Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 110550 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 442(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110550 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 442(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
“Look around. Does anyone look afraid?” Luca moved in front of me. “I know you didn’t come alone. Liam? Ba—?”
“Now!” I hit the floor, covering my head and ears. Bane and Liam tossed the flash-bangs inside, exploding light and sound, triggering gun blasts and shouts from the stupid fools who thought twelve men were enough to take us.
Liam, Bane, and River rushed into the room—snatching guns while Adams’s men were too disoriented to point them the right way up. They weren’t alone.
Ryker, Makai, Athena, and Athena’s team rushed in behind them. Ryker would always and forever be the only call I needed to make when shit was going down.
Makai and Ryker descended on Vito, ripping the gun out of his hand. Ryker kicked him across the face. He hit the floor and had to be lifted on his feet. Luca didn’t try running or reaching for his weapon. The two guns Bane had leveled on his eyes kept him still against that wall, arms up. Moving down the row, Liam helped Athena’s girls restrain the groaning men on the floor, securing their wrists with zip ties.
I stood up amid the clearing smoke, bearing down on Luca and Vito. “Well, that was the shortest ambush in criminal history. Not a surprise since that’s the one thing I hear you excel at, Adams—finishing too quickly.” Muscles ticced in his jaw. “Which one of you geniuses planned this? Where are you holding Mackenzie and her baby?”
Luca tossed his head back, laughing. “I wish you could see yourself, Sole. Chest puffed and strutting around, damned proud of yourself for curling up on the floor while your big brothers and stronger friends saved you. Your only contribution to ending the shortest ambush in history is a jizz crack. But we can always count on you for that,” he said, grinning away. “Sole ‘Sunny’ Bellisario. The jokester. The clown. Taking over territory his daddies gave him, and running it like the weak little bitch he is—giving out second chances and refusing to kill unless you absolutely have to.”
I grasped Bane’s shoulder, silently moving him to the side.
“You had me in that factory, and you just let me go.” He shook his head in mock disappointment. “Set me free to snatch up your little girlfriend and stash her away where I get to have my fun with her again... again... and again.”
An emotion sludged through my veins—thick, cloying, and familiar.
“Mackenzie’s already made me money. That pretty little white baby of hers will sell for a great price. Then Mackenzie will sell over and over until I toss that slut in the trash like a used condom. What are you going to do about it, Sunny? Aw, let me guess.” He snapped his fingers. “Crack another joke, flounce around acting the fool, then get someone else here to do what you can’t stomach and force the information out of me. Admit it. You’re so predictable.
“I mean, the thought that—that we could be afraid of you,” he wheezed. Adams howled till his eyes watered. Vito and his subdued men joined in. “No one is afraid of you! All of North Quay laughs behind your back. So, go ahead, clown. Put on another show for us, then excuse yourself so the big kids can talk.”
I nodded along, lips pushed out. “Wow, Adams,” I began, chuckling. “You’ve given me a lot to think about. There may even be some truth to what you say. I am the guy cracking jokes, chasing a good time, and waking up in the morning with a daily affirmation on my tongue. I can see how I may have gotten a certain reputation.”
“As a pathetic fool who still has his momma’s milk on his upper lip,” he helpfully clarified.
“You see, here’s the thing.” I erased the distance between us step by step. “Reputations are tricky. Easily manipulated, shattered with a word, repaired with a single act. Anyone can be just about anything in the eyes of those who see only what you allow them to see. But if there’s one thing I learned from my parents”—my smile, my laugh, my sunny personality leeched away—“it’s the benefits of wearing a mask.”
“You—”
My hand whipped out, burying my blade in his torso. Adams’s eyes bugged, and the laughing stopped. He grasped the knife.
“I wouldn’t do that,” I sang. “I just severed something very important. Pull that knife out and you’ll bleed to death in exactly seven seconds. Keep it in and you have time to stumble your way to a hospital. Maybe they save you, or maybe they won’t. But those odds beat seven seconds.”
Luca choked, jaw working. I patted his shoulder. “What everyone gets wrong is that I don’t refuse to kill because I can’t stomach it. I hold off because I tend to get carried away. But what can I say? Crazy’s genetic. My father is proud to know that of all the Savage Princes”—I tugged a gun off Bane and shot Vito through the thigh—“I’m the worst one.”