Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 100791 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100791 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
Bee blinked at me, then shifted around—sharing a look with Shug and Pixie. “Wow, boss, that’s... that’s really—”
“—fucking sappy,” Pixie finished. “Yikes, Mom, you gonna tuck us in every night too?”
“Kiss our boo-boos?” Bee mocked, puckering her lips. “Read us a bedtime story?”
“Fuck you all to hell,” I replied, setting them all off laughing. “I knew I’d regret saving your asses. Just didn’t know it’d be this soon.”
“Knew we’d regret it too,” Shug rebounded. “What is it with you Merchants? Always trying to love and protect somebody. Keep it in your pants, woman.”
I rolled my eyes so hard, I almost veered off the road and crashed the car. If these jerks were a reflection of me... well, then, everything my enemies have said about me over the years was one hundred percent true.
Bee caught the corner of my vision, tossing me a wink.
It also meant I was a pretty lucky woman.
“Fine. You guys also too good for my money and food?” I asked. “Chino’s burgers on me?”
“Oooh, yes. I’m starved. Can’t wait for—”
Bang!
A hard force slammed into the car, nearly popping it off all four wheels and flipping us into a ditch.
“What the fuck was that?!” Bee shrieked.
But I didn’t. I knew what that was.
Headlights blasted my mirrors, beaming into my eyes. Through the shifting shadows I made out a black car with heavily tinted windows just as it revved up to ram us again. But that wasn’t the problem— Or, it wasn’t the only problem.
The other one was the half a dozen black cars trailing our attacker through the dark, backwoods roads.
I slammed the horn, sounding the alarm through the entire forest. “Go!” I roared. “Get the hell on! Drive!”
Whether they heard my commands, or my honking did the job—Liam’s car shot into the night, his taillights racing off into the distance.
I hit the accelerator and my window blew out, showering my face and lap in glass. “Get down!”
Bee, Shug, and Pixie hit the deck, covering their heads as a barrage of gunfire rained on Bane’s car.
The silly, short-sighted dumbass hadn’t taken Liam up on his offer to give Bane’s car the bulletproof upgrade. Bane claimed he didn’t need all that when he spent all his time in the woods and barely drove.
“How’d that work out for you, dumbass?!”
The car rammed my bumper, and the car spun out of control—ripping the wheel out of my hands. Screams tore through the backseat as we careened off the road, spinning three-sixty around and slamming the back end of the car against a tree.
Debra freaked out, the white of her eyes neon lights of terror and helplessness. “No! No, no, no!”
A pack of rushing headlights blew past us, chasing Liam, Sunny, and the others down the dark road, but six didn’t.
The cars squealed to a stop, kicking up and wave of dirt and sand, and surrounding us in seconds.
We were on a narrow road with barely enough room to call it a two-way street. Even if the guys wanted to turn back and help us, they had no chance with the shithead bastard parade blocking the street.
We were on our own.
“Get us out of here,” Debra screamed. Pouncing on my chair, she shook it like she was trying to dislodge the last drops of milk from a carton. “Don’t let them take me again! Drive! DRIVE!”
She didn’t have to tell me. I jammed the key in the ignition, my foot a brick on the accelerator.
Rrrrrr-rrrr-rrrr
The engine sputtered and spat at me, refusing to turn over.
Rrrrrrrrr-rrrrrr
Shadows spilled out of the cover of the blinding headlights, converging on the car.
“Down!” I ordered, ducking my head as the first shot blew through the window, exploding glass on a screaming Debra.
“No! Leave us alone! Please!” She was still shaking and slapping at me, trying to grab for the wheel. How the bullets were missing her was nothing less than a miracle. “Get away! Get—”
“Bee!”
Bee didn’t need another word or clue. Her fist flew up, smashing into Debra’s face.
Blood spurting on the dash, the woman flew back into her seat and slid down, folding over on top of Shug.
It wasn’t the kindest way to get the woman to calm down and cover herself, but it did the job.
“Enough,” someone shouted, ending the gunfire in a blink. “We’ve made our point.”
Footsteps approached as I jammed the key in like a dick—twisting, yanking, and praying for it to go off.
“We know it’s you in there, Merchant bitch. This is your one and only chance. Throw your keys out, then your weapons, and then slowly get out of the car,” she said. “Do it, or we’ll keep up target practice until we get the high—”
Vrrrroom!
The engine roared to life.
I didn’t waste a moment. I slammed the accelerator, bowling over a hard, screaming object that bounced off my hood and went flying to hell.