Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 69472 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69472 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
“She’s not. Shit.” She muffles the receiver and yells, “Sin!”
I can hear him in the background.
“She left Lucius’s place hours ago, but she never showed.”
“I just found a place on the road a few miles from my house. There had been a car wreck, but the entire thing was cleared when I got there. No one around.”
“Ambush, has to be,” Sin says.
“That Charles motherfucker. He’s the only one crazy enough to come onto our fucking turf and do something this dumb.” I toss the phone, yanking the parking brake, and whip my wheel hard to the left. The tires screech as I turn a 180, then shoot back down the road toward my place.
I grab the phone again.
“—iPad is the only way we’re going to find him,” Sin says.
“The iPad, sure. But I know where that fucker Corrigan lived. He has to have more family there somewhere.”
“You’re going back to that house?”
“First, I’m going to my house and getting firepower, then I’m going to the city.”
“Lucius, you shouldn’t go it alone.”
“I’m not waiting. Not when Evie’s been fucking stolen. You didn’t see this guy, Sin. He’s a sick bastard. He’ll hurt her in ways she won’t be able to come back from.”
“I’ll meet you there,” he says.
“No. Protect the family. If he did something this brazen, there’s no telling what he’ll do next. You have to keep everyone safe. Call Teddy. Put him on alert.” I end the call.
The phone rings as I tear down my driveway. It’s Sin.
I ignore it and turn the ringer off.
My focus is on Evie.
I will find her, and then I will kill the motherfucker who took her in the most painful way possible.
31
Evie
My head throbs, and my right arm aches as consciousness hits me like a fiery whip. I’m sore all over, but I can’t remember why.
When I open my eyes, I realize I’m in a strange bed in a strange room. I try to sit up, but my head swims, and my arm feels like it’s disjointed. Something’s wrong with it. Something bad. Nausea rises in my gut, my mouth watering.
I close my eyes and try to breathe slowly. Calm. I have to stay calm.
A horn blares, and I jump. But when I open my eyes again, I’m in the same room. No car. No horn.
A black sedan pops into my vision. That’s it. That’s what happened. A car wreck. Shit. But where am I? Is this some sort of swank hospital? I don’t think so, especially since I’m not getting any treatment.
“Hello?” I call.
Nothing happens.
I try to sit up again, and though the world swims, I force myself to stay upright. Something tickles at my lip, and I reach up to find dried blood there. I must’ve busted my nose in the accident. God, I hope no one else got hurt.
The room comes into clearer focus now. Brocade wallpaper, Mediterranean accents, lots of gold. Definitely not a hospital.
“Hello?” I call again. I want to get up, to try and find my phone or a way out, but my head pounds in a way that promises a nasty fall if I move too fast.
A sound behind me catches my attention, and I turn. Too fast. The nausea rises again as the pain in my head explodes. I bend over and dry heave.
“Sorry.” A woman comes around the bed, her clothes wrinkled, both of her eyes black. “He’ll be back soon. I’m supposed to check on you.”
“Who?”
“What do you mean?” She wrings her hands.
“Who’ll be back soon?”
“My nephew, of course.” She glances around, every movement of hers nervous or scared. “The Sovereign.”
“What?” I’m lost in this conversation, but I realize I’m in danger. Any talk of Sovereigns means my life is on the line. I have to get out of here. “I need to go.” I try to stand, but my vision starts going dark at the edges, so I sit back down. My right arm is limp, my fingers not obeying my commands. I think it might be broken.
“Stay put. He doesn’t want you to move too much.” She stares down at me, something in her eyes akin to pity. “If you don’t obey him, he’ll hurt you. And you already have a concussion. And your arm …” She reaches for it, but I recoil.
“Where’s my phone?”
She shakes her head sadly. “No phones. No way out. I learned that the hard way.” She points to her bruised face. “Don’t make my mistakes. Respect him. He’s the authority. The true Sovereign. I only wish I’d seen it earlier.”
“We need to leave. We have to go right now.”
“And defy the Sovereign? No.”
“Sinclair Vinemont is the Sovereign.”
She slaps me so hard and so quickly I don’t even feel my body hit the floor. I’m speaking to her one moment, and the next I’m in a heap on the rug. I think I’m going to die right here, right now. My head feels like it’s splitting open, and I can barely breathe through the pain.