Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 77335 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77335 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
The son of a bitch was essentially waterboarding my girl, watching her choke as she tried to breathe, tied down to a fucking wheelchair. There was a sick smile on his face that I could just see in the mask. He liked it. He liked watching her suffer.
I knew exactly where he was planning on taking her and why he didn’t give a fuck if she knew who he was. He was going to take her and force her to marry him so he could drag her out of this country and keep her from my grasp.
They picked the wrong motherfucker to mess with.
With a fire raging through my veins, I marched through the double doors, lifted my pistol, and fired. One shot in the shoulder of one of the assailants, the other into the van.
I just needed them gone, and it worked the second they realized what had happened. Both men were in the van, the doors closed, the tires squealing, and the back end of the van fishtailing as they left.
All that was left was Zeigler, standing between me and my woman.
I aimed my gun at him, ready to place a bullet between his eyes.
“What do you think you’re doing? Do you know who I am?” he screamed. I had to admit, for a man wearing a mask, that was a really fucking stupid question.
I pulled off his ski mask, making sure to grip his hair and yank a chunk of it out. A little retribution for my girl. Then I punched him square in the jaw hard enough that I knew he would be out for at least a few hours.
And if, in those few hours, he happened to drown in a 4-inch puddle of rainwater, well, that was just an act of God, now wasn’t it?
He didn’t matter, but protecting my girl from him did.
Slicing through the zip ties that held her down as quickly as I could, I bundled her up in my arms, not realizing I hadn’t been able to breathe for the last several seconds.
It wasn’t until I held her, and I knew she was safe, that my body allowed oxygen to enter my lungs.
I didn’t know how it had gotten like this so fast, but I couldn’t breathe without her.
“Reid.” Her voice sounded so small, so frail. How could I not have been here to protect her? How could I have let her be in a position where she was so vulnerable?
She threw her arms around me. “I’m so sorry. I tried to fight them. I tried to be strong and make you proud.”
“Shh, princess. I got you. I am so proud of you, babygirl.” I kissed her forehead before cutting the ties on her ankles. “I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry.”
Her brow furrowed as she clung to my wet shirt. “What for?”
“For not anticipating this tactic. I thought Zeigler was a neutralized threat.”
She sniffed as she buried her face against my neck. “This isn’t going to end. There will always be another threat as long as my father doesn’t approve of us.”
I picked her up and cradled her in my arms as I carried her inside, tightening my grip as she trembled. “I know. That’s why we are going to go take care of this right now.”
Her father wanted her married.
So that was what he was going to get—just not to the man he picked.
I carried her into the hospital, and two nurses immediately saw us and started trailing after us, asking what had happened.
“Your security sucks. That’s what happened,” I growled out as I pushed past them.
I wasn’t going to her room, not yet. She would be back safe in her bed with me by her side, protecting her, in a moment. First, we were going to take care of this.
“Where are we going?”
“We’re going to give your father what he wants.”
CHAPTER 39
REID
“What?”
“Charlotte Maeve Manwarring, I’m not going to ask you the question I should be asking you, because I’m not giving you a choice. You are mine. You’ve already said you were mine, and I am never letting you go.” I didn’t look down at her. I kept my eyes up, following the signs for the hospital chapel.
“I don’t want you to ever let me go.”
“Good. So we are going to the chapel now, and we are making it legal.”
“Yes,” she whispered, as if I had actually asked her a question instead of issuing a simple fact.
“Good. I will give you the wedding you deserve once you have healed. You can spend a ridiculous amount of money on a dress, flowers, invitations, anything you want. But this, the legal side, is being handled tonight. I don’t want that asshole, or any other assholes that your father can find, to think he can claim what is mine.”
“Okay.”
I didn’t know why I’d expected her to fight me. Maybe it was because I thought that she would realize that money or not, she was far too good for me, but I was not about to look a gift horse in the mouth.