Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 63564 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 318(@200wpm)___ 254(@250wpm)___ 212(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63564 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 318(@200wpm)___ 254(@250wpm)___ 212(@300wpm)
“Con, just trade me,” she begged. “Please.”
I turned back around, shooting her an incredulous look.
“Please,” she repeated. “Vanessa doesn’t deserve this. She did nothing wrong. This is all my fault…he wants me. If anything happens to her—”
“I’m not trading you.”
“Con—”
“I’ll get her back.”
Tears poured from her eyes down her cheeks. “I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to her.”
“Neither can I. Which is why I’m going to get her back.” I grabbed the back of Muse’s head and pressed a kiss to her lips. It was hard and quick, conveying the affection I wished I had more time to show her. I didn’t know what was going to happen. I might die in the fight. Maybe I wouldn’t make it back, and I would never meet the little person living inside her. “If I don’t come back, you’ll be taken care of.”
“Don’t talk like that…”
I pressed my forehead to hers and closed my eyes. “I’ll do everything I can to come back. But I’ll also do everything I can to save my sister. My family will take care of you.”
“I don’t need anyone to take care of us,” she whispered through her tears. “We just need you to love us.”
I pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I will. No matter what happens, I always will.” I couldn’t bear the sadness on her face any longer, so I turned around and walked out the front door. Carter was there with his men, and my men were ready to go too. I got into the passenger seat of one of the SUVs, while Carter got behind the wheel.
Carter drove off, ignoring the speed limit and sprinting down the country road.
I didn’t look back to see if Muse was watching us.
I couldn’t bear to watch her cry anymore.
Carter drove with one hand on the steering wheel, some of his crew sitting behind us in the second row. “Anything new?”
I stared out the window, feeling utterly helpless. I had to sit still for thirty minutes when my heart was racing inside my chest. There was so much adrenaline, so much anxiety. “No.”
“Are you sure he’s in Milan? That’s exactly where we’ll guess he is. This guy can’t be that stupid.”
“Milan is a big place. Besides, there’s nowhere else to go. It’s just the countryside once you’re past it.”
“I would just hate to come all the way out here and be wrong.”
“Trust me, Carter. I would too…”
“We’ve gotta put this guy down for good. His whole crew too. No survivors.”
“Agreed.” I knew how to handle a weapon, but I’d never killed anyone. But that didn’t mean I would hesitate to pull the trigger. The second I laid eyes on Knuckles, he was dead. There would be no surrender.
“As much as you may want to torture him, let it go.”
Torture wouldn’t give me as much satisfaction as seeing his dead body on the ground. I’d probably throw it in a dumpster where it could be fed upon by rats and other critters from the gutters.
That was more than what he deserved.
We arrived in Milan and parked in the garage at the bottom of my building. It was private property, making it easy to hide. The cops would turn the other way if they saw us, but having two cars with armed men would still turn a lot of heads.
My father called me.
“Hey, we’re in Milan.”
My father responded. “We’re about ten minutes out. Where do you want to meet?”
I didn’t ask how he got there so quickly. “Garage of my building.”
“Alright,” he answered. “Has he called?”
Just then, the phone started to beep with the other line. I glanced at it and recognized the number. “He’s calling me now.”
“Connect it. I’ll listen.”
I turned it into a conference call. “You said you would give me a few hours.” It’d been less than one.
“Changed my mind.” I had no idea how he looked on the other line, but his arrogance made me think he was smiling. “What’s it going to be?”
“Is she alright?” I demanded.
“Tip-top shape.”
“How do I know you’re not lying?”
“If she’s dead, I have nothing to barter with. And you know how much I want Sapphire’s pussy.”
I almost slammed my fist into the dashboard. Carter looked at me from the passenger seat, knowing that was going to set me off. But my sister’s life was on the line, so the insult wasn’t important in comparison. “I need some reassurance first.”
“Does that mean you want to make the trade?” he asked hopefully. “Poor Sapphire…guess you never really loved her.”
“Prove Vanessa is alive, and I’ll answer.”
He growled over the line, then there was a pause. He seemed to be moving around somewhere. His voice returned, and he spoke directly to my sister. “Your brother wants to make sure you’re alive. And remember what we talked about…” He was warning her not to give away her position.