Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 70525 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70525 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Right now all I want is to fuck Caroline again until everything else in the world ceases to exist.
"You wish. I know you're fucking cocky, Apollo, but it will get you nowhere with her. She'll see through you in a heartbeat. She probably already does."
"It doesn't matter. I'll win in the end." I always do. Women love me. Don’t try to tell me women don’t like a man who can take charge in any situation. I know what I’m about.
I’m the best at everything I do. The Midas touch. So no, it doesn’t matter if Samuel thinks Caroline won’t go for my arrogance. I know better.
I cock an eyebrow and smirk at him. "Want to make a wager on that?"
We’re just about to make the bet when our boss Archibald Cox appears out of fucking nowhere. He has this tendency to creep up on you. And he has the uncanny ability to see all the moving parts at once.
Nothing gets past him, which is probably what makes him one of the most sophisticated crime lords in the country. He's not someone you want to defy and he's not someone to take lightly. Coming from me, that’s saying something.
"So, what'd you bring me?” he asks sidling up beside me. “If it's not around twenty million dollars, then I'm not sure I want to know."
He reaches for my glass and takes a long hard slug of my drink. I didn't offer it to him, but it is his bar in a way, and he always takes what he wants, even from me.
I pull at my collar because it makes me furious to have to swallow my pride for this guy, even if he is the whole reason I'm in business. I'm fucking fuming, and Samuel can tell.
He takes the edge off by saying, "We got the girl. We have Edwin's daughter."
Archibald scoffs dismissively. "Oh, her? Honestly, I'm not sure the asshole cares enough about her to go out of his way to make the exchange."
His comment feels like a stab in the back to Caroline, and I want to go off on him. She’s not just any old girl. There’s something special about her, and it's really fucking hard to sit here and listen to this guy be such a dick. I really want to throat punch the bastard right now.
I have the balls to at least say, "His daughter is a fucking catch. He'd be lucky to get her back. But you know what? If he doesn’t care enough, maybe we’ll just keep her as our little pet."
Samuel smirks at me because we both know how very true this is. The seven of us talked about it. After last night, we have no intention of letting her go, even if her ass of a father does prove good on his word.
Archibald sneers. "Well, don't get too attached. We'll give him until the end of January to come up with the eighteen million he owes me. And if he doesn’t? Well, the daughter can die and we'll seize his accounts. Simple. I’ll get my money one way or the other, even it means I have to wipe out an entire family dynasty. Do you fucking understand me?"
I keep myself aloof when I say, "We killed the wife—isn't that a big enough message?" I'm hoping this will appease his desire for blood. "Can't we just close in on him now?"
"No. That woman was a casualty, no one of any real significance. We need to keep the daughter for collateral for now, but in the end, we'll kill them all. No one steals from Archibald Cox, you hear me? Listen up. If he doesn't pay by the end of January, we’ll take that girl back to his house and make Edwin watch as you seven men rape and then kill her. Right in front of him. Actually, you know what? I’ll take it up a notch. I’ll make him watch me rape and kill her. You got me?"
"Yeah, Archibald, we got it," I say through gritted teeth, hating the words that come out of my mouth. It makes me sick to hear him talk about Caroline like that. But what the fuck else am I supposed to say? Well have to figure this shit out, but right now I want him out this fucking building.
"Fine, then it's all settled."
He's gone as quickly as he appeared. The man’s always dressed in black and often furs, too. He's absurd but he's also dangerously deranged. You don't want to mess with someone like that. Someone who goes off half-cocked because he’s unstable and in charge of vast amounts of deadly weapons.
I look over to Samuel. "What the fuck are we going to do now?"
He shakes his head and sighs. "I don’t know. If last night had never happened, this might be a different story, but considering how..."