Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 71179 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71179 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
“She’s probably right,” Leif says.
“Then what the hell are we going to do?” Falcon says. “Because she is not going back to that degenerate.”
“Falcon, I—”
He holds a hand up to quiet me. “Absolutely not, Vannah. You belong with me. I belong with you. And if we have to stay on the road our whole lives, so fucking be it.”
A smile spreads across my face. “I don’t want that for you, Falcon. But I love that you’re willing.”
“Are you kidding me? I have no life without you.”
I look down at my puke-stained nightie and wrinkle my nose. “I’m covered in my own vomit.”
“I don’t care.”
“It actually… It actually saved me.”
“What do you mean?”
“Miles. He… He was on top of me, about to—”
“Vannah…” he says through clenched teeth.
I put my hands in front of me. “He didn’t, Falcon. He didn’t. I was ready for it. I had accepted my fate, but then… They fed me a meal. Salmon and some vegetables. And I didn’t feel like eating, but I knew I had to. I knew I had to eat to keep up my strength, to be tough. To get through this for you. And I…”
“You puked all over him?” Leif says, laughing.
“It didn’t seem so funny at the time, but yeah. I puked all over him. And he didn’t get into me, Falcon.”
“But he fucking touched you.”
“Yeah. But he didn’t kiss me. All he was going to do was fuck me. Rape me. But he didn’t. I projectile vomited all over him.”
Leif is laughing in the front seat.
Falcon glares at Leif. “I don’t see what’s so funny about this.”
“Falcon, don’t you see? She did what she had to do. Her body did what it had to do. She kept him off her. This is a good thing.”
Falcon grits his teeth. “But he had her there. He was going to take my woman.”
“But he didn’t,” Leif says. “She didn’t let them. Even if it wasn’t conscious, Savannah’s stomach had the tools to get her out of the situation, and it used them to its advantage. It’s amazing what your body can do if you just let nature take over. Trust me. I followed my body’s lead more times than I can count when I was in the Navy.”
Falcon turns around again, looks at me from the front seat. “Are you okay, Savannah? Please tell me you’re okay.”
“I am.” I press my lips together. “He scrambled off that bed so fast and into the bathroom to take a shower. And then… I tried to get out. But the door, it doesn’t open from the inside. There were no doorknobs. He had left it slightly ajar, but when I tried to pull it open the rest of the way, I couldn’t, and it ended up closing. But then I looked in his jeans, found his keys, and was able to open it.”
“I’ll be damned.” Falcon pulls the stuff out of his pocket. “We have Miles McAllister’s wallet. And his phone.”
“We do,” Leif says. “Savannah, you’re one smart little lady.”
“She’s damned brilliant,” Falcon says.
“I only did what I had to do.”
“Listen to me, Vannah.” Falcon glares at me. “Don’t you ever put yourself in harm’s way for me again. You got that? We’re in this together now.”
“I only thought—”
“I know what you thought, and I love you for it, baby. But you will never give yourself to another man. Is that clear?”
I nod. Following orders has never been my strong point, but I have no problem obeying Falcon.
I want him to be happy. And if keeping myself safe is the price for that, I’ll do it.
“But what if—”
“I will not go down for the murder of that fucking degenerate,” Falcon says. “I have sources too, you know. You don’t spend eight years behind bars and not make some friends on the inside.”
“But friends on the inside can’t help you now, Fal.” Leif says.
“You’d be surprised. A lot is going on in those prisons that the guards have no clue about. But even if they’re not helpful, my father has friends too.”
“They couldn’t help you the first time,” I remind him. “Plus, we’ve just made more enemies, and I’m not just talking about the McAllisters.”
“Who else then?”
I close my eyes, breathe in. “My own family.”
Falcon wrinkles his forehead. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“My father wants me married to Miles,” I say. “I thought I had talked him out of it, gained my freedom. But I haven’t. There’s a reason why I have to marry Miles McAllister. And it’s not just to forge an alliance between the McAllister and Bianchi families. There’s something else at play here.”
“What is it?” Falcon asks.
“I wish I could tell you. I don’t know.” I scratch the side of my head. “There’s something behind this. Otherwise, Miles wouldn’t have gone to such trouble to get me.”