Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 55510 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 278(@200wpm)___ 222(@250wpm)___ 185(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55510 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 278(@200wpm)___ 222(@250wpm)___ 185(@300wpm)
Emery smirked a little as she glanced over at me.
“You can’t stand a moment of silence, can you?” she asked.
“Nope. It bores me to death,” I replied.
Emery smiled and angled her body toward me slightly.
“After my father was put in jail, I was put in charge of his fortune. It’s all dirty money, so I wanted to do something good with it,” she explained to me. “I had an old friend whose mom suffered from domestic abuse, so I want to start an organization that helps victims get the resources and aid that they need.”
Damn, there wasn’t anything more lethal than someone being gorgeous and caring. She was the whole package. Instead of being some bratty rich kid, she had more heart than most people I knew.
“That sounds amazing, Emery,” I said sincerely as I reached over to take her hand. Our fingers twined together as I rested our hands on her thigh above her skinny jeans.
Emery peered down at our joined hands with a slight pink tint to her cheeks.
“Thank you,” she replied as she looked back up at me with a sincere expression.
If I wasn’t driving, I would’ve kissed her right then and there.
“Do you miss your dad?” I asked her in a softer voice.
Emery sighed lightly as she shrugged.
“I do miss him, but it’s been nice having some freedom for once. He never let me do anything growing up… I just felt so trapped,” she told me. “Being able to do what I want is the only silver lining of this whole situation. I just want to make the most of it.”
I gave her hand a light squeeze, hearing the hope in her voice.
“I hope me and the guys haven’t put a crimp in your plans,” I said, glancing over at her briefly. Honestly, I hoped we were part of her future plans in some way. After all we had been through together, how could we just break apart?
Emery shook her head.
“Actually, you guys have helped me try things I’ve never experienced before,” she replied with a coy smile. “Really great things.”
I chuckled, knowing exactly what she was hinting at.
“I’m glad we could help you with that. We’d be happy to show you some more cool things too,” I said, shooting a wink at her that made her laugh.
“Wow, such gentlemen,” Emery commented with an amused look on her face.
“We try,” I replied. “Our number one priority is keeping you safe.”
“You’ve done a good job of that so far,” Emery said.
Hopefully, we kept up our track record. I couldn’t imagine how distraught we would all feel if something bad happened to her. We had all gotten so attached, even if we hadn’t all sat down and discussed it. I could tell from the tension in the room when she was there with us.
“We’ll get to the bottom of this. I promise,” I told her as I stroked the top of her hand with my thumb. I knew the mystery of it all worried her, and I was determined to end all of this so that she could live her life how she wanted to live it.
“I trust you guys,” Emery replied as she placed her other hand over mine. “Just don’t keep me in the dark.”
I nodded, figuring that was fair. It was her life. She deserved to know what was going on if it affected her.
“You’re part of the team,” I said, flashing her a grin.
Emery started to laugh, but the happy sound was cut off by a loud thump, followed by the car shaking.
“Rhett!” Emery gasped as she stared out her window at a black truck roaring next to us.
I gripped the steering wheel with both hands and pressed my foot down on the gas pedal, speeding up to try to outrun the truck. We were only thirty minutes away from the apartment, but someone had still found us.
“Hold on,” I gritted out, my eyes darting to the side to see the truck catching up. It pulled ahead slightly, its license plate coming into view for a few seconds before we were side by side again.
Emery’s eyes were as wide as possible as they locked onto the truck, her body tensing.
I tore down the stretch of road, bushes and trees on either side of the car and the truck. I couldn’t veer down a side road or pull into someone’s driveway. All I could do was go forward, and the car wasn’t going fast enough. Dread filled me as I looked over at the truck once more just as it swerved toward the car.
Emery screamed as the truck smashed into the side of the car, sending us off the road.
I automatically hit the brake to slow us down, but we sped toward the trees too quickly. I stretched my arm out in front of Emery, pushing her back against her seat right as the front of the car struck a tree on my side. The last things I heard were a smashing sound and Emery’s gasp before my vision went black.