Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 76065 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 380(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76065 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 380(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
I’d stabbed him.
Repeatedly.
He’d been slumped over, barely moving, when I’d walked away.
There was no way he’d survived that.
Except, of course, the fact that he had.
Because he was leering at me from the doorway of the hall.
He looked different. He’d cut his hair, had grown a beard. But through the patchy hair on his neck, I could clearly see the proof of my attempted murder, my last-ditch attempt to finally get myself free of him.
That coldness I was so familiar with in his eyes, though? That was still there. Amplified.
“Surprise, darling,” he said, lips lifting up as he registered my disbelief. “Guess you never thought you’d see me again,” he added as he moved out into the kitchen, heading toward me.
Evander was perched on the top of the counter. As Kyle moved past, he let out a hiss.
So he didn’t love all men.
He just liked Rico.
Somehow, thinking of him while facing down Kyle was like a knife sunk in my heart.
“Well, I certainly hoped I wouldn’t,” I said, refusing to sit there trembling and on the verge of tears.
“Bitch,” his buddy mumbled under his breath.
“You made that clear when you plunged a knife into my throat,” Kyle said, venom dripping from his tongue. “But only you would be so inept to miss the carotid artery four separate times.”
My stomach clenched at the insult, some part of me still susceptible to his disapproval. But that part was much smaller than it used to be. And all the months free of him made the anger fill the places that used to be teeming with hurt.
“I won’t miss a second time. Want a rematch?” I asked, jaw trembling with my rage.
“You’ll get yours,” he said, nodding slowly. “But I have to get mine first. Show her,” he demanded, glancing at his accomplice.
My stomach knotted, not sure what this was about, but knowing Kyle well enough to know he had something big up his sleeve. Because as much as he was trying to play it cool, he was practically bouncing with his excitement.
The other guy reached in his pocket for his phone. I expected a picture or something, but he made a call then waited for someone to answer as my pulse whooshed so hard in my ears that I could barely hear past it.
“Show her,” he demanded to whoever he was speaking to before turning the phone to me, showing me the screen of the video call.
For a second, it was just shaky footage of a cement wall and stairs. A basement, it seemed.
But then there was an image that had my stomach bottoming out.
Because there was Jake.
Chained to a metal beam, blood caked on his shirt, on his skin, his face so swollen that I could barely recognize him.
Everything clicked together at once, then, the parts that I couldn’t piece together when I’d been overcome with shock, fear, and anger.
Jake with the other robbers.
Jake saving me at the last second.
Jake’s disappearance.
The guy he’d robbed the store with in my apartment.
That guy’s connection with Kyle.
“Say hi to your sister,” a deep voice said from the phone, making Jake’s head snap up, his eyes looking suddenly brighter as he stared at the phone.
“Just do what they want, Kick,” he said, voice hoarse. “Please. Just do what he wants.”
Kyle snatched the phone, ending the call.
“Now are you paying attention?” he asked, staring down at me.
“I can’t do this,” I insisted, swallowing back the urge to plead for him to release my brother. That was what he wanted. He thrived on beating me down. I couldn’t give him that satisfaction ever again.
“Yet, you will. This is a start. But there’s plenty more in that building.”
“You’re… even dumber than you used to be,” I scoffed, watching as his face hardened, as he took a step toward me, hand cocking back. “Go ahead,” I invited. “It won’t look suspicious or anything that I got my face messed up twice in a month.”
It killed him to pull back, his body practically vibrating with tension as his hand curled into a fist.
“The money is there. And you will get it for me. Or I will hold you down and force you to watch as my men torture, then kill, your brother.”
He would do that.
There wasn’t a doubt in my mind about it.
But I did doubt that there was enough money in the store to placate him. It was a meat shop, for God’s sake. And they balanced the books. They would see the money missing eventually. It was only a matter of time before they figured out it was me.
What choice did I have, though, but to try? To placate him. He had my brother.
“Fine,” I said, staring up at him, lifting my chin defiantly.
“Really lucky that you fucks decided to rob that store,” Kyle said, whacking his friend on the back as he smiled. “What?” he snarled at me, his smile falling as a strange, high-pitched laugh escaped me.