Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 67905 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 226(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67905 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 226(@300wpm)
“Did he touch you?” Not that I needed another reason to kill him. My manifest was already full.
“No. But he would have if I didn’t threaten him. Then he grabbed her and dragged her out like a disobedient puppy.”
The guilt was like a boulder on my chest, the weight making it impossible to breathe.
“What are we going to do?”
“There is no we, Scarlett. I’ll handle this.”
“Axel will want to help.”
“He doesn’t know?”
She shook her head. “I came straight here.”
It was the first time I didn’t launch into action the second I received news. The shame and self-loathing stopped me. All of this could have been avoided if I wasn’t a dick and had just listened to her. But all I cared about was relieving my pain and getting closure. She was clearly in duress, but all I thought about was myself. I felt guilt for not avenging Killian, but the guilt over this was far worse.
Killian was dead, but Astrid was still alive.
Scarlett repeated the question. “What are we going to do?”
“Get Astrid the hell out of there,” I said. “And kill him while I’m at it.”
I headed to the Underground and worked over the plan with my men. It wasn’t a hit against our enemies, it wasn’t a stunt that would fill our pockets with fortune, so I paid them myself since it was a personal matter. I asked them to risk their lives for a woman I hardly knew, and they should be compensated for that.
I wouldn’t put my life on the line for some woman they were fucking once upon a time. If it was one of their wives, it would be a different story. But Astrid wasn’t my wife. She hadn’t even been my woman.
If Bolton were someone else, I could handle this on my own. But he always had his men on the lookout. If he figured out who Scarlett was and who she was married to, his men would make a perimeter around the area. Might even have some in the house.
I needed backup.
I wore a bulletproof vest underneath my long-sleeved shirt. The guys did too. The vest might be pointless because whenever you shot to kill, it was always to the face. If Bolton had the chance, he would aim right between my eyes.
“Boss, you got company.” Octavio nodded behind me.
I turned around and expected to see a distributor or client, but it was Axel.
He acknowledged the guys with a nod as he came toward me. He already wore a vest under his shirt, the bulkiness beneath the fabric making it obvious. “Need a hand?”
“No.” I was touched he was there, but I wouldn’t show it. “Axel, you shouldn’t be here.” We rarely interacted in public. We did our best to keep our relationship private, because if the wrong person knew just how close we were, it would act as the perfect leverage for coercion.
“Scarlett told me what happened. I figured you’d be doing the hit tonight.” He looked at the guys in the room before he looked at me again.
“As you can see, I’ve got plenty of guys.”
“Doesn’t hurt to have one more.”
My eyes shifted back and forth between his before I addressed Octavio. “Give us the room.”
The men immediately filed out.
I stared down my brother. “You’re out of the game, Axel. It was stupid to come here.”
“You know I’ve got your back.”
“You don’t need to prove that to me.”
“I want to help Astrid too.”
“You barely know her.”
“So? She’s important to you. If this were Scarlett—”
“She’s the love of your life, Axel. It’s not the same thing.”
“Well, maybe she’ll be the love of your life when this is over.”
I didn’t know what would happen after tonight. Even if I killed Bolton and she was free, I wasn’t sure where that would leave us. She’d still chosen him over me, and while the situation was more complicated than that, I couldn’t look past it. “No.”
“I’m coming—”
“No.”
“I want to tear this guy apart for what he did to Astrid. Sure, I don’t know her. But I’m a husband to a spitfire of a woman and a father to a beautiful little girl. Shit like this bothers me. And the fact that he did it to someone you care about pisses me off even more. You can’t underestimate someone like Bolton. So maybe you don’t need more men, but you need the right man to watch your back.”
“I appreciate that, Axel. But your life is your family. They need you.”
He remained quiet.
“Scarlett needs you.”
“I didn’t come here against her wishes. She gave me her blessing. She knows what you mean to me.”
Now, I was the one to turn quiet.
“I’m with you on this, whether you like it or not.”
I didn’t know how to accept his help, and I didn’t know how to turn him away.
When I didn’t say anything, Axel moved forward. “How are we going to handle Bolton?”