Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 123212 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 616(@200wpm)___ 493(@250wpm)___ 411(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 123212 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 616(@200wpm)___ 493(@250wpm)___ 411(@300wpm)
“Just … I know. Okay, I know. It was fucking stupid but you had the shits with me. Jacqueline was trying to do me fucking dirty, and I just snapped. It wasn’t my finest moment.”
I pull back on his hand, desperate to bring him to a stop, really not giving a shit about his explanation. “My mom is out there somewhere. Harrison and Maryne too. We can’t just leave them.”
He pulls back, practically dragging me along the hallway. “They’ll be okay. They have emergency procedures in place for attacks. This isn’t the first time something like this has happened. Please, Jade. Just let me get you to safety.”
Procedures? What procedures? I’ve been here for over a month and this is the first I’m hearing about it, and I can guarantee that if Mom knew something about a procedure that was put in place to keep me safe, she would have told me at the first chance she got.
She doesn’t know anything about this.
“No,” I scream, hearing a loud banging noise from downstairs, so loud that I hear it perfectly over the alarm. “I have to find her. I have to know she’s okay.”
Colton groans and as he looks back at me, I see nothing but regret. I try to pull away, knowing exactly what I’m seeing in his eyes because it’s the same thing that’s looked back at me from my four boys anytime shit went down in Breakers Flats.
My hand is pulled free of his and I take off at a sprint, desperate to find my mom and get her away. When shit goes down, we never leave someone behind. That's just the way it is. That's just what being family means.
Colton’s steel grip crushes around me and I’m lifted off the ground. He throws me over his shoulder and I desperately try to get free. “I have to get to my mom,” I scream with tears rolling down my cheeks.
“I’m sorry,” he says, running through the hall, the alarm so deafening that I hardly hear myself think. “Please forgive me.”
Colton runs into a room upstairs that I’ve never been in before and steps in front of a huge family portrait. There’s a keypad on the golden frame and he hashes in a code. The whole wall sinks back, making a door and he rushes into a hidden room before pressing another button and the heavy door slides closed.
“No,” I cry, kicking until he lets me down. I run for the door, pressing every fucking button I can find, desperate for it to open. Getting absolutely nowhere, I turn back to Colton. “How could you do that? My mom is out there. Open the door.”
He shakes his head. “I’m sorry,” he says, hurrying over to a massive computer system and turning it on. “I can’t do that.”
“You have to,” I cry, rushing after him.
“I’m sorry, Ocean. I won’t risk you like that,” he tells me. “Once the door is sealed, it won’t open until the threat is gone. The cops were notified the second the alarm sounded. They’re going to be alright.”
I slam my hands into his back, demanding his undivided attention. “That’s my mom. My fucking mom. You’re just going to leave her out there to get hurt? Who are you?”
Colton turns around and I instantly slam my hands into his chest, over and over until he pulls me into him and locks me in his steel arms, caging me in. “I’m sorry,” he murmurs as the fat tears continue rolling down my cheeks. “Just trust me, please. Your mom is going to be alright. She’s a smart woman. They gain nothing from hurting her. They’re after me.”
“Then let me go.” When he doesn’t respond, I feel myself breaking like never before. “Please,” I whisper.
I feel as he shakes his head. “I need to let go of you, Ocean. I have to turn on the camera so we can see what’s happening out there. Are you going to be alright?”
I shake my head, not knowing what I’m going to do, but as he releases me from his tight grip, all I feel is empty. I sag to the concrete ground and drop my face into my hands as sobs tear painfully from deep in my chest.
I feel his eyes on me as he steps back in front of the computers but I don’t dare look up at him as I know all I’m going to find is his pity. Minutes pass and I hear loud yelling coming from the ground floor of the mansion and I can’t help but raise my gaze to the monitors to watch what’s happening below.
There must be four or five men storming through the mansion each with a black bandana covering the majority of their faces. They’re dressed in all black and if I didn’t know any better, I’d say that it looked like there was a gang war going on downstairs.