Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 93698 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 468(@200wpm)___ 375(@250wpm)___ 312(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93698 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 468(@200wpm)___ 375(@250wpm)___ 312(@300wpm)
“Oh, thank God!” Reaper didn’t even have a chance to set Ledger on his feet before she pulled their son out of the Shadow’s arms. Ky gave him a quick hug before holding him an arm’s length away so she could visually inspect him from head to toe. “Are you okay, buddy?”
“He’s fine.”
Ledger nodded. “Daddy wouldn’t let me stay to watch the end of the movie.”
Goddamn, he needed to teach his kid about not being a snitch.
“He wouldn’t? I bet there was a good reason for that.”
“Just a warnin’, they fed him a bunch of jelly beans to keep him distracted.”
She rolled her eyes as she straightened. “Candy is the least of my worries right now.”
“Just sayin’. You gimme shit for givin’ him sugar.”
“Who was it?”
“You were right. Sorta. The Sicilians.”
Her brow furrowed. “Why would Sicilians take us?”
He frowned at her. “Us?”
“How do you think I got here so quickly? They took us both from my driveway, pulled a hood over my head and zip-tied my wrists when I scratched one of them.” She held out her arms to show him where the plastic ties had marked her skin.
For fuck’s sake. “They dropped you off here?”
“A block away. I ran to find you as fast as I could.”
Now her appearance when she’d barreled through the door from the kitchen made sense; her hair standing on end, the flush in her cheeks, the beads of sweat, her struggle to catch her breath.
The Mafia used Kyra to deliver the message.
Their method had been goddamn effective.
“Zeke, what did they want from you?”
More of his brothers were piling outside to see what was going on.
“Wanted a word.” He didn’t want to discuss it out in the parking lot and in front of everyone. He hoped to get together some sort of plan first.
“Had to be helluva fuckin’ word for them to take your kid,” Zane said softly next to him.
“It was.” He turned to his younger brother. “We need to have an exec meetin’. Not tonight. Not tomorrow, but right fuckin’ now.”
That made anyone within the sound of his voice pay attention.
“But why did they take Ledger?”
“To make sure I’d show up,” he answered Ky. “Need to have a meetin’ but I don’t want you leavin’ ’til I’m done with it. Wanna hear everythin’ from the second they grabbed you to the second you got here. Also gonna explain who they are and what they wanted, but not now.”
She stared at him.
Dread filled his chest when he saw the wheels turning in her head.
She tugged him a few feet away and whispered fiercely, “I don’t want to live my life needing an escort or having to look over my shoulder all the time. Or worry about my son being taken on account of who his father is.”
“Too late to choose his father. He’s stuck with the one he’s got.”
Fuck. Today might have put a big fucking kink in getting back together with her. The last thing he needed was for her to take their son and disappear again with the excuse of keeping him safe.
The motherfucking Mafia was going to fuck him one way or another.
He unclenched his teeth. “Just askin’ for you to stick around ’til I’m done with this meetin’. Then gonna take you and Legend home.”
Her eyebrows slammed together. “Legend?”
“On the ride back, decided that’s gonna be his road name ‘cause today he proved that’s who he is.”
She slapped a hand over her eyes and groaned. “He’s three, Zeke. A toddler doesn’t need a road name.”
“Sure fuckin’ does. He’s not only the president’s son, but he fuckin’ earned it. Gonna get him a ‘property of’ cut with that patch.”
“Zeke,” she groaned again.
He took her hands in his and leaned in until they were almost nose to nose. He whispered, “Ain’t up for discussion right now. Gonna talk later.”
Yeah, her face was filled with a whole bunch of unhappy, but she would have to be patient. “Do me a fuckin’ solid and take our brave boy inside.”
Her mouth tightened but she nodded.
Thank fuck for small wonders.
He needed time to figure out how to convince her that she and Ledger weren’t in danger. But for fuck’s sake, he didn’t even know if that was true. Like outlaw MCs, the mob had no bottom. They could do some brutal shit and do it with a fucking smile.
He turned to Zane next. “Everybody here that needs to be?”
“Yeah.”
“Thinkin’ those two should join us.” Zeke tipped his head slightly toward Vi and Reaper.
Concern filled his brother’s blue eyes. “That bad?”
“Could be. Wanna keep them informed, just in case.” The current Shadows might not be cold-blooded mercenaries like the original crew, but they all had skills that could come in handy.
Especially with that new guy being an experienced sniper. Picking off enemies from a distance was far more effective than fighting them face to face.