Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 106292 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 531(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106292 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 531(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
“OAKLEY, NO,” I hear Dalton’s panicked roar across the warehouse at the same time I let out a terrified scream, not even sure of the words that come bursting out. Zade’s eyes widen, hearing the raw fear in Dalton’s tone, but it’s too fucking late. I throw myself to my feet with every ounce of strength I possess and launch myself at Zade like some kind of fucking linebacker, at the same moment the old fucker pulls the trigger.
The loud BANG echoes through my mind as the force of my body slamming into Zade makes us stumble to the side, a sharp, agonizing sting slicing through my arm. We careen right into the guy Zade’s fighting, his knife slashing right across my chest in his efforts to take Zade down. Zade tries to catch me in one hand as I scream in pain while fending off his target with his other. But then Sawyer is right there, gripping onto the back of the asshole’s head and violently twisting before he even knows what’s going on.
I fall awkwardly into Zade’s arms, and he quickly catches me, lowering me to the dirty ground. His eyes are wild as he quickly scans over me, trying to figure out if the blood spreading over my chest is going to be fatal.
“Fuck, what were you thinking?” he rushes out as Sawyer turns to defend us, watching our backs. “You could have fucking killed yourself.”
“My arm,” I say with a clenched jaw, more than ready to ignore his ranting. “It hurts.”
Zade grips my elbow and raises my arm to get a better look. “Yeah, I fucking bet it does,” he says, a strange emotion flashing in his eyes, something I can’t quite decipher. “You got shot.”
“Fuck,” I say with tears in my eyes, watching Dalton race through the warehouse, hopefully on his way to find the asshole who put a bullet through my arm.
“You’ll live,” Zade tells me, gripping the bottom of his shirt and tearing it over his head. He rips it into ribbons before tying it around my arm to control the bleeding, and I cry out again. “Just a flesh wound. As for your chest though,” he adds, glancing over the gash before pressing what’s left of his shirt to my chest. “That’s gonna scar.”
I scoff. “No worse than what you’re gonna do to me.”
Zade clenches his jaw just as Easton races in, clearly disheveled from the shit he’s been dealing with outside. But considering he’s in here and not out there, I’d dare say there’s nothing but dead bodies lining the surrounding woods.
“Fuck. What happened?” he rushes out, dropping to his knees at my side as Sawyer fends off the last of our enemies, making me realize that despite all the shit that just went down here, we still didn’t get any of the answers we were looking for.
I go to respond, but Zade beats me to it. “The fucking idiot jumped in front of a bullet to save me.”
Easton’s eyes go wide as Zade’s arm slides beneath me, scooping me back to my feet and holding my weight. “You did what?” Easton rushes out, a mix of awe and rage in his eyes, as if he doesn’t know how to feel about it, and honestly, neither do I.
“Yeah, pretty fucking stupid, huh? If I’d just let that dickhead take Zade out, I would have been a free woman. Instead, I saved the guy who has absolutely no intention of saving me. Call me a sucker for punishment.”
Zade’s arm tightens around my waist as he leads me out of the warehouse, suddenly at a loss for words. “You jumped in front of a bullet,” Easton reiterates. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
I shrug my shoulders and instantly regret the movement. “I didn’t jump in front of a bullet, I was trying to shove him out of the way,” I mutter, knowing the boys aren’t going to see this from my point of view. “Besides, if Zade dies, that doesn’t leave me with good options. Better the devil you know, right?”
The boys get me into the Escalade, and my body starts to shake, feeling cold and unable to calm myself. “We’ll get you home and fix you up,” Easton promises, scooting in beside me despite usually being the one to travel up front with Zade. “Nothing a hit of morphine can’t handle. It’ll put you right out.”
I swallow hard and nod. The other door opens and Sawyer climbs in, glancing over me with a scowl, but a yawn is all I can manage. I’m suddenly very tired. “Hey Zade,” I murmur, noticing he still hasn’t said a word since walking out of the warehouse.
“What?”
“I’ve got some bad news.”
His gaze narrows on me through the rearview mirror before thinking better of it and turning right around to fix me with a hard stare. “What?” he demands, his accusatory tone barking through the stationary car as we wait for Dalton.