Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 79524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 398(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 398(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
Draco curses beneath his breath, and I don’t hear anything else from them after that.
My eyes are wide as I pace the bedroom. I have to act normal. I don’t care if he blames Thiago. It’ll get him out of this house. Draco already doesn’t trust him. This would be the icing on the cake—more than enough reason to get rid of him.
“Calm down, Gia,” I whisper to myself, walking to the closet and pulling down a black dress. It’s a spaghetti strap, loose and gauzy. I hang it on the doorknob and walk into the bathroom to freshen up.
He wouldn’t suspect me to do such a thing. There is nothing that can give me away—nothing but my shaky hands and frazzled nerves, that is.
My whole body is shaking, surging with adrenaline. I grip the edge of the counter, breathing deep. Then I turn on the water, sticking my hands beneath the stream and bringing the coolness to my flushed cheeks.
But when I look up, I don’t see my reflection. I see white hair and hard, dark eyes. I see a twisted smile and blood spilling down his throat.
Bain.
I gasp, jolting as I back away.
“You’re still a stupid fucking bitch,” he chuckles. “Stupid to think Jefe won’t find out. What’s done in the dark always comes to light. Puta.”
I drop my head again, bringing the water up, clearing my face, squeezing my eyes tighter. I look up again and this time I only see myself, face paler, eyes even bigger.
“Calm down,” I tell myself, shutting off the water and walking to bedroom. But telling myself to be calm is stupid.
Even more so when I’m finally dressed and hear Draco start to shout about fifteen minutes later.
Something crashes. It sounds like glass.
Then I hear stomping. Closer and closer.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The door is kicked open and there he stands, teeth clenched, fists balled, seething like a raging bull. He’s blind with fury, ready to charge. Ready to destroy.
He pulls out a gun from his waistband and points it right at me, nostrils flaring as he charges forward.
I stare at the barrel of the spotless silver gun, but I’m speechless. I can’t explain, as badly as I want to—as much as I need to save my own ass, I can’t. My tongue feels like it weighs a thousand pounds.
He knows. I know he knows. I did this. I let Henry go. I . . . betrayed him.
The gun presses down on the center of my forehead, cold and hard, and through gritted teeth, he shouts, “WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO?”
18
“Draco—I—”
“No!” he barks, finger wrapped around the trigger. “Shut the fuck up! You know what fuck you did, and I should kill you right where you fucking stand for it!”
“I was trying to help him!” I shout back.
His head shakes roughly, but the gun doesn’t waver.
I hold my hands up, thinking that I must have been wrong about this. Us. Maybe he will kill me—if I do something stupid enough, like this. Doesn’t matter who my father is. I didn’t follow his rules.
“Draco, Henry isn’t your enemy. I believe what he says,” I say quickly. “Daddy hired him and trusted him to watch you. You say Daddy saved your life, treated you like his own son. Why would he send someone he couldn’t trust to come and look after you? Henry was only doing his job and was at the wrong place with the wrong people. I’ve been around Toni,” I breathe, “but that doesn’t make me anything like him.”
“I don’t give a fuck about any of that,” he growls through gritted teeth, grip tightening on the gun. “You let him go without my permission. You went behind my fucking back and freed him and now he’s out there somewhere. He saw too much around here! Knew too fucking much! He knows you are here!” he spews at me. “Have you forgotten there is a warrant on my head? Three million fucking dollars, Gianna, and all he has to do is lead the police back here to me! To my fucking home!”
My heart sinks.
Shit.
That’s right.
He’s wanted by many.
“B-but he won’t tell,” I assure him, hands still in the air. “He only wanted to be free. He knows how you are. He’ll run far away and won’t look back.”
“He has no fucking money. Nowhere to fucking go,” he grumbles. “He could quite possibly be working with Hernandez. He has a secret, and I was close to fucking cracking him, but you decide to be stupid by letting him go! I let you do this shit right under my fucking nose,” he scoffs. “And for that, you will fucking pay.”
“How do you even know it was me?” I ask, feeling foolish for even bothering to ask.
“Guillermo had eyes on Thiago the entire night. He watched him and followed him up to bed. Thiago sleeps with the door open just so my men can keep watch. I watched him all night at the party. The only time that armless fuck could have escaped was during the party, when we were all occupied, and you asked for your fucking space. I should have known better than to think I could give you that.”