Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 124077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 620(@200wpm)___ 496(@250wpm)___ 414(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 124077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 620(@200wpm)___ 496(@250wpm)___ 414(@300wpm)
Terra made a strange sound that was half sob and half gasp.
“I need to hear them,” she begged. “Please—let me hear their voices!”
“You shall.” Taurex’s voice softened. “Children, come speak to your mother.”
There was a rustling sound on the other end of the line.
“Mommy?” a familiar voice said.
Terra burst into tears.
“Lisa?” she managed to gasp.
“Mommy, where are you?” Lisa’s little voice sounded shaky but unmistakably alive. “The bad men took us, but the Bull-man saved us. He put all the bad men to sleep.”
Terra laughed and sobbed at the same time, tears spilling down her cheeks so rapidly that she could barely see the road.
“Oh, baby. Oh my God, baby, are you okay? Did anybody hurt you?”
“No,” Lisa said. “They scared me, though.”
Terra sniffed, trying to get hold of herself.
“I know, sweetheart. I know.”
“We’re okay, Mom,” Cody’s voice came over the phone next. He sounded older somehow, as though the experience had aged him several years in the course of an afternoon, but there was also unmistakable excitement beneath the lingering fear. “The Bull-man took out all the bad guys—like a video game!”
“Cody!” Terra exclaimed through her tears. “This is not a video game.”
“I know, but you should’ve seen—”
“Cody,” Taurex’s deep voice interrupted somewhere in the background.
“Okay, okay,” her son muttered.
Terra laughed despite everything. The sound felt almost painful because her body was still flooded with terror and adrenaline even though her mind had finally begun to understand that she didn’t need to be afraid anymore.
Her children were alive—alive and safe. Taurex had them and he wouldn’t let anyone hurt them. Thank God.
The phone changed hands again and his voice returned.
“As you can hear, they are unharmed,” Taurex said. “Now, if you are operating your vehicle recklessly, I need you to slow down.”
Terra looked at the speedometer and her eyes widened. She immediately lifted her foot.
“You are driving recklessly,” Taurex said warningly.
“How do you know?” she demanded.
“Because I know you.”
The simple answer made her heart twist and Terra swallowed hard.
“I just…God, Taurex, I thought they were going to die!”
“I know,” he murmured, his deep voice sympathetic in her ear.
“I thought he was going to make me choose between—” Her voice broke again, and she couldn’t finish.
“You do not have to choose anything,” Taurex said firmly. “Orlov cannot harm you or your younglings now. Cody and Lisa are both here in my penthouse. I am staying with them until you arrive.”
Terra wiped her cheeks with the back of one hand, keeping her eyes on the road.
“But…what about Orlov?”
There was a pause—not a long one, but long enough.
“Orlov will not be bothering you or anyone else ever again,” Taurex said shortly.
Terra’s fingers tightened around the phone. Something about his tone told her not to ask for details right now. Still, she had to know one thing.
“Is he—?” she began.
“Drive safely, Terra,” Taurex interrupted. “Your children are frightened, and they need their mother. I would prefer not to tell them that after everything they endured today, you injured yourself by driving your vehicle into a building.”
Despite herself, Terra gave a watery little laugh.
“I’m not going to drive into a building.”
“You nearly drove into several vehicles while we were speaking.”
“How could you possibly know that?” she asked, frowning.
“I can hear the horns.”
Terra glanced guiltily around her.
“Okay. Fair point.”
“Slow down,” he emphasized. “Breathe. It’s all over and everyone is fine.”
“All right, I know. I’m trying to calm down.”
“Good.” His voice softened. “We will be waiting.”
“Taurex…”
“Yes?”
There were a thousand things Terra wanted to say, but none of them seemed sufficient. Thank you wasn’t enough—it didn’t begin to cover what he had done or what she was feeling, and she had no idea yet how he had even known where to find the children.
“Thank you,” she whispered anyway.
For a moment, he didn’t answer. But then he murmured,
“You are welcome,” and the call ended.
Terra lowered the phone slowly and took some deep breaths.
She drove another block before pulling into an empty parking space at the curb because her hands were shaking so badly, she no longer trusted herself to steer. The moment the car was stopped, she put it into park and dropped her forehead against the steering wheel.
Her babies were safe. The thought came again, and this time Terra finally allowed herself to believe it. Cody was safe. Lisa was safe. Taurex had saved them.
A sob tore from her throat and she covered her face with both hands, crying so hard that her entire body shook. Five minutes ago, she had been prepared to give Viktor Orlov anything he demanded, prepared to walk willingly into whatever nightmare he had planned if it meant getting her children back. Now Orlov was apparently gone—or dead, though Taurex hadn’t actually said the word—and her babies were sitting in the penthouse with the one man Terra had convinced herself she needed to fear.