even wash her clothes. Some kids had complained more than once that she stunk. Anthony knew she couldn’t help it, and she did the best she could. Daisy’s family had been slobs.