Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 80303 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 402(@200wpm)___ 321(@250wpm)___ 268(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80303 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 402(@200wpm)___ 321(@250wpm)___ 268(@300wpm)
The sound of squealing tires erupted through the speaker as she maneuvered the SUV she was driving. “Damn that was close!”
“Where are Saint’s men?” Judas asked.
“In-route to Evie’s,” Owen replied, adding a second later, “Closing in.”
“Us or them?” Gavin asked.
“Both.”
“Pull over at the end of the street,” Judas instructed Theo.
I had no clue what was going on, so I remained silent. I definitely needed that crash course Judas had mentioned. I was only here for Evie to see my face before I decided what needed to be done with her.
I wasn’t going to partake in the logistics I had yet to understand or turn into a lethal killing machine overnight. That would be highly unrealistic for anyone to expect that.
I needed to learn the ins and outs but as for showing to peoples’ homes and taking them out, fortunately, that would never be my role. I could take a life when or if it was necessary, but I wasn’t meant to get my hands dirty.
This part of their lifestyle—our, was rarely Judas’. He had people to do this for him but sometimes like now, it was a special occasion or personal request.
Theo pulled over, parallel parking in front of a simple middle-class home. He turned the headlights off and for a few minutes all seemed quiet, nothing happened.
“They’re there,” Owen stated a split second before a loud bang followed by a popping sound shattered the silence, echoing through the neighborhood.
“Go,” Judas commanded calmly.
Theo flipped his lights on and pulled away from the curb, turning right at a stop sign just as a few porches lit up.
“Owen?” Gavin called his friend.
“He’s working on pulling up the house already. It’s DOA for the decoys,” Bri answered.
I knew what that meant, it just wasn’t coming to me right then. Judas reached over and took my hand. He’d been silent the whole ride when he wasn’t asking for updates or giving an order, his eyes focused and glued to a tablet.
Theo approached an intersection, and I saw exactly what DOA meant. The Bugatti had curb hopped the end of the road at a two-way turn and come to a stop at an awkward angle. Bullet holes littered every inch of the car’s surface.
The windows were all shattered, revealing two nearly unrecognizable bodies covered in blood.
Pieces of them had been completely pulverized from the number of hits they took. All I could make out of Rochelle was a tuft of brown hair.
My stomach twisted with the realization that was supposed to be me in that car and not her.
This is what the woman who’d claimed to be my mother wanted to be done to me. Theo or Gavin would’ve been the one driving, finding themselves in the same position as the man currently missing half his face.
We found a quick exit out of the neighborhood and began the journey to Evie’s as Owen began tracking the Mercedes to ensure none of us crossed paths with them and blew our cover.
“We’re going to get her,” Judas promised, tightening his hold on my hand. I nodded, swallowing down a bubble of nausea.
“What about Rochelle?”
He gave me a questioning look. “What do you mean? She’s dead.”
“You don’t care?”
“Do you?”
I slowly shook my head. Why the hell would I care? I didn’t even know her. I’d spent all of four minutes in her presence. Judas had her gone by the time I left our laundry room. I didn’t think she deserved to be riddled with bullets, but it was above me.
“I kept telling everyone she was a means to an end. Back there, that was the end.”
“So, was the cocaine and Cancun, real?”
“Of course, it’s real, but how is she going to make use of them now?”
“Judas…”
“I know, you don’t need to say it.” He flashed me a grin before returning to a serious state again.
“Evie will probably be busting out her best wine right this second,” Gavin commented. “Rochelle did an honorable thing.”
“She gave her life for the greater good,” Brianna agreed from the other line.
There was no way they were being serious. “Am I supposed to be the greater good?”
“You’re the best damn thing that’s ever happened to my world,” Judas answered. “And now we’re going to remove something that’s trying to make it rot.”
At nearly two in the morning, Evie’s entire home was lit up. I wondered if like Gavin had joked, she’d busted out the good stuff. It wouldn’t surprise me if she had, but I couldn’t imagine her being so stupid.
Her lack of security measures made it easy to waltz right up her driveway. That’s exactly how I wanted to go in, right through her front door.
Lucky for me I had a fiancé who made sure that I would get what I wanted.
Theo pulled into her driveway as if we were a group of friends carpooling to hang out at a mutual acquaintance’s house. Santiago’s men and Owen and Brianna had arrived before us. The sleek sedan was facing the house while the SUV Bri had been driving faced towards the street.