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)
“Ahhh!” Vito collapsed, clutching his thigh.
I shrugged. “Ah, what the hell?” I shot three more guys—their screams echoing in the empty shipyard.
“Here’s how it goes,” I shouted over their noise. “Whoever tells me in the next ten seconds where Mackenzie and Laurel are, gets to live. For the rest of you, your prize is bleeding out on the floor to the last sound you’ll ever hear—this clown laughing.”
“The boss’s house!”
“The hotel!”
The hired hands shouted me down, clawing over each other for their lives.
“You can’t let me die,” Vito half sobbed. “I know... things. I can help you!”
I advanced on him. “What exactly do you know? And be quick. If that bleeding isn’t stopped, you’re dead in five minutes.”
“This wasn’t about Blaine,” he rushed out. “That was just to get you here. We—”
A hand gripped my shoulder. “W-wait.” Luca ripped my sleeve, hanging on to keep himself up. “Help me. She’s at... 152 Bayview Way. I swear.” Blood dribbled down his cheek. “Help me... please.”
Smiling, I said, “Of course.” I ripped the blade out of his chest. The pure shock on his face was as good as sex.
Luca slid onto the floor. “You... said...”
“You hurt my girls.” I kicked him away. “Should’ve known I was lying, dumbass.”
He flopped flat out on his back, light dimming in his blackened soul, and whispered one final word.
“Demone.”
“River, Bane,” I said. “152 Bayview Way. I’m right behind you.”
They didn’t waste another second tearing out the door. I knelt in front of Vito, my knife tip dripping Luca’s blood on his pants. Pain washed him out, soaking his face and chest with sweat. “I believe you were in the middle of bargaining for your life by explaining why anyone would do something so stupid as to come after my girls.”
“I have information too,” shouted Athena’s captive. The three goons were begging and carrying on, but I focused on Vito. He’d been at the heart of this since Genny’s warehouse blew up six months before. I was very interested in what he had to say.
Vito licked his lips. “It... wasn’t just me,” he rasped. “All of us—me, Grant, Adams, and Snyder planned to get you four here to end you once and for all. We work for—”
“Bane,” Liam said. “Why are you still here?”
I turned as my brother and River filed into the room, ready to fling the same question, until I saw their hands up. Shooting to my feet, I backed against the wall where the door concealed me from the person coming inside—their shotgun leading the way and pressed to my brother’s head.
“Oh, dear.” A deep, nasally voice filled the room, clear over the bellows of dying men. “It looks like we’ve come just in time.”
The side of his bald head appeared past the wood.
“Snyder, look out,” Vito cried.
Too late. I reared, knife set to fly straight and true to its path. As I released it, my muscles seized—spasms rolling down my arm and jerking my fingers. My knife buried in the door, missing him by centimeters.
Snyder spun and fired. I threw myself to the floor, showered in wood paneling.
“Ryker! Makai!” Even as I shouted—as my people raised their guns—they poured through the door, a never-ending stream of armed, shaved men. We were overwhelmed in seconds.
“On your knees,” Snyder ordered. Five men jumped me, one of them, Lochlan Grant, wrestled me down at his feet. River, Bane, and Liam were lined up next to me, while Ryker and my people stood with their hands in the air, no less than three guns aimed at each of them.
“Brother Walker, Brother Blake, Brother Hawkins, and Brother Ramos.” Snyder nodded at four of his men. Traveling down, I landed on the walking boot encasing his left foot. Kenzie said she heard him scream when she drove away. Apparently, it wasn’t out of frustration. “Get our injured brothers medical attention and bury Brother Adams somewhere dignified. He gave his life for our cause.”
I bore a hole in Grant’s head—wishing against all the riches in my vault that I carved that man up for parts when I had the chance.
Snyder swept a smile around the room, his gaze leaving frost where it landed. “Let us not waste time, gentlemen. Finally, after all of our work and effort, we take our first victory.”
They cheered. Grant bellowing loudest of all.
“Aim,” Snyder said.
They cocked their guns, his pressed to my forehead.
“Fi—”
“Stop,” I bellowed. “Who the fuck are you people? What do you want?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Grant sneered. “Kill them!”
“Hold on.” Snyder held up a hand. “It is a fair question and the final request of a marked man. I will grant it.
“We, Sole Bellisario, are the Brotherhood. A group of men bound in one purpose: to rid Cinco City of the Merchant plague. For years, you’ve corrupted and controlled our home—creating a kingdom with you on high and the people your serfs. It is our mandate— No, it is our right, to kill you, and all who help you maintain your subjugation. Your question is answered,” he announced.