Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 89772 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 449(@200wpm)___ 359(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89772 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 449(@200wpm)___ 359(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
I shifted into fourth, speeding through the night. Going over seventy-five miles per hour, pushing eighty, ninety, one hundred. Fucking furious I allowed this to happen. I couldn’t get to my final destination fast enough, flying by vehicle after vehicle across the valley. My foot heavy on the gas until everything I sped by was simply one big blur.
Switching lanes.
Dodging cars.
Nothing could stop me.
I was a fucking Martinez, and I’d prove it once and for all. It was no longer about gaining back my father’s trust or forgiveness. All that mattered, all I wanted, needed, fucking couldn’t go on without was…
Vengeance.
It was time to make my presence known. No one was going to stop me, not even him. Not even her. Minute-after-minute of the video replayed in my brain, as I desperately tried to focus on the task at hand. It was useless. All I could see was my sister tied to a goddamn chair with her eyes covered and her mouth gagged.
Bloodied.
Bruised.
Fucking broken.
“One day you’ll learn that acting on impulsions will only get you killed.”
His words from only a few days ago resonated through my memories. I was plagued by my thoughts that had nothing to do with what I was getting myself into. The familiarity of the basement where she was being held, screamed at me like the high pitch sound from deep within Adriana’s core. In the back of my mind, I was aware I could be way off, but it wasn’t a chance I was willing to take. Not when it came to my sister’s life.
I turned my attention back to the road, tree-after-tree belted by, making it hard to see my path. It blurred into the background and faded into the distance. I disregarded my looming thoughts, concentrating on the adrenaline coursing through my veins, and becoming one with my blood. The last thing I wanted was for my anxiousness to read as fear or worse, prove I wasn’t ready for this.
When in reality, this was all I ever wanted.
Turning a sharp left onto a back street, I caused my car to fishtail onto the dirt road. My tires kicked up gravel, as I took another curve. Lowering the music, I drove into a small town. The only sounds I could hear were my tires tracking through the unsteady route. It got darker the longer I drove, stirring mixed emotions in my gut.
Would Ari be there or the men who kidnapped her?
My thoughts relentlessly spun for what felt like the hundredth time while the neighborhoods began to get more rural and run down. The eerie quietness wasn’t helping my disposition. Finally, all the trees suddenly cleared, and it was then I realized how off the grid I truly was.
Out in the middle of fucking nowhere.
As soon as I hit the brakes a few houses down from the one I recognized, I sat there with my heart in my throat. My head once again running wild with thoughts of what could be happening behind that front door. The blinds were closed and just like that the outside world was shut out.
Seconds.
Minutes.
Hours could have gone by.
I lost track of time sitting there contemplating my next move. Until my body voluntarily shifted as though it was being pulled by a thread, crossing the imaginary line of…
Right or wrong.
Black or white.
Heaven or Hell.
Before I knew which way was up or down, I was standing at front of the door. Without a moment’s notice, I cautiously turned the knob and slowly opened it with the gun now tightly in my firm grasp. Inch-by-inch, I welcomed my future and said goodbye to my past. I had no clue what I was about to walk into, no hesitation on my part of what I was there to fucking do.
Except, someone beat me to it.
Not just anyone.
El Diablo.
The first thing I noticed was the trail of blood from the front entrance to the basement door located in the far corner of the room. It was closed, and I didn’t have to guess what or who was down there. I felt my father’s handiwork. This had his name written all over it.
This was my moment of truth.
My time to fucking shine and show what I was made of.
Bow down to the father but obey the son.
Freewill was a helluva of a decision, choosing between good versus evil. I eagerly walked through the gates of purgatory mentally preparing myself for God knows what.
Where there was smoke, there was fire.
The soles of my boots burned as soon as they crossed the threshold of my mortality. I moved like a man possessed by a demon. Physically feeling the weight of the shackles wrapping around my ankles with each step I took further down the cellar. Contended, and worthy of the chains I’d eternally bear in the name of the father and of the son.