Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 70489 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70489 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
“You told Remington?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
I couldn’t find the energy to. All I could do right then was remind my feet how to move. The stairs were hell. Every step jostled my arm, but I did it. I got out of the house and into Rafe’s car.
“How’s everyone else?”
“They’re fine, some scrapes and bruises, but that’s all.”
“Thank God.”
“A doctor will meet us at Bébé’s house. But if she can’t fix you up, we’ll have to go to the hospital. Remington will come up with a story.”
I shook my head. “No hospital. I want to go home.”
“Dante, you were shot. You’re not going to go home until you’ve been seen to, and we take care of you.”
“I’m fine now.”
“You absolutely are not fine, not even close.”
I wasn’t. But I wanted to go home and check on Alex. My arm hurt like hell, and I knew the wound needed to be tended to, but I hated being poked and prodded, and I really fucking hated needles. I didn’t want to be out of it on pain meds. I wanted to be able to take care of Alex myself.
“Take me to my house. The doctor can meet us there.”
“You want Alex to see you like this? Blood running down your arm, pale as shit, looking half-dead. You’ll freak him the fuck out.”
He was right. Alex had to be scared as fuck already. I didn’t want to make it worse. He was probably regretting ever meeting me. I should never have gotten involved with him. I was a mess, and I brought danger wherever I went. “He shouldn’t be involved in this.”
“He’s not involved.” I hadn’t realized I’d said those words out loud until Rafe responded.
“Where’s Ivanov? Did someone find him?”
“No. He wasn’t in the house, but we’ve got several men looking.”
“He’ll come for us. He’ll want revenge.”
Rafe laid a hand on my leg. “We’ll stop him.”
I wanted to believe that. “He got away from us this time.”
“We’re going to track him down and eliminate him.”
“I want to help. I know I said I don’t want a part in the business, but I’ll take a leave of absence from teaching or whatever I need to do. There’s no way in hell am I going to let that monster run free.”
24
ALEX
At some point, I must have fallen asleep. The buzz of my phone woke me up. I grabbed it off the coffee table and looked at the screen. It wasn’t Dante. It was an unknown number. I answered anyway.
“Alex? It’s Rafe.”
“Oh God, what happened?” I knew it was something bad. He wouldn’t be calling me otherwise. How did he even have my number?
“Dante’s going to be fine.”
“Going to be? What happened?” My heart was hammering against my chest.
“He was shot in the arm.”
My stomach flip-flopped, and I had to grab the side of the couch to steady myself. “Shot? Oh my God. Are you really sure he’s going to be okay?”
“Yes, he’s going to be absolutely fine. He’d be calling you himself, except we insisted he take pain medication and get some sleep.”
“Is he at the hospital?”
“No. Hospitals are funny about gunshot wounds. We have a doctor who makes house calls.”
“Roseline?” I should have known they had her on call to treat wounds they couldn’t discuss with authorities.
“Yes, you’ve met her?”
“She checked out the cut on my face the day that Dante sent you to talk to Randall.”
“Good. She’s taking care of him, and we’re making him rest. He should be fine to come home sometime tomorrow.”
How could I wait that much longer? “Where is he now? I want to see him.”
Rafe cleared his throat. “That’s not an option. You need to stay put.”
“Do you swear he’s safe?”
“Yes, he’s safe now, but there are still some people we need to track down. You need to stay where you are.”
I wanted to argue, but I knew I wouldn’t get anywhere. “Can I talk to him?”
“He’s out of it right now, but when he wakes up, I’m sure he’ll call you.”
“I’m going crazy here.”
“I get that, but he’ll rest better knowing you’re there and safe.”
I took a sip from the water bottle I’d gotten earlier. “Okay. Tell him I’m taking care of Adenine.”
“Who?”
Had Dante not mentioned the cat? “A cat he adopted.”
“Interesting. I’ll tell him. He’ll call you soon.”
“Okay. Bye.” I ended the call and flopped back on the couch.
My head spun. Dante had been shot. He could have died without me ever seeing him again. Then I’d have to go back to the life I had last year. The thought of that made me sick. How has this happened so fast?
You’ve needed an escape for a long time. You finally found it.
And I wasn’t going to lose it.
25
DANTE
The first thing I became aware of was the pounding in my head. It felt like it was going to explode. Why the fuck did my head hurt so much? I tried to sit up, and pain raced up my arm, making me gasp.