Total pages in book: 42
Estimated words: 40057 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 200(@200wpm)___ 160(@250wpm)___ 134(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 40057 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 200(@200wpm)___ 160(@250wpm)___ 134(@300wpm)
Because if I went now, I risked her.
Ink gave a tight nod beside me while they talked about carving that damn tattoo off her leg. The laughter that followed was almost maniacal, and the need to make a move became unbearable.
I felt rather than saw several more of my brothers join us outside the door, waiting for my signal.
Then Ink’s unreadable gaze met mine, and I nodded once.
He kicked the door open, and we breached the door.
The first man didn’t even see my fist coming. His head snapped sideways, the crunch of cartilage breaking beneath my knuckles. He fell backward, his gun skidding across the floor. I followed him down and slammed my knee into his ribs. Heard the snap. Felt the crack. A sliver of satisfaction oozed into my veins.
He tried to scream. I shoved my forearm across his throat and pulled my knife with the other hand.
“You lay a fucking hand on her?” I rasped. “No? That’s a shame. I like them better when they’ve earned it.”
Then I drove the blade home—fast and clean.
Behind me, I heard the telltale thud of a body dropping. Then Ink’s low voice cursing.
I rose and turned, seeing blood splattered on his cut.
The guy Ink’d taken down had bled like a stuck pig.
Ink crouched beside the body with a sigh, wiping at the leather. “You got a name? No? That’s all right.” He reached into the guy’s back pocket, calmly pulled out a wallet, and flipped it open with a gloved hand, checking the ID. “Just wanted to know who I’m sending the receipt to.” Then, with a quiet click, he put a bullet in the guy’s temple.
Looking down at the blood soaking the bottom corner of his cut, Ink sighed, deadpan. “Fucking dry clean only.”
Tomcat appeared in the doorway behind him, scanning the scene. “Easy, Ink. Your Mafia’s showing.”
Ink arched a brow. “They got blood on my vest, man.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Tomcat smirked and stepped inside. “Go full Corleone after we’ve cleared the rest.”
I kept moving.
In the far corner of the room—curled on the floor, limbs bound, and eyes wide with shock—I saw her.
Elena.
Her hair was mussed, her cheek scraped from where her face had probably been pressed to the floor. But she was awake.
Her lips moved—my name, whispered so faint I almost missed it.
I didn’t remember crossing the room. Or cutting the restraints and dropping to my knees beside her.
All I knew was that I had her in my arms, her body trembling as I pulled her close, one hand sliding up her back, the other bracing the back of her head.
“I’ve got you,” I murmured, my voice rougher than I meant it to be.
She clung to me, her face buried against my chest. Her fingers gripped the front of my shirt like they needed something solid to hold on to.
“You’re okay. I’m here. You’re safe now.”
“I knew you’d come,” she whispered. “I knew it.”
I turned, my eyes scanning the room to make sure the others had finished cleaning house.
They had. Fallon checked the last pulse and gave a tight shake of his head. “All clear.”
Nobody was left alive.
Rebel walked over with a blanket, and I wrapped it around Elena’s shoulders, then shifted her into my arms, bridal-style. She was light, but my chest still ached with the weight of what they’d done to her.
I looked at King. “We need to send a message.”
He nodded. “Burn it. All of it.”
King and Tomcat started dragging bodies. Ink and Fallon gathered weapons and gear. Then Blaze dumped accelerant strategically while Kevlar made sure the place was rigged to blow after we walked out.
As I carried Elena through the warehouse, she clutched my cut like it anchored her to something real.
I reminded myself that she was safe. Back where she belonged.
But this wasn’t over. There was more to do before we could put this fully behind us.
And Marks was gonna find out what it really meant to fuck with the Hounds of Hellfire.
17
ELENA
Iwas exactly where I belonged, cradled against Reeve’s chest. He carried me out of that nightmare, but my body hadn’t caught up yet. Everything inside me trembled, and I felt like my nerves had been stripped raw.
His arms were locked around me, one locked under my knees and the other banded across my back, anchoring me against him. My cheek rested over his heart, and the steady thumping made me feel safe enough that the terror finally started to crack.
I curled my fingers into his shirt, needing the reassurance of his solid weight. He shifted me higher against his chest, holding me closer, and only then did I realize that he was trembling too.
But not with fear. Reeve was furious.
My breath hitched when I finally saw the dark streak across his forearm. A smear of drying blood.
Panic rushed through me. “Reeve, are you hurt?”