Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 79749 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79749 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
I stop in my tracks, teeth grinding as I watch Nyx circle my son and figure out the best way to dismantle the bomb strapped to my son's chest.
"Hi," I say to him. I keep some distance, but I'm not capable of standing there and not speaking to him. "I just need you to be brave for a few more minutes."
The child swallows as he watches me crouch down a few feet from him.
I focus only on my son. I don't concern myself with what Nyx is doing. It's in his and everyone else's best interest that he does a good job. I'm putting my literal life in his hands, much like all the other guys down here who haven't left.
"My name is Nolan."
"H-he called you L-Luke."
I give him a sad smile. "That was who I told him I was."
"H-he said y-you're my d-daddy."
Fresh tears run down his cheeks.
"Yes," I say.
"Where's my m-momma?"
"She's close," I tell him. "We'll go see her soon. I promise. I can't believe how brave you are. I'm so proud of you."
"Just one more," Nyx says. "There."
As if he's holding a tray of boiling water that will slosh everywhere, I watch as Nyx gently lifts the box from Eli's lap.
He still seems stunned and is unwilling to move until he's given permission. It makes me wonder what he's suffered to keep him so calm in the face of such adversity.
Once the bomb is clear, I don't waste a second scooping him up in my arms. His tiny hands cling to my clothes as I rush up the stairs. I have to get him to safety, and that isn't within a hundred yards of that fucking bomb.
I realize as I rush outside, meeting the cool air, that tears are also running down my face.
Chapter 34
Aspen
"They have him," Casper says from the computer station. "Aspen, they have him!"
I stood from the couch the second we heard that Eli was within the vicinity of a bomb. I didn't even know that Damien had such skills or extensive uses of such weapons.
"What?" I ask, unsure if I heard him right.
My hand is hovering over the handgun on the kitchen counter.
"ETA is less than five minutes," Casper says before nodding to something he hears in his headset. "I'll have EMTs en route."
"He's safe," Max assures me, his eyes going from me to the gun on the counter. "Aspen, acknowledge that you heard me."
"He's safe."
"Damien is dead."
"Damien is dead," I repeat, but it doesn't register until the words play back in my mind in an echo. "Damien is dead?"
"We can show you the video," Max says as he slowly inches toward me, as if he thinks I could lose my shit at any moment.
"Eli is safe?"
"I don't know that you'll be able to pry him out of Jericho's hands, but yes, sweetheart. Eli is safe."
I pull my hand back, clamping my hands together and lifting them to my lips as a sob bubbles out of my throat.
As if he could predict how I'd respond, Max is right there, catching me before I fall to my knees.
I know what he's saying is true, but I don't think I can fully accept the good news until my son is in my arms. I hope Eli doesn't mind, but I don't know if I'll ever be able to let him go after this. He'll feel smothered before his eighth birthday.
"ETA two minutes," Casper says from the other room.
"I'm going to take you to the sofa, Aspen. Jericho is riding a high right now, and I don't want to get shot if he comes through the door and sees you in my arms."
I chuckle through a sob because that seems utterly ridiculous, but just as he said, he gets me to the sofa and he backs away, holding his arms up as if apologizing for touching me in the first place.
"Thank—" I begin but the front door opens so quickly, that it smacks against the wall.
Nolan's eyes lock on me, but all I can see is the scared little boy in his arms.
He's in front of me the second I stand, but my knees are too weak to hold my weight.
As Max said, he doesn't release Eli. We balance him between us, sobs racking both our bodies.
"Momma?" Eli asks when I pull back and hold his sweet little face between both my hands.
The look on his face is heartbreaking. It's almost as if he doesn't recognize me. We always go through this weird period of him not really knowing me when we get to see each other. He's so young, and his memories aren't completely formed. I know that was just one more way for Damien to hurt us. It breaks my heart for him to look at me like he would any other stranger.
I sweep hair off his forehead, circling my finger there, something I've always done. But when that doesn't seem to work, I begin to hum the song I always sing to him before bedtime. He softens some, but not fully, and I can't really get upset at him for the damage Damien has caused. But that doesn't stop it from breaking my already shattered heart a little more.