Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 61942 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 310(@200wpm)___ 248(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61942 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 310(@200wpm)___ 248(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
I kept my voice steady. “What do you want, Silas?”
“You’re no fun, Bartholomew.”
“I granted you mercy—and this is how you repay me.”
“It wasn’t mercy. It was a fucking PR stunt.”
A successful PR stunt. “There’s no scenario in which you survive this. Even if you kill me, they’ll kill you.”
“We’ll see.”
“Make your demands.”
“All it takes is a woman to make you cooperative… Wish I’d known that sooner.”
“Make your demands.” I couldn’t keep my patience much longer.
His smile was in his voice. “Come to the apartment—alone.”
“And then you’ll let her go?”
“I’ll see how I feel when you get here.”
I ran down the hallway and burst into the apartment, the apartment where I’d fallen for the daughter of my enemy. It started off as meaningless fucks in lingerie but turned into quiet conversations over home-cooked meals and cheap wine. Instead of seeing a beautiful woman, I saw a woman with a soul identical to mine.
Now it was a nightmare.
The men rushed me, patting me down to check for guns and knives. Silas leaned against the kitchen island and watched. My eyes searched for Laura, but she was nowhere to be found.
I pushed them off when they were done. “Where is she?”
He nodded toward the bedroom.
“You’ve got me. Now let her go.”
“I will, but there’s something I want to do first.”
“Bartholomew!” Her frantic voice came from the bedroom.
I ran down the hallway, and when one of the guys grabbed me, I threw him against the wall so hard he was knocked out cold. The scene in the bedroom made my blood run cold. Laura was tied up on the bed—buck naked.
No.
She pulled on the ropes for dear life, dried tears on her ghost-white cheeks.
“Tie him down.”
The men jumped on me, and I fought with everything I had, throwing one guy off and immediately jabbing another in the eye. I never pulled those kinds of stunts and played dirty, but they’d played dirty first.
A gun cocked.
Silas pressed the barrel of the gun into her temple. “Sit.”
No.
Laura panted, new tears coming to her eyes. “I’d rather die…”
Silas gestured to the chair. “Sit.”
I had a choice—an impossible one.
I moved to the chair.
Laura screamed. “No! Let him kill me!”
A thunderstorm of pain ripped through me, but I had to keep a straight face, had to remain calm. If I lost it, she would have no way to get through this. I dropped into the chair, and then my wrists were secured behind the wooden chair they’d pulled from the dining table. “Silas, she has nothing to do with this.”
“Yeah? She’s the reason my brother died, isn’t she?”
My breaths shortened, but I did my best to keep them subtle. “I’m the reason your brother died. I was the one who made the choice. Punish me.”
“I will, Bartholomew. I will punish you where it hurts.” He set the gun on the nightstand then pulled his shirt over his head.
Laura fought with all her strength to break through the ropes. Her naked body lifted up and down, rocking the headboard. She screamed through her tears. “Don’t you fucking touch me!”
I’d seen some serious shit, but this was scarring.
I subtly checked the rope around my wrists, seeing that they’d made a double knot I couldn’t untie within a reasonable amount of time. My ankles were secured too. Otherwise, I could throw my body right at them.
His shoes and pants were off, and now he was naked.
And hard.
Laura continued to fight, to move her body away from him as his knees hit the bed.
My hands yanked against the rope, but it was no use.
“Bartholomew!” She screamed for me to help her—but I couldn’t.
He forced her onto her stomach so he could take her from behind, her ankles together and her wrists secured above her head. Her screams were muffled as her face was pressed into the comforter. Then he raised his hand and spanked her ass—hard. “That’s a fine piece of—”
I let out a scream and pulled every muscle in my body at once. Just like with a mother who lifted a car off her child, the adrenaline increased my strength, and I shattered the wooden chair into two separate pieces.
“Silas!”
I forced my back into the first man and made him slam into the wall. When the next guy came, I spun and struck the chair against him. Then I did something I’d never done before and threw my arms over my head, nearly popping my shoulders out of the sockets, and finished off the next one who came for me—while my ankles were still locked together.
Silas lunged for the gun on the nightstand.
I jumped forward, over the corner of the bed, and pushed the gun off the surface before he could reach it. It landed on the floor closer to me, and I grabbed it first. Then I aimed it at his terrified face—and fired.