Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 37970 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 190(@200wpm)___ 152(@250wpm)___ 127(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 37970 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 190(@200wpm)___ 152(@250wpm)___ 127(@300wpm)
"What's the plan? You take Nate, convince her to trade herself?"
"Something like that," Alexei pants, struggling to reach his gun. "It's a good plan."
"We told your Bratva buddies were to find you, Alexei." It's a lie, but he freezes for a split second, caught off guard. It's just long enough for me to kick the gun further out of his reach. Just long enough for me to realize there is something this motherfucker fears. Not jail. Not me. Hell, maybe not even death. But bigger criminals than him. "They're coming for you."
"You know nothing."
"I know enough." I slam my elbow into his face again, tipping him off balance. He falls sideways, wedged halfway in the floorboard. I shove Sergei's limp body off me, giving me room to move as I grab the handle of the medical kit again. "I know enough to know that you'll never get paid. You're going to prison. And you'll die there as soon as your Bratva friends manage to get to you."
I bring the medical kit up over my head as high as I can in the confined space and then slam it down against the back of his head, denting the fuck out of the kit. He pitches forward, groaning.
"Enjoy what's left of your life, asshole." I clock him with the kit again, enjoying the way he immediately slumps, no longer a threat.
I fall back against the seat, breathing hard. "Goddamn son of a bitch," I pant, tossing the medical kit aside. Every muscle in my body hurts. My truck is fucked. These assholes are bleeding all over it. And Nate is somewhere in the woods.
I haul myself out of the truck, stumbling around to the passenger side. "Nate!" I shout, sinking to the ground. "You can come out now."
I lay back, look up at the stars, and wait.
He appears a few minutes later, looking down at me. "You okay?"
"Wonderful," I mutter. "You?"
"Peachy-keen."
I chuckle and then groan. "Don't make me laugh. I think I broke a rib."
"Shit." He kneels beside me. "Can I do anything?"
"Yeah." I meet his gaze. "Give me permission to marry your sister."
"Promise not to ever do the shit you just did with her in the car?"
"Yeah, I can make that promise," I rasp.
"Then I guess I'll give you permission." He pauses, smirking at me. "If she wants to marry you."
Nate and I sit side by side, waiting for the police to arrive. The assholes in the truck don't move. Surprisingly, it isn't Dillon who arrives on scene first. It's Nina and Callum.
"Emmett!" I hear her cry from the roadway, sobbing.
"Fuck," I growl, rolling to my feet with my heart in my throat. I'm around the side of the truck in three steps, desperate to get to her, to let her know that I'm okay. I hear the pain in her voice, the fear. It tears at my heart, threatening to rip it in two.
So does the sight of her with tears streaming down her face.
"Emmett!" she sobs when she catches sight of me, swaying on her feet. She races toward me, flinging herself against my chest.
I grunt, catching her in my arms.
"I thought…I thought…" She shudders, pressing her face against my throat. "I was so s-scared."
"I'm right here, baby," I murmur, burying my face in her hair to breathe her in. "Everything is okay."
"Jesus Christ," Callum mutters, peering into the truck.
"Keep an eye on those two," I order him. "If they move, knock them out again."
"Gladly," he mutters, crossing his arms and planting his feet, eyes trained on the truck.
"What happened?" Nina asks, her voice shaking as she pulls back to look at me. And then she whimpers. "They have Nate, Emmett."
"No, they don't."
"They do," she insists, her eyes watery. "They–"
Nate steps out from behind the truck, and her gaze falls on him. A startled cry falls from her lips as she rips herself out of my arms, racing toward her little brother.
"Nate!" she cries, flinging herself at him the same way she flung herself at me.
"Hey, big sis," he says, wrapping her up in a big hug.
"I'm so happy! I'm so mad!" Her shoulders shake as she clings to him, crying. "You're really here?"
"Yeah." He rubs her back, chuckling. "I'm really here."
My heart pulses as she sobs a prayer, truly at peace for the first time since I pulled her from that fire. Truly safe for the first time in weeks.
"I'm so happy you're home," Nina whispers hours later, lingering outside of Nate's bedroom door as they say goodnight. She's been like a little mother hen ever since we got home from the hospital, fussing over both of us.
My ribs aren't broken, but they are bruised. They hurt like a bitch. Nate has a few scratches, but he's otherwise fine. We'll both be sore for a while. I think we could be perfectly fine, and she'd still fuss and hover. Her life didn't flash before her eyes the night of the fire. It flashed before her eyes tonight. She thought they had Nate. She thought she lost me.