Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 142783 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 714(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 142783 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 714(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
Steeling myself, I started in the direction of the mansion, and Trent and Jud followed suit.
The three of us walked toward the imposing stairs, our footsteps crunching below us while the atmosphere throbbed and quivered with depravity.
I could feel it seeping out from below the door in a sinister cloud and slithering across the ground.
I wondered why I’d never felt it so distinctly before.
Or maybe the ugly truth of it had been that I’d ignored it. More than likely, I just hadn’t cared.
Greed.
Now it felt like a sickness I was going to expel.
One side of the double doors opened when we got to the top step.
Jud and Trent were ready to go if it was a straight-up trap.
Oz was there, his gaze wary and hard as he widened the door.
“Mr. Lawson.”
“Oz. It’s a pleasure to see you again. I brought friends.” I grinned like it was just another game, and I was inviting a couple unwitting fools to the table while my heart beat so hard I thought it would bust through my ribs.
I pretended like I didn’t want to punch the prick in the face for having any part in this.
“I’m afraid they will have to wait outside,” Oz said.
Trent scoffed. “And I’m afraid that’s not gonna happen.”
The scar on Oz’s face slashed down as he frowned. “I was told there might be trouble.”
“Yeah, and that trouble will come if anyone laid a finger on the girl inside.”
He actually had the nerve to cringe. “She is whole, Sir.”
“That’s good because every last one of you will die if she’s not.”
Jud growled a low sound at my side as I issued it. I didn’t know if it was to warn me to cool it or because he was underscoring the promise.
Oz let his gaze wander over the three of us before he seemed to settle on something, then he turned to me and asked, “Did you bring your ante, Sir?”
He eyed me, something deeper and more pressing than I’d seen in his expression before.
“I did.”
Anxiety pulsed.
The oxygen outlined in razors.
Each breath strained and painful.
A short fuse burning quick.
One wrong move and things would blow.
“I’ll need to search you,” Oz said, and he began to pat me down. I knew he would. Which meant this whole thing was going to be tricky.
Trent and Jud assured me they’d had to get creative many times.
For years, this would have been a routine night for them.
I hated dragging them back into it, but there wasn’t anything else we could do.
No way to get Aster back if we didn’t take a risk and pray this time the dice landed in our favor.
When we were clean, Oz led us down the same corridor I’d traveled before, but tonight it felt like those odds were stacked against us.
Dead men walking.
Oz opened the double doors and began to lead us down the spiral staircase.
My chest tightened.
In dread.
In determination.
In the truth that I would do anything to set her free. This time I would see it through.
Jud and Trent followed behind, every muscle in their bodies coiled in severity.
Ready to strike.
I lost my fucking breath when we wound down and the scene in the basement came into view.
Haille was there, rocked back in his chair like the sadistic monster I should have truly recognized him to be.
Because Aster—Aster was on her knees at the side of his chair, a gag in her mouth, her hands bound behind her, a chain around her neck.
He held the opposite end.
Rage howled and screamed, sharp talons that tore up my insides, desperate for a way out.
To get to her.
To wrap her up and hide her away like I should have done years ago.
I wanted to tell her I knew what she had been through. That I hated myself for leaving her and would never do it again.
I bit down on my tongue to keep the words from spilling out.
Still, a small sound of pain escaped her gag when she saw my descent, and Haille’s grin only widened when he saw my brothers in tow.
“Ah, so this is a family event. I can’t say I am surprised. I suppose just this one time I will allow it.”
Sick motherfucker.
I saw it in his eyes. He’d take pleasure in bleeding all three of us out, just for the fun of it.
Violence howled beneath the surface of my skin when my gaze moved to find Jarek sitting at the same spot as last time. He slowly shifted to watch as we came, his spine going straight, fear and hate in his eyes.
Rage thrashed where I kept it caged.
That’s right, motherfucker, be afraid.
I rounded the table to my spot, as cool as could be while my insides shook like an earthquake.
Oz didn’t retreat upstairs like he normally did. He stood behind Haille, a sentry standing guard.
Fuck. This was bad.