Total pages in book: 30
Estimated words: 26645 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 133(@200wpm)___ 107(@250wpm)___ 89(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26645 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 133(@200wpm)___ 107(@250wpm)___ 89(@300wpm)
It takes me a little under an hour to drive to the lake where his house is, which I'm very thankful for because of the lack of traffic. If Paulie had waited one day and decided to do this on Christmas Eve, I might not have made it to Daniella in time.
I don't park in front of his house because I don't want him to hear me and be aware that I found him. Instead, I park on the street a few houses down and run over. His car is in the driveway, so I know I was right to assume she’s here. I let out a relieved breath knowing that, unfortunately, I don’t know what state she’s in right now.
Movement in one of the windows catches my eye, and I watch for a moment. Gio stands there with his hand on the hilt of a gun, looking down at something. I don’t hesitate rushing inside. If Gio’s pointing a gun at her again, there isn’t time to waste trying to sneak.
The front door is locked, but that doesn’t stop me from kicking it in. The loud bang obviously catches Gio and Paulie’s attention, and they both rush downstairs. Paulie stares at me as if he’s in shock by my presence. Gio points his gun at me and looks to Paulie for an answer.
“Not yet,” Paulie calmly says, resting a hand on Gio’s to push the gun down. “What brings you here, Dom?”
“Where is she?” I snarl, demanding an answer from them both. Before they can say anything, I hear stomping on the floor above me alongside some muffled screaming.
“Is that a good enough answer for you?” Paulie asks with a sick smile on his face. “I’m not gonna lie, I didn’t expect to see you yet. But now that you’re here, I might have use for you.” He holds his finger to his chin and paces the floor in front of me.
“Just let her go. This doesn’t have to end in violence,” I warn him. He looks at Gio, and they both laugh. They think they have the upper hand on me because of one gun. In any other circumstance, I would play along with them to protect myself, but that isn’t an option here. Not when Daniella is in danger.
If I have to throw myself in front of a bullet for her, so be it.
“I would have left her out of this if I hadn’t known she was your little girlfriend,” Paulie continues, gesturing to the stairwell and shrugging. “Now I get to have the death of two cops on my resume.”
I can’t listen to him anymore. I don’t want an explanation. I don’t want to hear his voice or how amused he is with himself. I want him on the ground, in a pool of his own blood.
Before I can hurt Paulie, I need to take care of the gun.
Daniella bangs on the floor while we talk. Every time she does, Gio turns his head to the stairs nervously, clearly worried she’s going to free herself from her restraints and run. I wait a moment for him to look in her direction again, and then I lunge at him.
Taking him down is easy. The gun slides from his hand and crashes into the wall next to us. He and I both reach for it at the same time, but I elbow him in the face hard enough for him to grasp at his now-broken nose. With the gun in my hand, I jump to my feet and point it at Gio on the ground.
“Now, Dom. Think about what you’re doing,” Paulie says, slowly approaching me with his hands up to plead with me to stop. “Gio’s your family. Your blood. Hurting him is just gonna turn everyone else against you.”
I scoff at him and aim the gun at Gio’s leg before shooting him. The gunshot echoes through the room, making my ears ring so much that I can barely hear Gio screaming profanities below me. I step over him and walk toward Paulie, pointing the gun right at him. He backs away until he’s pinned against the wall.
“Come on now,” he says.
I lower the gun and stare at him, making him think for a moment that what he said worked. Truthfully, shooting him isn’t enough. It’s too quick, too easy. I want to make him hurt.
He lets out a relieved sigh, and in an instant, I grab his head and slam it into the wall behind him. He howls from the sudden pain, blinking his eyes quickly while he tries to regain some sense. Before he can do anything to fight back, I grab his shirt and pick him up, tossing him into the glass coffee table in the center of the room.
“You want to try and hurt my girl.” I climb on top of him, disregarding the shards of glass penetrating my skin.