Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 109368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
Halston stiffened. I wanted to open his throat there and then.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the plan.
“That’s right, arsehole. You failed. She lived. And the knife was in Prescott’s possession and has Tierney Silver’s blood on it. The authorities have already found a digital money trail leading from Prescott to you. It’s all in motion and there’s nothing you can do to stop it. In about five minutes, the FBI will be here to arrest you.”
He whimpered again.
“It’s over for you. But I’m here for one thing only. To warn you that if you come for Tierney Silver again while justice awaits you, I won’t just cut your throat. I’ll cut a little bit of you off, piece by piece, over a prolonged period. I’ll make your death the most painful, horrifying fucking thing you can imagine. And I’ll get away with it. You think you know power … but you’ve never seen real power until now.” I leaned in, hissing between my teeth with my rage. “I have governments at my back. There’s nowhere in the world you can go that I can’t find you and no one will care when I make you disappear. Do you fucking understand me, you feculent fuck?”
Halston sobbed and gave a jerk of his head.
I wanted to kill him.
This man had taken everything from Silver.
I wanted to kill him.
But I knew that would do her more harm than good.
Need for vengeance controlled, I tightened my arms around his neck until I felt him grow limp. Releasing him, I lay Halston down on the tiled restroom floor and checked his pulse.
It took a lot of training to be able to choke someone into unconsciousness without killing them.
He was still alive.
Glasses back on, knife concealed, I unlocked the door and strode out unhurriedly.
I’d left the building before anyone even noticed I was there.
A few minutes later, I watched from across the street as the FBI arrived. Another ten minutes passed before I witnessed them march Halston Cole, face bloodied, nose broken, out of the club in handcuffs.
30. Tierney
When I woke up again, Cammie was by my side. I don’t remember if we spoke because I fell into unconsciousness soon after. The beeping from the machines roused me the next morning.
I turned my head on the pillow, instinctively searching for Ramsay, but there was no one there.
He wasn’t there.
Fear crawled over me as I lay in the hospital bed, remembering how easily that masked stranger had gotten to me. Had hurt me.
I wanted my mom and dad.
The sob burst out of me before I could stop it.
My parents would have been the first people at my side. Would have parted oceans and chartered a goddamn F-15 fighter jet to get them here as fast as possible. I was twenty-seven years old, and I realized that I could have been fifty when they died, and I still would have felt like a lost little kid without them.
I sucked in a breath, pulling my tears back in because the ache in my gut was making itself known.
I was lucky, I reminded myself.
I was lucky to feel this kind of pain from their loss.
Not everyone had parents like mine.
It was a privilege to have been loved like that for so long.
So now I had to deal with it and face this world without them.
I could do it.
They’d made me strong enough to do it.
It didn’t mean I didn’t feel relief wash over me when the door opened and Cammie stood there.
She appeared rumpled and tired as she moved across the room with a coffee cup in hand. “I wanted to get back before you woke up.” Cammie’s expression fell. “Have you been crying?”
My lips trembled as I attempted to keep the emotion in check. “No.”
Cammie slid into the chair next to me, placing her coffee aside so she could take my hand in hers. She tenderly brushed the hair off my face. “Liar,” she whispered. “Are you in pain?”
“A little.”
In response, she hit a button above my head that I assumed was for the nurse.
“I only went out to wash up and grab a coffee.”
“Have you been here all night?”
She nodded, squeezing my hand. “Of course. Where else would I be?”
Just like that, I started to cry again. This time in gratitude.
The nurse, Janet, arrived not long later, muttering under her breath at two shadowed figures outside my door. I shot Cammie a questioning look.
“I’ll tell you in a minute,” she whispered.
“Everything all right?” Janet said as she rounded the bed.
“I’m a little sore,” I murmured, wincing as a sharp throb echoed across my torso.
“Aye, it’s time for another dose of pain relief.” Janet moved a switch on the IV that was hooked into my hand, and I realized the top of my hand where it pierced a vein hurt too. “That shouldn’t take too long to work. Now, can I get you some breakfast? It’s continental. A wee bit of toast, that sort of thing.”