Total pages in book: 174
Estimated words: 172061 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 860(@200wpm)___ 688(@250wpm)___ 574(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 172061 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 860(@200wpm)___ 688(@250wpm)___ 574(@300wpm)
“How do you handle it? Knowing they’re out there? That they might not come home?” I could barely force it out.
Grimness flitted through their features.
“None of us can ever know when something terrible is going to happen,” Piper chanced. “And yes, their lifestyle comes with a significant amount of hazard and risk, but they know what’s important. What’s worth the sacrifice. How could they ever sit idle when they know the difference they are making? And even though there is a selfish part of me that would love to lock Theo in our house and never let him out of my sight, I also admire what they do more than I could ever describe. I support it wholly, and every day I work to remember the impact they are making. That’s what gives me comfort.”
“And wine. So much wine.” Raven quirked a wry brow.
I choked over a soggy laugh.
“And this one is harder, too, because it’s you. It’s your freedom and your safety, the same as it is for your children. When you get through this, you’ll see. You’ll understand,” Charleigh encouraged.
I gave a bumbling nod, then I nearly hit the roof when a text pinged my phone.
I fumbled for it, sure it would be Cash, only my heart shifted course when I saw who it was from.
Hadley
What’s going on? I think I’m here, but there are a bunch of guys out front? What’s happening, Daisy? Are you okay?
“Oh my God,” I rushed.
“What is it?” Emery asked.
“My sister is here.”
Me
Just wait right there. I’ll have them let you in.
Hadley
Are you in danger? Is Ethan here?
Me
I’ll explain everything when you get inside.
I jumped off the couch and ran for the door, my frenzied fingers inputting the code Cash had me memorize. Then I flew through the locks and out onto the porch. Three of Silas’s men circled my sister’s car.
“Oh my God,” I mumbled, then I shouted, “It’s just my sister. You can let her in.”
One of the guys swiveled around to look at me.
A brute of a man who had to be six and a half feet tall and just as wide. “We aren’t to let anyone near that house.”
“It’s just my sister. Please, she’s probably terrified right now.”
The man stalled, wavering before he turned and jutted his bearded chin toward another man. They all stepped aside, and I went running down the stairs.
Hadley stepped from the car, panic in her eyes, though relief hit her as I ran to her and wrapped her in my arms. I squeezed her with all my might. “I can’t believe you’re here.”
“You told me to come. I just had a feeling that I needed to be here.”
My laugh was close to deranged. “You do. I do need you here.”
Concern gushed from her. “What’s going on? Why are there all these men here?”
“Come inside and I’ll tell you everything.”
Grabbing her hand, I hauled her up the porch steps and through the door. I slammed it shut, did up the locks, then started to punch in the code again when I felt a shift in the air.
A choked cry from Hadley behind me. “You can’t set that alarm, Daisy.”
Confusion blustered through my mind as I slowly turned to face her.
Dread dragged me to the bottom of the ocean floor when I saw the scene.
In a moment, I felt as if I were drowning.
Water clogging my lungs and death edging in at the corners of my eyes.
Because my sister’s hand trembled as she held a gun. One she pointed at the members of my new family who all gasped in shock as they scrambled to their feet.
“Everyone needs to get face down on the floor.”
A stir of panic assailed the room. Everyone looking at me in sheer disconcertion.
While my knees swayed as I was hit with a landslide of horror.
“Right now!” she screamed.
Fear tumbled through the girls, but Raven lifted her chin, and they all got face down on the ground.
“Hadley. What are you doing?” It rasped from my mouth.
She turned to me. “I had to, Daisy. I had to bring him to you. He was going to kill me. It’s the only way for you and me to be together again. For me to live again. Ethan only wants Cash. He gets what he wants, and we’ll be free. You’ll see, everything’s going to be all right. Cash isn’t who you think he is.”
Tumult clouded, as foggy as the tears that bleared my eyes.
“What are you talking about?”
“Cash killed Ethan’s brother, and Ethan only wants him. Then we can walk. Live our lives. It’s going to be okay.”
Hadley backed toward the back sliding door, swinging the gun between me and the rest of my family who were on the floor.
Turmoil and threads of simmering aggression radiated from them.
My hands went to my mouth. “What are you doing, Hadley? Oh God, what are you doing? You can’t do this. After everything? After you abandoned me? Left me for all these years? Now you’re going to betray me?”