Total pages in book: 247
Estimated words: 248926 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1245(@200wpm)___ 996(@250wpm)___ 830(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 248926 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1245(@200wpm)___ 996(@250wpm)___ 830(@300wpm)
My phone rang again.
I turned it on. “What?”
“Mysh—”
“Don’t start that shit with me, Kaz.” My voice cracked. My eyes watered. My hand shook. “They. . .took h-him.”
“I know.”
I wanted to scream. My whole body shook with sadness, but I held on as much as I could. If I looked too much like a mess, my guards might think twice about following me, and I desperately needed their help right now.
Help me, God.
“Mysh, did you hear me?”
“What?”
My head spun out of control.
I swayed.
Blue grabbed my waist.
That kept me calm and anchored.
When I woke up this morning, I thought the worst part of the day was my finding out about the other personality. Now I didn’t care about that. All I needed was Paolo to be safely back with me.
“Mysh!”
“Yes?”
Kaz spoke, “I have Misha searching through the building.”
I let out a long breath.
“He will find the boy, mysh.”
I shivered in fear.
“Do you hear me?”
“Y-yes. Kaz. . .”
“Yes?”
My heart ached. “N-nothing can happen. . .to him—”
“I know.”
“If something did, I couldn’t—”
“Nothing will happen.”
“But. . .” My vision grew dizzy.
I blinked several times to keep it clear.
“Mysh, did you hear me?”
“Did you just say something?”
Silence was his only reply.
“What, Kaz?”
“Misha will call you. He has a set of eyes on you and several eyes all over the hotel. Paolo will be found.”
The elevator stopped us on the third floor, instead of putting us on the first.
The doors didn’t open.
What’s going on?
“Kaz, something is wrong?”
He didn’t respond.
“Kaz?” I looked at the phone.
The connection went out.
My phone rang.
An unknown number showed on the screen.
Who the hell is this?
One of my men went to the elevator’s display and began pushing buttons to get it back to working.
My phone rang again.
I answered. “Hello?”
Misha’s voice came on the line. “Tell your man to stop pushing things. I am the one that stopped the elevator.”
“Why?”
“Because several Mancuso soldiers are entering the lobby—”
“That doesn’t matter. I need to find—”
“Pavel’s son. Yes. That’s the second reason I stopped you.”
“What?”
“Tell your men to get in front of you and have their guns ready. Paolo is on the third floor with five women dressed as maids. Then, I will open the elevator doors.”
I looked at everyone. “Get ready to shoot. Misha says five women looking like maids have Paolo.”
Misha spoke, “Now get behind them.”
“Thank you.” I remained where I was. “I’ve got it from here, Misha. Please, open the doors.”
No humor laced Misha’s voice. “Perhaps, my English is not as proficient as I think.”
“Misha, open the doors.”
“There is a service exit at the end of the hallway. They are hurrying that way now. This exit is a special set of stairs only used by the staff—”
“Misha, open the doors.” I tapped my foot.
“Once they get down those stairs, there are three vans waiting for them full of several armed men who I believe belong to Black Axe.”
I tensed. “So. . .the maids are women of color?”
“They are—”
“Open the door.”
“Getting them before they make it downstairs would be optimal—”
“Open the fucking doors!”
Misha stayed calm. “Then, get behind your men.”
“Goddamn it!” I backed up, maneuvering around everyone.
Confused the guards went to the door.
Blue moved back with me, staying at my side.
The phone shut off.
I stuffed it back in my pocket. “The women who have Paolo are heading to the end of the hallway to a set of stairs for hotel staff.”
I checked the gun that Blue gave me, making sure it was full of bullets. “We kill them before they hit the staircase. If not, then kill them before they get to the first floor, but be mindful that Paolo is with them. He can’t get hurt.”
Everyone nodded.
The doors opened.
My men burst out of the elevator with their guns pointed and feet planted in the center of the hallway. They fired.
The bitches countered fast. Rapid shooting ensued from their side, decorating my guards to nothing but holes. Bullets ripped through their limbs, sending them in all directions. Blood spattered across the walls, up to ceiling and across the floor. Blood soaked into the thick carpet and streamed down into the hallways.
Blue yanked me back. “Automatics.”
I yelled at my men. “Get back!”
But it was too late. Most of them fell dead to the ground.
The last one rushed back to us.
Before he could reach the elevator, a bullet sliced through his eye. He jerked back. His eye exploded. They shot at his face some more. Tissue and blood burst from his face and hit the elevator’s wall.
Fuck
I jumped to the side.
He crashed back into the elevator. His upper body lay inside with us. The lower half was in the hallway.
The elevator doors tried to close. Each time they slid forward, they touched his body and slid back.
Damn it.
I stepped over the guard’s chest.
I’m so sorry.
I crouched down against the elevator’s opening and kneeled by the dead guard’s waist.
I leaned my head out a few inches and spotted them. The women were different shades of brown. One was as dark as me. The rest were lighter. They wore the hotel’s maid uniform—beige with white trimming.