Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 37733 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 189(@200wpm)___ 151(@250wpm)___ 126(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 37733 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 189(@200wpm)___ 151(@250wpm)___ 126(@300wpm)
The first shots rip through the warehouse. Cian doesn't even have a chance to pull his weapon. He doesn't even have a chance to turn around. His blood splatters everywhere as he falls.
Cillian roars in rage, shooting wildly in my direction. Domani plows into him from behind. I scream as they hit the floor and go rolling, fists flying. Another bullet ricochets off the floor beside my head. I sob, scrambling backward.
One of Cillian's men runs after me. Rafe and Mattia are busy with the other three, exchanging potshots, and Coda is still trying to free himself from the rope tying his hands together. I swing the knife wildly, trying to keep the man away from me.
He's a lot bigger and a lot faster than I am, though. And he's on his feet, not on his butt on the floor. He has every advantage. He grabs a handful of my hair, dragging me backward.
I lash out with the knife again, barely missing him.
"Let me go!"
"Fuck no."
I try to stab him again and miss him again. Maybe Domani should have been teaching me how to use this stupid knife instead of fucking me all week because I'm useless right now.
The man laughs, pulling my hair tighter.
I scream in fury and in pain, flipping myself around to face him. He doesn't expect that. The knife sinks into his thigh. I yank downward, ripping his thigh open.
"You bitch!" he roars, trying to backhand me across the face.
I duck the blow, jabbing him in the shin with the knife.
He kicks me off of him. I manage to get a glimpse of Domani and my uncle. They're still rolling around on the floor. Domani rolls on top of my uncle, punching him in the face. He hits him so hard he loses his center of balance. My uncle immediately throws him off, trying to grab the gun a few feet away.
My attacker grabs me by the throat, and I lose track of my husband and my uncle.
"I should fucking kill you right here and now," the man growls in my ear. "You're worth more to us dead than you are alive anyway."
"No, I'm not," I rasp, struggling to keep the knife out of his hands. "I'm married now. If he kills me, my trust fund goes to my husband. He'll never touch my money again. Not now, not ever."
The confession does exactly as I wanted. It shocks him just enough to distract him. He loosens his grip momentarily, allowing me to yank free of it. I slash out with the knife, catching him across the back of the arm as I propel myself to my feet, preparing to run.
Coda looms up in front of me like a wall. I bounce off of his chest, nearly landing on my ass on the floor all over again. He catches me with his hands around my arms and quickly shuffles me to the side, his gaze locked on the man pursuing me.
"Run, piccola."
I don't listen. Of course I don't. Coda crashes into my attacker like a tsunami hitting the coast. I let him have at it, frantically searching for Domani and Cillian. They're several feet from where I last saw them, still rolling around. Cillian may be half Domani's size, but he's been boxing his entire life. He's a fighter. He knows hand-to-hand and how to protect himself.
But Domani knows what he's doing too. They're evenly matched, neither getting the upper hand. Both delivering brutal, punishing blows. They're both bleeding. I think my uncle may be bleeding more than Domani, but blood drips from cuts on his face, too.
"You locked her in that fucking house!" he roars at my uncle, wrapping his hands around his throat. "You forced her to listen to every sick, twisted thing you did, you piece of shit."
My uncle bucks him off. "She'll keep listening," he growls. "Long after you're fucking rotting in the ground, she'll lay in her bed at night and listen to what I do in the room down the hall. Maybe I'll even force her to watch this time."
Domani roars, leaping on him again. My uncle is prepared for his attack, though. He flips him onto his back, bashing his head against the concrete floor.
I cry out in horror at the sickening sound. It's so loud.
My eyes land on the gun they were fighting for earlier. I scurry forward and grab it, though I have no idea how to use it. I sob, trying to figure it out, desperate to help Domani before Cillian kills him. Only to realize there's no need.
Domani grabs Cillian by the throat, slamming him to the floor. He hauls himself on top of him, bleeding from a gash across the back of his head. But he's too pissed to be slowed or stopped now. My uncle threatened me, and that's the one thing he shouldn't have done. My husband can't be stopped now. He has no mercy.