Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 75144 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 376(@200wpm)___ 301(@250wpm)___ 250(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75144 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 376(@200wpm)___ 301(@250wpm)___ 250(@300wpm)
Unlocking my cell phone's screen I send a quick voice message to Evinka. “Pavlov killed Devlin. Contact all the buyers immediately and let them know I’ve taken over the business.”
A moment later, her reply pops up on my screen.
Evinka: That solves one problem. How did you find out?
Dominik: Pavlov called me. Be careful, and never go anywhere without your guards.
Evinka: I’m sending guards to you.
Dominik: No. I’ll kill them if they breathe too loud. I’m safe on the mountain. Don’t worry about me.
Evinka: I’ll always worry. How’s Grace holding up?
Dominik: Surprisingly well.
Suddenly, Grace rushes in the direction of the sliding doors, and I go after her while shoving the device into my pocket.
“Grace?”
“I need to call Ciara. I don’t want her to hear the news from someone else,” she says as she hurries up the stairs.
When we enter her bedroom, I notice she hasn’t unpacked any of her bags.
She digs her cell phone out of her bag, and it reminds me her device isn’t secure.
Before she can unlock the screen, I grab the device from her, which has her eyes flying to my face.
“Your phone isn’t secure. Come.” I grab her hand and drag her to my office. Keying in the code, I shove the door open and bark, “What’s your phone number?”
I stalk to my laptop and open the device. When she rambles off her number, I type it into the system and check which cell towers it’s pinging off.
The signal is weak, but it shows a town two hours away from where we’re situated.
“Thank fuck,” I mutter.
“Can I call Ciara?” she asks.
I get up and dig a gadget out of a cupboard. After sliding the cell phone into it so it will scramble her location, I hand it to her. “Keep the call as short as possible. I’ll have to get you a new phone, so tell her your number will change.”
While I watch Grace make the call, my thoughts turn to Pavlov.
Chapter 15
GRACE
The call connects, and it only rings a few times before it goes to voicemail.
“Now is not the time,” I mutter as I open a chat to type out a message.
Grace: Answer the call. I have something important to tell you, and I can’t do it over text.
Ciara: Give me a second.
Instead of a second, it takes a few minutes before my phone starts to ring.
I answer quickly, “Thank God.”
“Hi,” Ciara says, a clear trembling in her voice. “I’m sorry. I miss you. It’s so good to hear your voice.”
My heart squeezes, and my eyes drift closed as I murmur, “It’s good to hear your voice too.” I swallow hard before continuing, “Listen, I have terrible news, but I wanted you to hear it from me.”
“What?” Ciara gasps.
“Dad’s been killed by the same man who had me kidnapped.”
“Oh my God, Grace!” she exclaims. “Where did it happen? Was it at home? Did you get hurt?”
Jesus, if Ciara hadn’t run away and I hadn’t married Dominik, we’d both be dead right now.
The realization hits hard as I reply, “I’m fine. I wasn’t home.”
Ciara lets out a sob, and hearing her cry breaks my heart and has me saying, “Oh, honey, I wish I could hold you right now.”
“Are you safe?” she asks, her voice thick with tears.
I turn away from Dominik as I answer, “I’m safe. Don’t worry about me. Are you okay? Where are you? Do you have enough money?”
“Yeah,” the word trembles over the line, and I can hear she’s lying as she says, “I’m seeing all the sights in Europe while…ahh..trying to find myself.” Changing the subject, she asks, “Where are you?”
I glance over my shoulder to where Dominik is looking at something on his laptop, then reply, “I’m with Dominik.”
“Jesus, Grace!” she exclaims. “I…what…God. I’m so sorry.”
“Shh…” I hush her. “I’m really okay. So far, he’s been nothing but kind to me.”
“Yeah, right,” she mutters, then her voice is strained again as she says, “I’m sorry about everything.”
“It’s okay,” I say. Dominik taps on his watch to show me it’s time to hang up, which has me adding, “I have to go. I’ll get a new number soon, so be on the lookout for it.”
“I love you, Grace. So so much.”
“I love you too, Ciara. Be careful and take care of yourself, okay?”
“Uh-huh,” she mumbles before whispering again, “Love you.”
The call ends, and feeling emotional from getting to talk with Ciara, I place my cell phone on Dominik’s desk before rushing out of the office.
I hurry past my bedroom and take the stairs down. When I burst out of the backdoor, I pick a random direction and start walking even though it’s getting dark.
Why does it feel like I just said goodbye to Ciara for the last time?
Within a span of twenty-four hours, I’ve lost my family.
I wasn’t close with Dad and hated him for the position he put me in with Braden, but after all was said and done, he was still my father.