Total pages in book: 168
Estimated words: 169013 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 845(@200wpm)___ 676(@250wpm)___ 563(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 169013 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 845(@200wpm)___ 676(@250wpm)___ 563(@300wpm)
I slipped forward undetected, and he jolted when he finally noticed me a second before I drove the knife into his gut.
I jerked the blade to the side to spill him out.
The other dropped his phone and started to whirl, and I whipped the knife, slashing deep into his arm.
“Motherfucker, you’re dead,” he wheezed in shock, stumbling back.
“Nah,” I hissed, and I cocked my arm back and threw the knife before he found solid ground.
It flew, meeting its mark at the front of his neck.
He dropped like a boulder.
A decimated thud.
And I knew there was no longer any concealing my presence, so I grabbed both guns and kicked in the door they were guarding.
Ready to rush into the room in a blaze of glory, only I froze when I found the scene inside.
Heart dropping to the floor.
Brinley.
Bound and on her knees. A gag in her mouth. Beautiful hair tangled and matted with dirt and blood.
One eye black and swollen shut.
The other begged a desperate plea.
Dereck was on the other side of her.
In the same position.
His entire face was busted to shit. Gaping cuts on his lip, temple, and cheek.
A wound leaked from his side and soaked his clothes in blood.
But in his eyes?
In them was relief. His trust in me.
Except I wasn’t feeling so relieved when I found Kent Ellison casually standing over the top of them like a complete showdown wasn’t raging outside.
Hair styled and wearing a designer suit.
Smug smirk on his face like he’d already won.
Three men with machine guns strapped across their chests stood guard behind him, and he had his own gun held at the side of Brinley’s head.
“Drop your guns or she goes,” Kent gritted.
I wanted to rush him. Throw myself on top of Brinley. A living shield who would gladly die to protect the treasure.
But I had to play this smart.
Careful.
I heaved out a strained breath, and my hands fucking shook as I tossed them to the floor three feet in front of me.
My eyes scanned, calculating how I could get to Brinley before Kent had time to react.
Then shock hurled from my lungs when I found my piece-of-shit father itching in the corner.
Confusion almost bowled me over.
A near faceplant into a vat of rage and disgust and hate.
I was stuck there for a prolonged beat, a storm of horror and devastation ripping through me as I stared at his worn, leathery face, trying to make sense of what the fuck he was doing there.
Kent released a condescending tsk that drew my attention back to him. “Silas Mercer. So predictable, aren’t we?”
His head canted to the side as he looked me up and down.
It wasn’t like I hadn’t stood before him before.
Pretending like my MC was interested in running his poison across the Northwest in an attempt to infiltrate his inner circle.
I let my eyes dip to Brinley for a beat.
Just needing to look at her.
To see that she was breathing.
Before I forced my focus back to Kent, knowing it was stupid to draw more attention to her.
Not sure what Kent knew. If he had any idea that she’d been in my compound and under my protection for the last few weeks.
Whittling her way into my heart for the same amount of time.
Air puffed from his pompous nose. “It took me a minute, you know, to figure out who you were. The president of this insignificant motorcycle club playing hard to get. Acting like he was above running my goods. One minute all in and the next withdrawing. Asking too many fucking questions. I thought you were trying to make a play. Strike a better deal for yourself.”
Locked aggression buzzed through my body, and my fingers tingled with the need to finally put an end to the monster standing in front of me.
But I waited. Searching for the right moment. Trying to calculate how I could take all three of his guards out and get to him without anyone else being hurt.
Minus my father.
I didn’t care if killing him did steal the last bit of my humanity. Just his existence was inhumane.
“So, I thought I’d have a little fun with your sister…” Kent continued.
Violence screamed across my flesh, and Brinley whimpered, knowing this beast who’d hurt her in the worst way possible had also tormented my sister.
“Put you in your place and show you who actually is in control,” he snarled.
His expression twisted like he had a hard time putting a finger on it. “It should have been impossible for you to get her out, to know exactly how to get in here and extract her. That’s when I knew something was amiss. That I had a rat in my midst.”
I refused to glance at Dereck, even though it was clear Kent already knew. Clear he possessed knowledge that he shouldn’t have.
Not because of Dereck flipping on us.