Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 69772 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 279(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69772 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 279(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
And I fucking hated that she used the word ‘Soleada.’ I had always gone by Shayne. Soleada was a play on my first name meaning sunny.
That was something Quinn had called me before our relationship had imploded.
Now, when the name had only carried good memories, it wouldn’t anymore. Because of her.
I. Fucking. Hated. Her.
I wish she’d take a flying leap off a cliff and die.
“Oh my God!” I heard Costas say. “She has nothing to do with this! Let her go!”
Well, at least he wasn’t trying to save only himself in this situation.
I heard more than saw another one of my Nonna’s plates break and tried to curl into myself.
Elliette kicked me in the side before saying, “Don’t move! What part of don’t move did you not understand?”
“Officer Garrison,” a masked man said. “I think that’s enough.”
“She tried to move again,” Elliette disagreed.
“She did not,” the other officer replied. “You’re being a fuckin’…” he cut himself off. “Don’t touch her again, or you’ll regret it.”
“I doubt I will,” Elliette disagreed.
“Oh, shit,” I heard another officer say. “She’s bleeding pretty fuckin’ bad, guys.”
I didn’t care.
I didn’t care about anything anymore.
I just wanted to…
No, no I wouldn’t think about that.
I wouldn’t.
Nothing would be solved by allowing my thoughts to creep in that direction.
“Shit,” I heard someone else say. “We got the ambulance here yet?”
“It’s in the driveway.” The officer who’d stopped Elliette from hitting me again earlier crouched down, yanking off his face covering.
He looked familiar, but something warm and sticky started to run into my eyes, causing my vision to blur.
“Fuck,” he let out a burst of expletives. “Assman, get the medics.”
“It’s not secure,” Elliette tried.
“It’s secure,” another man replied. “Boseman, you got her? Or you want me to take her?”
“I got her, Assman,” Officer Boseman said. “Shit, shit. You look bad.”
“He’s going to fuckin’ flip,” I heard said from somewhere beyond me. “She wasn’t supposed to get hurt. That was the first thing he said when we had our briefing this morning. She was not to be harmed, and to be extremely careful.”
Well, that fuckin worked now, didn’t it?
There was a crunch of metal hitting metal, then Elliette cursing.
I didn’t get to see what had those filthy words leaving her mouth, though.
I was moved from the ground to something much softer, but with each movement of my body, my vision blurred even more, and I started to get lightheaded.
“I’m going to throw up,” I said to no one in particular.
I felt something go around my neck.
Then I felt something push against my arm.
Minutes passed. Or it could’ve been hours.
I didn’t know.
What I did know was that my brain wasn’t working correctly.
“I’m going to fuckin’ sue all of you!” Costas snarled. “My sister…”
I didn’t hear what else he had to say because we were moving, and I was trying to control my utilities.
“Get her some Zofran,” I heard someone say. “She starts puking, it’s not gonna be good since we have her immobilized.”
I agreed.
A door slammed, the temperature that was surrounding me heated up, then immediately cooled down.
Lights were bright over my eyes, but I was too far gone to open my eyes.
A shout had me trying to peel one open, because for half a second I thought maybe I knew that voice… but then something cool washed through my veins, and I passed out.
Never trust anyone who spells gonorrhea right the first time.
—Quinn to Quaid
QUINN
The carpet between my desk and the door was visibly worn, and that wear had happened in the last two hours as I waited for news about the warrant that was served to Costas.
My stomach was in knots, and the silence on the other end of the line was starting to make me sick.
I hadn’t gotten a call from anyone.
Not my dad.
My brothers.
My team.
I had literally been walking the same path for the last couple of hours as I waited.
The doors of the office banged open, and my entire team filed in, with a furious looking Elliette and Atlas following up the rear.
Atlas had been there because I couldn’t.
Elliette had joined the team as a last-minute addition that I was now regretting as I watched my brother peel away from her the moment that they entered the room.
“What happened?” I asked, addressing everybody.
“What didn’t fuckin’ happen?” Atlas snarled as he glared across the room at Elliette, who was being suspiciously quiet considering she liked to talk everyone’s ear off.
My dad came in the room next, and his eyes swept the entire room, landing on Elliette. “My office. Now.”
I stilled, surprised at the tone in my father’s voice.
“What happened?” I repeated.
Elliette skittered away, not making eye contact, and the horrified gut feeling that’d been plaguing me since they’d left pulsed.
“Tell him,” my father snarled at Boseman as he left the room.
Boseman rubbed his eyes with one hand and then pulled away, looking at me with regret.