Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 73880 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 369(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73880 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 369(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
I’m on instant alert. "Shut your mouth or I pull the trigger."
I am so fucking ready. Timeo’s even more ready than I am. There’s no warning, no hesitation. One pull of the trigger and he shoots directly in the T-spot, the place dead in the center of one’s face that causes instant death. He told me about that, too.
The second guard comes straight for me and wraps his hand around my throat.
In one fluid, ruthless motion, Timeo pulls the trigger again. This time, I help.
When both bodies lie slumped over each other, I stand motionless in shock for a moment, heart racing, then scowl at Timeo. “You do not get to have all the fun.”
“No way,” he says with a grin. “You got this, baby.”
Maybe later on I’ll regret it. Maybe later on I'll relive the way his eyes flared with fear before his life left his body. But right now, all I feel is the rush of adrenaline and relief. Enormous, crashing relief.
"This is it, baby. This is it."
The internal door opens.
"You can put my tray on the bedside table,” an older, oily voice snaps.
He thinks we’re here with his lunch.
Cute.
Timeo slams the door behind us with finality. Roja looks up from his desk and his nostrils flare.
No surprise. Nothing but recognition and fury.
“Ah, Starla. How nice to see you. I’m surprised you made it this far.”
I’m not. The full fruition of Timeo’s life purpose was getting us here.
He pushes back from the desk and gives me a curious look.
“A gun, is it? Interesting. We don’t believe in violence at the fellowship.”
I take a deep breath to clear the rage that threatens to choke me. I counseled enough women formerly in the fellowship to know this as the patent lie it is.
“How cute, holding a gun.” He tuts at me. “Your father would’ve been so disappointed.”
Timeo stands behind me. “Don’t let him bait you.”
“Who?” I ask with a mirthless laugh. “Is someone speaking to me?”
A muscle twitches in Roja’s jaw.
“Your family was so easy to manipulate,” he taunts. His jowls sag as he shakes his head from side to side, his beady little eyes watering. “It’s too bad your father was killed by your boyfriend. It’s awfully disloyal of you, isn’t it?”
“Blah blah blah,” I say to Timeo. “Blah blah blah. Is there a bug on that desk?”
Roja’s face grows red.
“Put your hands in the air,” I snap. I raise my gun. “I want to see them.”
I’ve endured unimaginable suffering because of this man. I want revenge and justice for what he’s put me and countless others through.
“Adorable,” he says to me. “You’re almost threatening.”
I pull the trigger. The bullet smashes Roja’s computer screen.
“Yessss,” Timeo says in a low growl. He shoots Roja’s cell phone, the charger, and a glass-encased shelf behind the desk.
Roja puts his hands up and his eye twitches. I hold my gun in front of him.
“Your henchman tortured me with Russian roulette. He died, a victim of his own circumstance.” Roja stares. He didn’t know Rodriguez was dead. “I was beaten in the name of teaching me to obey. I was stripped of my innocence. Robbed of a childhood. Taught to fear and taught to hate.”
“If you only truly submitted yourself to the teaching authority of—”
“Lies. They. Are. All. Lies.”
He shakes his head. “Only weak people are capable of being manipulated, Ms. Soul. You had your choice.”
It happens so quickly it’s a blur. Roja dives across the desk but doesn’t go for me— he goes for Timeo. I notice a drawn blade in the palm of his hand.
I pull my trigger.
The first bullet hits Roja in the shoulder and shoves him back like a giant’s smacked into him. The second hits him in the solar plexus and drops him to his knees. He growls, clutching at the rapidly spreading red stain on his chest when my third shot hits him straight between the eyes.
There’s…so much blood.
No one comes to save Roja in his last hour.
Timeo stares at me, pride shining in his eyes. “You did it, baby. You knocked over that last domino. Now watch the rest of them fall.”
I never knew how much I adored the sound of quiet.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Timeo
The death of Emiliano Roja and Manuel Rodriguez does exactly what I hoped.
Roja’s absence causes a power vacuum, as factions split off and high-ranking members fight for control. Infighting and violence are at an all-time high, just as I predicted.
Assassinations. Turf wars. The smaller factions formed after the deconstruction of the fellowship can’t sustain themselves. They self-implode in a matter of days and what few remain are easily picked up by the authorities.
I take Starla back to the hotel and manage to convince Sergio not to come for us. Not yet.
We take three days for ourselves, living on room service, reveling in each other, and finding every possible way to explore each other’s bodies.