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)
“I figured,” Deviau sighed. “It would be easier to get it out of your father, which means you need to be taken out of the equation for the money to return to him.”
“Taken out of the equation…” I murmured as I lowered my wide eyes, my chest tightening. From the moment I found out people were after me, I knew that dying was a possibility, but my impending death still struck me harder than I expected it would.
Maybe it was because it felt like I had so much more to live for now. It used to just be my father, the dreams I had for my life, and my friends. Now, I had my newfound freedom I so desperately wanted to make use of to do great things, and I had four amazing men who I wanted to spend so many more years with. I couldn’t give up on all that now.
“Or you could be a good girl and give me your father’s money. It’s not like you earned a cent of it,” Deviau pointed out.
I looked up at him, my anger and fear mingling.
“It’s dirty money. You didn’t earn it. You scammed it,” I replied sharply.
Deviau slammed his hands down on my wrists, clamping down tightly.
“You must really have a death wish.” He laughed cruelly. “You’re certainly braver than your father, though. He folded so easily when I put his precious daughter’s life on the line.”
“If you kill me, he’ll never give you the money. You’ll have nothing to hold over his head,” I hissed, doing my hardest not to wince as he crushed my wrists against the arms of the chair.
Deviau breathed in slowly and deeply as our eyes locked.
“I’m going to be generous, Emery. I’ll give you one day to change your mind and send me the money, okay?” he replied as he lifted his eyebrows at me. “Don’t make me strangle you and dump your body in the woods.”
My heart hammered heavily as flashes of his threat filled my mind. I wasn’t going to sit there and underestimate him. If I didn’t give him what he wanted, he would dispose of me. I was only alive right now because I was valuable. The moment I didn’t have anything to offer him, which would be in a day, the freedom I craved and only had for a moment would come to a screeching halt.
“Okay?” Deviau asked, pushing me for an answer.
I had to do what would help me survive longer. Hopefully, at this point, the guys had noticed that Rhett and I were attacked on our way to the apartment. I hoped that Rhett was okay and didn’t sustain many injuries, but the tree struck his side of the hood. He could’ve been seriously injured… or dead.
Even the thought of losing any of them made my stomach twist so uncomfortably that I could’ve thrown up. I couldn’t bear to lose them, and I needed them now more than ever. All I could do to help them was stall Deviau as much as I could to give them more time to find me and come up with a plan on how to save me.
Instead of spitting in his face like I wanted to, I merely nodded with a straight expression on my face.
“Okay,” I replied, hoping that was enough for now to get him to leave me alone.
A wicked smile curled up on Deviau’s face slowly. He crossed his arms over his chest, looking pleased with my response.
“Good girl. I hope you make the right decision. Someone so gorgeous shouldn’t die such a terrible death, especially for her father’s mistakes.” He chuckled lowly.
I tightened my jaw, forcing some choice words back down my throat. I felt guilty for thinking my father was a selfish criminal. The whole time, he had been blackmailed into working for a drug lord to keep me safe. No wonder he was so protective of me.
I was more determined than ever to take Deviau down so that my father could be given justice. He wasn’t a bad man. He was just in a bad position, and I hoped that the law could make an exception for that.
“Justin and Wiley, watch her closely. If she somehow escapes, you’ll be the ones strangled and buried,” Deviau threatened them.
Justin, the brown-haired man, straightened up and nodded.
“She won’t be going anywhere, sir,” he assured his boss, prompting Wiley to grunt and nod in agreement.
“Good,” Deviau murmured before walking past me to leave the warehouse.
I faced Justin and Wiley, hearing the loud thump of my rapid heartbeat echo between my ears. I wasn’t looking forward to the next twenty-four hours, especially with this company. All I could do was sit there and wait for the guys to hopefully find me. Telling from the abandoned look of the warehouse, we were probably in some rundown part of the city or on the outskirts in the middle of nowhere.