Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 74022 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 370(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74022 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 370(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
“Get back inside that house,” I growl.
She shakes her head and looks to Ashton. “What do you want, Ashton? Put the gun down, and we’ll talk.”
Ashton throws his head back and laughs. “How fucking stupid do you think I am? There will be no talking. Give me what I want, and I’ll leave.”
“Just put the gun down.”
I take a step forward, and Ashton turns the gun on Penny. “You fucking come any closer, and I’ll blow her pretty face all of this patio.”
“Ashton, please,” Penny says, her voice trembling.
“Penny, go the fuck inside,” I order.
“You move,” Ashton smirks. “And you die. Now, get me the cash I want, and I’ll leave. It’s that simple. No blood needs to be shed. Wasn’t enough in that fuckin’ safe. I need more.”
“I don’t ... I don’t have any money,” she whispers. “You took everything I had.”
Ashton’s face gets red. “You fucking liar! The insurance you would have got on the house would be in by now. Don’t you fuckin’ lie and tell me you don’t have anything. Give me the keys to that car, and I’ll sell it today. I need that fuckin’ cash right now, or I’m a dead man, do you fuckin’ understand me?”
“Okay, okay, I’ll give you the keys.”
“You fuckin’ will not,” I growl.
“Get. Me. The. Keys.” Ashton warns, pointing the gun at her. “Now, Penelope.”
She stares at me, then looks back to Ashton. “Maybe we can—”
He aims the gun at her leg, and he shoots. I’ll never fucking forget the sound of her screams. I’ll never forget them for as long as I live. She drops to the ground, blood pouring, I can hear Cassie screaming out from inside. I see red. Everything inside me switches off, and I see red. I won’t watch another person die. I will fuckin’ not.
I aim my gun at his knee cap and I pull the trigger. He roars in pain, tumbling backwards and hitting the deck. I move without thought, my entire body prickling with a rage I’ve suppressed for so fucking long. I reach him, and haul him up, driving a fist into his face. Over and fucking over again, I drive my fist into every inch of him it can make contact with. Blood spurts, bones crack, and he becomes limp in my arms, but I don’t fuckin’ stop. I don’t stop, I just keep hitting him, over and over, until Cassie’s screams fill my ears, penetrating my hazed state.
“Boston!” she screams. “Boston stop!”
Punch.
Punch.
Punch.
“Boston please, stop!”
Penelope.
Her voice is frantic. The man in my grasps is limp, and I know, I know before his body hits the ground, he has no life left in his body. When his body hits the deck, I can barely see his face, it’s so covered in blood and mangled. His eyes are open, blood running from his mouth. And I’m panting, just staring down at him, and I can feel nothing.
Absolutely fucking nothing.
“Oh God,” Cassie cries. “Oh God. Penelope.”
Penny.
I spin around and see her on the ground, staring at me, tears running down her cheeks, her eyes wide with both pain and horror. She’s clutching her leg, trembling all over, and she’s losing a lot of blood. I move quickly, tearing my jacket off and then pulling my shirt over my head and dropping to my knees beside her, wrapping it around her leg.
“Got to get her to a hospital,” I growl to Cassie.
“A-A-A-Ashton, you ... oh God,” Penny whimpers. “Boston, what have you done?”
I turn and stare at the lifeless body on the ground.
What the fuck have I done?
~19~
NOW – PENELOPE
I can’t make it stop.
I can’t unsee it.
The way he just kept hitting him, even when his body became lifeless, he just kept hitting him, over and over, not letting up, dragging every last inch of his life from him. I clench my eyes shut, trying to push it out, but I can’t. I can’t. I’ll never unsee that image. Never, not for a damned second.
I don’t know that man.
I don’t want to know that man.
“How are you feeling?”
My eyes pop open and I see a nurse smiling down at me, chart in her hand. I had to have surgery on my leg, to remove the bullet. The police have been in and out, asking questions, Malakai assured me they’ll deal with it, and told me to say nothing except that I got hit by a drive by shooting. That happens a lot. They seemed to accept it, though I’m sure they’re going to look deeper into it.
I haven’t seen Boston since.
Malakai told me they’ve dealt with Ashton, and it will not come back on me.
But that doesn’t matter.
He’s dead.
Boston killed him. In cold blood. In a rage.
My bottom lip trembles.
“Miss?” the nurse asks. “Are you okay?”
“Yes,” I whisper.
“How is the pain?”
“It’s dealable.”
“Okay, I’m going to run some checks and then I’ll let you rest. You have a visitor.”