Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 80507 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 268(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80507 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 268(@300wpm)
There were no windows.
No visible exits but one.
With several cameras trained on me along with a few guns. I couldn’t see them though it didn’t mean they weren’t there.
“Always a pleasure,” I grumbled under my breath as Andrei leaned back in his chair, his golden blonde hair like a halo crowning his head.
Long elegant fingertips gripped a glass of whiskey before he slowly slid it toward me. “Sit.”
I took the whiskey in hand and sat on the black leather chair facing him. “Any news?”
His grin was a bit too menacing.
His demeanor a bit too relaxed.
I narrowed my eyes, examining his hands, his perfect posture while tilting my head. One spot of blood on his otherwise perfect white collar.
I scoffed out a laugh. “Getting started without me?”
He shrugged. “What can I say? It’s Monday.”
I braced myself for what would come next. Either an informant was dead, or they were about to be.
“Saved the best for last.” Another ominous grin slid over his face, and he grabbed a remote.
It had a green button.
And a red.
The red was obviously bad news.
The green meant you would die a quick death.
Naturally, he hit the red, his grin growing as the curtains behind him parted.
Dangling from the ceiling was a man. He was shirtless. His black pants wet with blood.
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
Blood slid off of his shoe, hitting the cement in an almost calming succession.
Was it sick that I got off on that? That I liked the slow calming drip?
Death was a constant—life’s North Star.
Death never changed.
Death, after enough torture, was peaceful.
I hadn’t had peace in an entire lifetime—I was a monster, wasn’t I? Because I was smiling.
I needed this like another hit from a lead pipe.
I needed the consistency.
Everything else in my life wasn’t.
And now I was living with the one woman I had to keep my hands off, keep secrets from, protect.
I was going insane, and she didn’t even know it.
Sleeping next to her. Hearing the slow cadence of her breathing, knowing that she woke up with tears staining her cheeks. Knowing that my fucking brother was the reason for it and that I would die with his secrets too.
Fuck I hated him.
Because of him, I would never have her.
Because of his lies, he had made sure of that.
She could never know the truth.
Ever.
Andrei yawned and stood, tossing the remote onto his desk, shoving his hands into his pocket like we were in a casual business meeting. “He talked a bit. See if you can get anything else…I need to know who he’s working for. That’s the only thing he won’t tell me.” He checked his watch. “Five minutes, and then you know what to do.”
The monster appeared then.
Ready.
Willing.
Eager as fuck.
He took over, and I grabbed one of the knives from the wall of torture tools.
“On second thought…” I put the knife back and grabbed a club hammer earning a laugh from Andrei in the process. “What?”
He smirked. “You came to play, didn’t you?”
“It’s been a shit day,” I answered, looking away.
“Ah, having no sex does that to a man. Is she…” He continued walking toward the door. “…contained?”
“Yes,” I rasped. “And she’s safe.”
“Good, good,” he replied, opening the door. “Keep it that way. No fuck-ups, Romeo.”
I snapped, “When have I ever fucked up?”
He froze, looking over his shoulder. “Never. But she’s the one thing you can’t control, no matter how hard you try. She pulls you; she makes you both weak and strong. It could go both ways, Romeo. It could be your death or your salvation. So I’ll remind you again, no fuck-ups, it’s not just your life that hangs in the balance.”
I nodded. “Understood.”
“For what it’s worth.” He tilted his head. “She would be good for you.”
“What?” Shit! Did he know? “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He threw his head back and laughed. “The only time your lies are shit are when they’re about her. And I said what I said, Romeo. She would be good for you, but I wonder…would you be good for her.”
With that haunting truth, he shut the door and left.
I gripped the hammer in my hands and kicked the desk. It didn’t help.
The man moaned.
I jerked to attention and slowly shrugged out of my suit coat. Unbuttoning my sleeves, I rolled them up to my elbows.
Hammer in hand again, I grinned up at him. “Having a good day?”
He moaned something else I couldn’t decipher as I circled him.
“Who are you loyal to?” I asked.
“Andrei,” he whispered. “The Sinacore Family.”
“And yet…” I grazed his back with the head of the hammer. “You’re hanging in his office half dead. Try again.”
“Let me go.” His body started to convulse.
“Hmmm, I’ll tell you what. Give me the information I need, and I’ll kill you fast. You’re already dead. If you’re truly loyal to the Sinacore boss, you’ll die honoring him, not whoever paid you the most money.”