Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 91266 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91266 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
She had to get out of the Sheridan house before he roused enough to sound the alarm.
Sloan retraced her steps to the front door, her heart pounding with every second, expecting someone to appear and demand to know why she wasn’t where she was supposed to be.
But the house was eerily empty, her footsteps echoing on the hardwood floor.
This is what it will be like always if Jude isn’t able to stop Dmitri Romanov.
She couldn’t let him face that threat alone.
She just prayed she was in time.
A dark town car sat at the curb outside the house, and she slowed to a stop and stared. It was entirely possible that it belonged to the Sheridans—or even the O’Malleys—but some instinct made her walk toward it. She was painfully conscious of the gun in her hand, the metal warming against her skin.
The back window rolled down, and her breath caught in her throat. She’d only ever heard him described, but there was no way this attractive man with dark hair and eyes was anyone other than Dmitri Romanov. He motioned her closer with a hand marked with tattoos. “Sloan O’Malley.” His Russian accent made her name sound exotic.
She could run. She might even get half a block before he or his men caught her. If some well-meaning neighbor tried to interfere, she’d be signing their death warrant. That, more than anything, had her drifting closer. “Dmitri Romanov.”
“Smart girl.”
The temper that had awoken during her time with Jude roared to the forefront. She lifted the gun and pointed it at him. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
He didn’t so much as blink. “You’ll have to be more specific.”
“You tried to frame Jude. You are pushing a war with my brothers. You were going to kill Callie and her baby.”
That got a reaction. He narrowed his eyes. “Baby…”
He didn’t know. That didn’t make it any more justifiable. He still had had every intention of murdering her friend. She braced the gun, her finger on the trigger. “I don’t care if you didn’t know Callie was pregnant. You’re still a monster.”
“Put that gun down before you hurt yourself.”
“I don’t think I will.” She wasn’t a murderer. She’d never given much thought to ending someone else’s life, even after Devlin died and she’d hated the Hallorans as much as she hated anything in this world.
But Dmitri Romanov had been the cause of so much misery for her family. No one would cry if he died. It might even be the act that allowed her and Jude to be free.
“Your man broke his word to me.” He said it casually, as if remarking on the weather.
“If you’re dead, there will be no one here to collect on that.” The gun was becoming heavy in her hands. She couldn’t hold it like this much longer. She had to decide. “I want to bargain.”
One corner of his mouth quirked up. “Do wonders never cease?”
She ignored that. “Let Jude go—let us both go—and I won’t shoot you.”
“Generous.”
“Take it or leave it.” She shifted her grip on the gun, hating the way her palms had gone sweaty.
“I have a counter offer. You and MacNamara leave. I’ll search for you, but I won’t search hard. After a reasonable amount of time, I’ll let you go—if you never come back to Boston or New York.”
It sounded too good to be true, which meant it likely was. She frowned. “Why?”
He chuckled. “As I said before—smart girl. I have my reasons, which are no concern to you. Suffice to say that allowing you to escape unscathed suits my current purposes.”
Meaning he had a plan and would leverage her safety to get what he wanted. She didn’t like the sound of that…but Dmitri had her backed into a corner despite the fact that she held the gun. She gritted her teeth. “If I see you again, I will shoot you—and that’s not even going into what Jude will do to you.”
He gave her a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “It’s been a pleasure.” He rolled up the window before she could decide whether she should shoot him anyway, and she’d be lying if she said she didn’t feel a bit of relief as his car pulled away from the curb and drove down the street.
She belatedly realized she was still holding the gun in a neighborhood where that sort of thing would be reported and lowered it.
“Sloan.”
She jumped, and then mentally berated herself for jumping. Micah stood in the doorway, a truly impressive bruise blossoming on the side of his face. She tensed, starting to raise the gun again, but he shook his head. “There’s a phone call for you.”
“What?” She took the phone from him, though she kept ahold of the gun in case it was a trap. “Hello?”
“Start walking.”
She obeyed before she registered that it was Aiden she was talking to. Sloan shot a glance over her shoulder, but Micah was nowhere to be seen. “What’s going on?”