Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 72692 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 291(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72692 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 291(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
“You know,” Mario says almost casually, but I don’t miss the sharp glint in his eyes. “In America, a married man is a made man.”
“Same here,” Lyam says. I glare at him but he’s pouring a drink and misses it.
“Makes you more powerful. You get a wife and kids and you—”
“Might as well get shackles,” I finish. Lyam laughs but Mario winces and shakes his head.
“I’m serious, Thayer. This outfit is new. Of the three of you, only one is married. You know if you marry a woman no one can touch her. You’re a unit. Indivisible.”
I try to divert the subject.
“You were always the player,” I say. “You used to show up with a woman on each arm. What happened?”
The front door booms with a thudding, frantic flurry of knocks, followed by the doorbell ringing. I’m on my feet instantly, my heart racing. Another frenzied knocking follows the first. I hear my mother’s bedroom door open and her rapid footfalls as she races to the landing. Tension mounts in the air, but I keep my head and check my weapon.
The last time we got hurried knocks this late at night, Fabien had been shot.
Something is wrong. Everyone knows who lives in this house, and no one, not even a well-meaning neighbor or salesperson, ever knocks on this door uninvited.
I get to the door first, Lyam and Maman right behind me. Mario stands behind us, his hand on his weapon. Lyam is armed as well.
I yank open the door and almost immediately fall backward when I’m tackled by a bundle of a woman. She grabs at me and hauls herself to standing. She’s all tangled hair and torn clothing, but I know exactly who she is the second those mahogany eyes look into mine.
Normally artless and serene, as innocent as a dew-kissed flower at sunrise, she now looks at me with utter terror. Panic has swept the color from Savannah’s face, and the grip on my arm’s so tight it’s painful.
I catch her before she falls.
I hold her.
No.
I fight the urge to push her behind me and race into the night, gun drawn, to bring justice to whoever chased her here. To kill whoever made her cry. But heroics and impulsivity don’t mix, and it isn’t the way I do things. So I draw in a breath and let it out slowly as I bring her into the house.
“Go,” I snap at Lyam, who races in front of me with his gun drawn, calling on our guards.
As soon as she realizes she’s clinging to me, she releases her hold as if touching me burns her hands. She blinks in the brightness of the overhead lights and wrings her hands.
“Thayer! Oh, God, Thayer!” She spares a second to look over her shoulder. “Shut the door!” she says with a strangled cry. “Lock the gates! Hurry!” I reach for the door to slam it as she does the same, making her clumsily fall against it. Lyam’s out there, but he can handle himself.
Maman reaches us and gently takes her from me as I make the call.
“Close the gates. All circuits on standby. Weapons ready.”
Mario steps in front of me as Lyam returns. “All clear for now but I’ve only checked the front gate. Come with me, Rossi?”
I shake my head. “Before anyone does anything, we need to find out what’s going on. Then you two can go.” With Fabien gone, I’m the one Lyam obeys and as our guest, Mario does the same. They wait, like leashed guard dogs frothing at the mouth. Lyam practically paws the ground in front of him.
I stand Savannah upright in front of me. “Tell me what happened. I want to know everything before they go out, so tell me why you’re here.”
She draws in a breath and speaks in a rush of words. “I saw a police officer murdered and the murderers are chasing me.”
I feel my eyebrows rise. I jerk my chin to Mario and Lyam. “Go.”
Maman covers her mouth with her hand as the door slams behind them.
I reach for Savannah’s hand but pull back. I held her when she fell, but I won’t let myself touch her. I can’t.
She’s the baby sister of my sister-in-law. We’re practically related.
She’s ten years younger than you.
“Let’s go in the other room. I want to know everything. Every detail you can remember.”
“She’s hurt, Thayer,” Maman says pleadingly, her arm around Savannah’s shoulders. I look down at her torn clothing. Her knees are covered in gravel and blood. My anger becomes a blistering fury, clawing at me like a monster with talons and fangs.
I’ll kill them.
I will find whoever scared her and threatened her and they will die a painful, torturous death.
I turn my fury on Savannah. “I thought you were with Fabien and Nicolette. Why are you alone? What happened?”