Total pages in book: 55
Estimated words: 54899 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 274(@200wpm)___ 220(@250wpm)___ 183(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54899 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 274(@200wpm)___ 220(@250wpm)___ 183(@300wpm)
My scream mingles with hers. Wet heat pours down my cheeks. Blood seeps from my torn wrists.
He gropes her breasts and licks the tears on her face. His eyes roll back like they’re the most delicious delicacy he’s ever tasted.
I’ve never truly wanted to relish in killing a man until this moment.
I’ve never taken pleasure in my kills. It came easily to me, but it wasn’t because I have a black soul.
It was easy because I was doing it all for her.
So I could survive and one day come back to her. So I could take care of her in the way she deserves.
I’m not a monster because I was born evil. I’m a killer because I love Karolina so much that it makes me insane. There’s nothing monstrous about loving her.
But the revelation is coming too late. None of it matters now.
All I know is that Sokolov needs to die, and I’m shackled to this chair, helplessly watching him torment her.
The room goes dark. But I’m not the one who shut off the lights this time.
The surviving men murmur uneasily.
The backup generator doesn’t kick in.
Logan. My friend must’ve found a way to help me remotely, after all.
I swallow my scream as I dislocate my thumb and wrench my hand free from the cuffs. The pain is nothing compared to seeing Karolina’s blood and tears.
I move through the darkness, a silent, deadly shadow.
The remaining men flee, their heavy footfalls slapping against the concrete.
There’s only Sokolov and me.
His phone lights up, casting a spotlight on the empty chair where I was trapped only moments ago.
“Ragnarök.” Like so many evil men before him, my alias is the last word he breathes.
I grasp his skull from behind and give a vicious twist. The kill is too quick, too efficient. He should suffer endlessly for what he did to Karolina.
But getting her to safety is more important.
Her life is all that matters.
I toss his dead body aside and go to her.
The lights come back on.
Thank you, Logan.
“Brandon.” She whimpers my name and reaches for me.
The movement jars her shoulder, and she falls back with a sharp cry.
“I’ve got you,” I promise thickly, blinking the haze from my eyes. “You’ll be okay.”
She’s so pale. There’s a crimson smear on her porcelain cheek where the Sokolov pinned her in the pool of her own blood.
“You’re hurt.” Her voice is faint, and her eyes are fixed on my abraded wrists.
I shush her gently. “It’s nothing. I’m fine. We’re both going to be fine.”
Her lashes flutter. “You’re safe now.”
“Don’t close your eyes. Look at me. Karolina!”
But she doesn’t obey me. Her lovely eyes slide closed. Her breathing is shallow.
There’s so much blood…
I grit my teeth and force down the panic before it can consume me.
“I’ll get us out of here,” I promise, gathering her up in my arms. “Together.”
Karolina refused to leave me, and I’ll never be parted from her again.
If she doesn’t survive the night, neither will I.
20
KAROLINA
I’m floating on a warm cloud. I let out a low hum and stretch contentedly.
Pain lances my shoulder, and I still on a soft cry.
Brandon shushes me, dropping a kiss on my forehead. “Don’t move. You’re safe now. You don’t have to fight anymore.”
Dark memories stir: Brandon’s face twisted with agony, blood oozing from my shoulder, and Sokolov’s hands on me…
My eyes fly open on a gasp, and I wince when even the smallest movement jars my injury.
“Brandon?”
His blue eyes fill my world, and I ignore the pain so I can clutch at him. “You’re hurt.”
“I’m fine. I need you to rest. We’re home. No one will touch you here.”
My brow furrows, and I glance around. “Home?”
We’re in our bedroom in the lavish manor he bought for me.
“How?”
“We’ve been here for two days now,” he says, voice low and soothing as he strokes my hair back from my cheek. “You’ve been on strong painkillers.”
That explains the pleasant fog that lingers at the edges of my mind.
“We’re alive.” I can hardly believe it. “You got us out.”
He caresses my cheek. “Logan helped. He shut off the power remotely, and the darkness gave me the advantage I needed to break out of the cuffs.” He gently presses his forehead to mine. “Never do anything like that ever again. The next time I tell you to leave me, you leave.”
I cup his cheek in return, using my uninjured arm. “No. I will never leave you for dead again. I love you.”
He closes his eyes, as though the declaration almost causes him pain. “I love you, too,” he promises. “But I can’t bear it if anyone hurts you like that ever again. Living without you is pointless. You’re my entire world, Karolina. You always have been.”
“What happened to them?” I ask. “Those men. Are they dead?”
He grimaces. “Sokolov is dead. Four of the fuckers who bid on you ran away. I’ll hunt them down and make an example of them. None of my enemies will so much as think your name ever again.”