Total pages in book: 18
Estimated words: 16396 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 82(@200wpm)___ 66(@250wpm)___ 55(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 16396 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 82(@200wpm)___ 66(@250wpm)___ 55(@300wpm)
“You’re a liar, Vincent!” she hisses. “And my daughter knows better than to believe you!”
A gunshot rings out, and one of Vincent’s men goes down in a bloody heap.
“Josie! Debbie! Take cover!” Magnus’s voice rings out.
There’s another gunshot, and just as I grab my mom and dive off the side of the porch into the bushes, I hear a handful more.
“Oh, honey!” my mother cries out over the thunderous ruckus. I grab her head and hold it down. Through the leaves I see another one of Vincent’s men go down and the sound of someone else crying out.
I close my eyes against the storm of the firefight.
Please let Magnus make it. Please.
Bullets hit metal, and a few more shots ring out, then there’s silence. I keep holding my mother just in case. Then there’s a voice.
“Josie!”
My eyes snap open. “Magnus!” I cry out as I stand.
And there he is, standing like a victorious statue, pistol in hand, his right arm dripping with blood, his T-shirt twisted around his bulging muscles, the bodies of Vincent and his men strewn about him, motionless on the ground.
My heart flutters as I get to my feet, helping Momma to hers at the same time. After all that noise, Magnus is still standing.
“Don’t worry.” He smiles. “The blood’s not mine. Well, a little bit is. I caught a graze, but I’m fine.”
I rush to his side, and he crushes me to him with his left arm, careful not to allow any blood to get on me.
“I’m sorry, Magnus,” I cry. “I-I almost believed what he said for a second.”
“It’s okay, baby,” he replies, stroking his fingers through my hair. “I’d never expect you to go through a situation like this. But it’s over now. He’s gone. And now you know that I will always protect you from anything else in this world.”
His scent sinks into my nose and lungs. I close my eyes and inhale, embedding it there. How could I ever have doubted this man? Even for a second? His rough fingers find the base of my chin and lift my lips to his. We kiss, and his tongue sweeps into my mouth with a possessive touch.
“Come on,” I tell him. “Let’s get you inside and cleaned up.”
“One minute,” he replies, walking over to his truck. I watch as he kneels down and looks underneath it for a moment, then gets up and goes around the other side.
“What are you doing, Magnus?”
He doesn’t respond but kneels down again and then, using his good hand, reaches under the truck. There’s a metallic clunking sound, and he pulls out a small black box and gets to his feet, a satisfied grin on his face.
“What is that?” I ask as he shows it to me. One side is metallic, probably magnetic, and there are a couple of small lights on it.
“GPS tracker,” he replies. “This is how Vincent found us.”
“Vincent,” my mother chimes in from the porch. “That son of a bitch.”
Magnus and I both laugh. “Damn right, Debbie,” Magnus chuckles. “But you won’t be worrying about him from now on.”
Epilogue
Magnus
Five Years Later…
* * *
I’m grinning as I drive. And not because it was another great day at work where I closed another big security contract, but because I’m on the way to see my wife and take her to my special night I have planned. I know she’s just finishing up now and will be waiting out front for me when I get there, and the last thing I want to do is keep her waiting.
When I pull up out front, I see her standing there looking as gorgeous as ever. She’s wearing a pair of slim blue jeans and a loose-fitting peach T-shirt that she thinks looks casual and professional at the same time, and while it might, I find it extraordinarily sexy. I stop the truck in front of her and open the door for her to climb in.
“Look at us.” I smile as she sets her bag in beside me. “A couple of working stiffs.”
“How was work?” she asks, kissing me on the cheek.
“No, no, no,” I reply. “That is not good enough.”
“What—?” I cut her off with a deep French kiss. It hasn’t even been eight hours since I last saw her, but I’ve missed the hell out of her. Blood pumps instantly to my cock. and I slip a hand up beneath her shirt and down the cup of her bra for a feel of her breast.
“Magnus! Someone might see!” she gasps. “It’s my work!”
“Let them,” I snarl, squeezing her softness as I put the truck in drive and pull away. “You’re the boss. Hell, you own the place.”
I love pointing that out to my wife. It doesn’t just turn me on, it makes me proud as hell.
After we took Debbie in and saw how much work it was going to take to help her get clean, Josie decided she wanted to open a center for women in need, women like her mother, so I took one more venture back to The Palace for a little startup money. After all, Vincent wouldn’t be needing it anymore.