Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 104127 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 347(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104127 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 347(@300wpm)
I stumble forward blindly into one unknown room after another.
The hallway feels like an endless tunnel with no source of light; everything is black and still. We move forward wordlessly through this abyss until we finally reach a door at the end.
It creaks open slowly, revealing a large room bathed in faint moonlight coming through one of its narrow windows.
This is where it will happen.
I can feel the air around me shift as the men ready for battle.
Although I’m in the room, I’m thrust into the corner. Apparently, they don’t want me killed in the crossfire, but that doesn’t stop them from cutting my rope and securing me with handcuffs to a metal pipe.
I already told them I don’t know where the money is, but I guess they want to make good on their threat to torture me to see if I’m telling the truth.
Tucked away, no one will be able to see me here, but I’ll be able to watch.
Maybe this is another part of their plan to inflict pain on me? Making me watch Gideon die.
The one man leaves after walking toward the center of the room. Another steps forward. I brace for a smack to the face or cruel words to be flung in my direction but am shocked when something small drops in my hand.
I don’t look down, but I can tell it’s a key. “I was friends with your brother.” That’s all he says before leaving me.
I don’t waste any time unlocking the chains.
As soon as my hands are free, gunshots erupt, and I brace myself for an attack.
Gideon is smart. He’ll know what they’re planning.
He has to.
I watched my brother die. I won’t watch the man I’m in love with die too.
55
GIDEON
Adrenaline floods my veins as we make our way toward the warehouse.
Some of my men infiltrate the side of the building. Others enter from a hatch in the roof that Jax found during his search.
I plan to walk in through the front fucking door.
My heart pounds with anticipation and excitement, as if it knows what’s about to happen. The faint smell of metal and oil hangs in the air like a fog, creating a tense atmosphere.
We lunge forward, my men fanning out, colliding in a flurry of limbs.
Where is Sasha?
She’s my only concern. Well, that and not dying.
From across the room, I see a man barreling toward me. It takes me a second to place the face, and when I do, it feels like I’m a live wire ready to explode.
It’s that fucker. Matt.
The cop.
What the hell is he doing here?
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure it out. He’s barreling toward me, not trying to help, which means he’s working with the Russians.
The fuck.
Sasha trusted him.
The air around me becomes charged with tension.
With my gun aimed at the meathead, I pull back the trigger. Before it fires, I’m bumped from the side. My gun tumbles from my hands, scattering across the cement. Matt is on me within seconds. Who knew this oaf could move so fast?
“She was supposed to be mine!” Matt’s voice booms through the cavernous space, full of delusional malice.
“Sasha will never be yours.” My arm pulls back, then my fist flies through the air. The contact ends with a satisfying crunch.
He throws the next punch, and I instinctively block it. “They promised her to me.”
“What promise?” I swing at him again, but this time he dodges it.
“Get the money for him.”
“You don’t deserve to breathe the same air as her.” I grab him again, my fist connecting with his stomach.
Both our muscles strain as he strives to overpower me, hurling punches and succeeding in shaking me off him. The noise from our struggle echoes off the walls.
He lunges again, but I’m too fast. We’re locked in a stalemate, circling each other like caged animals fighting for our lives. Our labored breaths ping-pong between us as we size each other up.
A noise to the side momentarily distracts him, and I use the moment to my advantage. I leap and land a solid punch to his face. When he’s down, I wrap my hands around his neck, digging my nails into his blotchy flesh. My grip tightens around him. The pressure swells until he’s gasping to stay alive. But I’m too strong, too angry, too goddamn out of his league.
He won’t walk away from this.
I see the moment he realizes this too.
His eyes go wide, and then, like a candle being snuffed out, the life fades from his body. He’s dead. Completely lifeless and sprawled across the unforgiving concrete.
Still, I grab my Glock from where it lies on the ground, pick it up, and fire no less than my entire magazine into his limp body. Around us, my men are engaged in their own fights. My friends are also occupied.
Lorenzo is behind a Russian, slicing his neck. Matteo is just as brutal. I haven’t seen him in battle for years, but he’s just as deadly as he ever was. They all are.