Total pages in book: 159
Estimated words: 148184 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 741(@200wpm)___ 593(@250wpm)___ 494(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 148184 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 741(@200wpm)___ 593(@250wpm)___ 494(@300wpm)
I glare at Andrea while I speak. “I will cut you up piece by fucking piece and feed you to the river. Once the fish get you, I’ll find those fuckers too and skewer each and every one of them.”
Andrea cranks up her chin. “That’s colorful, but this is for your own good. Trust me.”
I’m vibrating with my rage, my heart beating so fast there are black dots in my vision.
“Mr. Doubeck,” the bitch at the table snaps. “May I have your attention, please. As you can see, we are prepared to take measures to make you talk. Save us the time and energy and confess now.”
I open my mouth, for once prepared to do exactly as she says, but she cuts in before I can speak. “Or maybe we should be trying your lovely wife at this tribunal? She is the one with the closest connection to both the missing Novak leader and the other one…her fiancé, was it?”
Her cold eyes cut to Valentina, who thank fuck tells them nothing and holds her chin high.
“Nothing,” she adds. “Let’s up the ante then…”
The door opens one more time, and Kai is dragged in behind another guard carrying another gratuitously sized gun. They throw him to the floor between Valentina and me. “Another suspect for us to consider,” she deadpans, still completely disinterested.
Kai rolls to his side and coughs up blood. His face is beaten to high hell—worse than mine. I glance up at Andrea. “Your doing?”
She shrugs and presses her gun harder to Valentina’s temple. “He was asking for it.”
I move to launch myself at her again, but the zip tie won’t budge, not even the tiniest bit to get my hands freed. “I’m going to slaughter you,” I say carefully. “So slowly you will feel every slice until there is nothing left but your brain and your heart to cut out.”
Again, she seems disinterested in my threats. I shift my eyes to Valentina. “Tell them nothing, no matter what happens to me.”
She blinks at me and then looks toward the council again. Her eyes are rimmed with tears, but she keeps her lips clamped tight.
The woman sighs, and I scramble for her name because she is my first target when I get out of here, after Andrea.
Everything in my body aches, but alongside it, the betrayal is so much worse. How could she do this to us, help them when they hurt her so badly. I lock eyes with her again, ignoring the woman waiting for me to say something. “Why? Why would you do this?”
Andrea smiles, and it’s slightly unhinged. “They gave me exactly what I wanted. Sal’s brothers in exchange for Valentina and Kai. An easy trade…”
I shake my head. “We were going to get them together.”
“No,” she spits at me. “You were going to get them, and I guarantee what you had planned is nothing compared to what I’m going to do to them both. What you have planned for me right now is nothing compared to how they will end up when I get my hands on them.”
I flap my uselessly bound hands toward the council. “These assholes aren’t exactly reliable. Who says they don’t take us, kill you, and be done with it all.”
Another smile. “Don’t worry, I have leverage.”
Now I’m curious…did she capture another of the five? I can’t believe any of them would go along with this insane plan of hers. To betray me. To betray all of us.
“Leverage?”
She shifts her gaze to the table. “Didn’t you notice? You don’t have a full tribunal today. One of their numbers is missing.”
60
VALENTINA
Oh, this plan is such a bad idea. When Andrea and Kai walked into my bedroom, Adrian was already gone, so I didn’t think to argue. Why would I when it gave me what I wanted? But…standing here, watching them hurt him, I can’t take much more of it before I lose my shit completely.
The council, as usual, doesn’t care about anyone but themselves. Hell, the only reason Andrea could get this to work was because she spotted a lone council member doing some dirty things on her spy mission. The blackmail after that, to get him to comply, was easy enough for her as well.
I’m shaking, and I can’t stop the tears pouring down my cheeks. He’s bruised and battered all over. It hits me like an out-of-control car on a freeway…he lied to me. The man stood in front of me and told me they wouldn’t try to take him out. From what I can tell, they are just doing it slowly and painfully to draw out his misery. Next, they will use me, but I’m not going to allow it if I can help it.
I jerk my arm, pretending to try to cut loose from Andrea’s hold. It shocked me how easy the indifferent betrayal act came to her and how real she made it seem with Kai hunched over beside us. To be fair, that had been the hardest part. Watching her and the council guards beat up on him to subdue him.