Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 55765 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 279(@200wpm)___ 223(@250wpm)___ 186(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55765 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 279(@200wpm)___ 223(@250wpm)___ 186(@300wpm)
“Lukas,” Finn mutters beside me, but I can’t listen. Too much rage is rushing through my ears, and anger is pulsing in my system.
“Oh, sorry,” Sebastian says. “I’ll speak her language then, shall I? Oink, oink, oink…”
I snap. My head gets hazy. I don’t have time to think. I don’t do anything, exactly. It’s more like this primal fire fills me up, melting the ice, a drum beating deep inside telling me to protect my woman, always protect her, even when she’s not here.
Rushing forward, I throw myself over Ashley, tackling Sebastian and crashing him into the wall. I’ve crushed his arm against his body, trapping the knife. I roar and smash him against the wall over and over and over. His head slams into it. His eyes go empty, and he falls like a rag doll.
When I turn, expecting to fight, I see the three masked men staring. Their eyes are pits of terror. I kneel and grab the knife from the floor. Finn is standing near his sister, his hands on her shoulders.
I gesture with the knife, almost wanting them to attack. I’m flooded with an instinct that must be ancient, an instinct men have felt for as long as there have been people. It’s like I’m some barbarian ready to kill dozens of men to protect my family.
“I’ll gut you like fucking pigs,” I tell them, shaking all over. “Say something about my woman. Say it.”
The men turn and run, crashing through the door. A moment later, I hear Gabriel roaring, “Get down! Put your hands on your head!”
Sebastian starts to moan from the floor. I kneel and put my knee on his back, not hard, but with enough pressure so that he knows not to move. He twists his head, trying to look up at me.
“All I wanted was… a story of my own.”
I shake my head in disgust. I never knew this man, but I know one thing. I’ll never let anybody insult my woman.
“It was a mistake,” I tell him as the mercenaries fill the room. “Talking about Maci.”
“Yeah, no shit,” he says grimly.
I stand up, letting the mercenaries cuff him. They drag him from the room. Finn has untied his sister, and they’re embracing, both in tears. I wish Maci were here. I wish I could hold her. Now that the fight is over, I feel this strange, deflated feeling. Hollow, like I want there to be more fighting, and I want another chance to defend my woman.
“What now?” Finn asks, looking up at me with tear-streaked eyes. This kid wanted people, and himself, to believe he was some unfeeling monster.
“Now, we make sure these pricks do time. We’ll tell the public you got a call from Sebastian, and you came to me for help. You were scared about going to the police, so I hired Gabriel and his men. Since you’re technically dating my daughter, it’s feasible you’d come to me.” I turn to Gabriel. “Did you hear that?”
“Yeah, it’ll work.” He lowers his voice. “Have you served, Lukas?”
“Served?”
“In the military. Or are you trained?”
“No,” I tell him. “I just… Sebastian said some things he shouldn’t. It got me riled up.”
“That was a stupid mistake on his part,” Gabriel says, shaking his head, almost like he’s awed. “Those men are terrified. They’re shaking. They’d rather be in cuffs than have to fight you.”
CHAPTER 29
MACI
Two days later, I’m sitting in my bedroom, trying to draw, when my phone vibrates. I know what the text is going to say. After Lukas and Finn and all that madness—Sebastian?!—Lukas and I agreed we’d tell Kayla as soon as the arrests had been made. After two days of questioning, Sebastian and his co-conspirators are officially arrested.
Now, it’s time to do the right thing. The text reads, I’m outside.
I swallow, forcing myself to push away from the desk, a chord of anxiety thrumming inside of me. There’s far more of a chance this goes incredibly wrong than right. Lukas and I have had no alone time since the magic in the pool. He’s been busy with the cops and issuing a statement to the press. I’ve been busy reliving what happened and dreading what will happen next.
Mom is waiting for me in the hallway. She’s got her hands clasped in front of her. “Good luck,” she says, then throws her arms around me. “Whatever happens, I’ll be here, Maci. You don’t have to go through this alone.”
I swallow, clutching her tightly. Part of me wishes I could just stay here. “Thanks, Mom.”
“I feel like we’re driving to a funeral,” I mutter as Lukas approaches Kayla’s apartment.
“I know,” Lukas says, running a hand through his hair. I take a moment to savor how he looks right now, with the sun glistening through the silver in his hair, his eyes intense as he watches the road—intense like he so often is. “But it could be a birth—the start of something, instead of the end. We don’t know how she’s going to react.”