Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 131888 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 528(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131888 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 528(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
“Need the key fob for her car. I brought my bike, and I don’t think she’ll be able to hang on in the condition she’s in.” He’d worry about his Harley later. Liyah was more important to him than a fucking bike. It was replaceable. She wasn’t.
Magnum stared at him for a heartbeat or two, then with a grunt, he dug deep into his front pocket, pulled out the Mercedes’ key fob and tossed it at Nox. “Since you’re all fuckin’ cozy with my wife, let her know where you’re takin’ Aaliyah and the second you fuckin’ get there. Don’t make me fuckin’ hunt you down.”
“I’ll take care of her while you take out the trash. Deal?”
When Magnum gave him a chin lift, Nox returned it and headed back into the bathroom to grab Liyah and get her the fuck out of there.
Chapter Forty-Five
“I got out to open the gate and…” Aaliyah’s voice caught and cracked. “He ambushed me, Nox.” Her tongue not only felt twice its size when she tried to speak, it was bone dry, too, no matter how much water she drank.
Hopefully the man driving her Mercedes understood what she said.
“I know. I should’ve been waiting for you at the fucking gate.”
When she looked over at him, she noticed he was gripping the steering wheel so tight, his knuckles had turned white. His jaw was also sharp enough to cut glass. “It’s not your fault.”
“The fuck it isn’t,” he growled.
He was wrong, but she didn’t have the energy to argue. “What did he inject me with? Why did I feel that way?”
“Since the Demons were selling meth, my guess is, he shot you up with that.”
“That would make sense. At first, I experienced some sort of adrenaline rush. My heart raced so fast, I actually thought it would explode. After that, I hovered in this weird state of euphoria. It was both calming but frightening because I hate the feeling of helplessness. Worse, I was powerless to stop any of it.”
She had to be crashing now since her head throbbed, she felt physically drained, and her limbs had grown heavy.
“Do you want to go to the hospital?”
“My father probably told you not to take me there.” The tightening of his mouth was her answer. “I don’t want this coming back on him. And you know if I go, there will be questions.” She sighed softly. “I’ll be fine. I was drugged, not injured or beaten.” Or even raped, thankfully. “It’ll wear off.”
She wanted to say she was lucky, but it more had to do with timing than luck. She was sure she would’ve been sexually assaulted and worse if Nox hadn’t notified the cavalry.
“Thank you for going to my father. And dealing with his stubborn ass. I know that couldn’t have been easy.”
“He has resources I don’t, and I wanted you found as quickly as possible.”
When she reached over to squeeze his thigh, he grabbed her hand, gave it an answering squeeze, then kept it enveloped in his.
“Did he do that to your face?” If so, she was going to have a serious sit down with her father. He needed to learn to accept Nox, especially since she planned on keeping him around for a long time.
And if it was up to her, forever.
Instead of answering her question, he deflected with, “Where do you want to go? My place? Yours?”
She tried to clear her dry throat. “Do you know where Devyn and Keenan are?” She needed to know her sons were okay and hadn’t been targeted, too.
“Your father had one of the Knights pick them up from your mother’s and take them to his house. They’re safe with Cait. Is that where you want to go?”
Her first instinct was to say yes because she wanted to see for herself that they were safe but earlier she had taken a peek in the small mirror built into the sun visor. She didn’t recognize herself.
The way she looked right now might upset her boys.
“Not yet. I don’t want them to see me like this. Can you take me home so I can shower, change and sober up some more before I go get them?”
“Whatever you want, baby. You also need to get more fluids in you. Food, too. And some sleep. If you want, I can get them after you clean up and while you take a nap.”
“I don’t want them to know what happened.”
“I won’t say shit but I’m sure they’re wondering why a Knight picked them up early.”
He was right, but she didn’t want them to know she’d been abducted and drugged. She’d need to come up with an excuse. One that would pass muster with a fifteen-year-old. Devyn was too damn smart for his own good.
“It was crazy, Liyah,” Nox murmured. “The Dark Knights rolled out to save you like they’re white knights instead.” He turned his head to glance at her. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if they hadn’t.”