Total pages in book: 43
Estimated words: 38973 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 195(@200wpm)___ 156(@250wpm)___ 130(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 38973 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 195(@200wpm)___ 156(@250wpm)___ 130(@300wpm)
“Wake up, boy,” Dorman snarled, slapping me again.
I spit in his general direction, laughing when I heard him mutter a curse right before his hand wrapped around my throat, cutting off my airflow. I blinked up at him through blurry eyes, darkness threatening to pull me under again. I was extremely weak and tired, and I just wanted to sleep.
I needed to sleep.
“Go fuck yourself,” I slurred, my words strangled. My eyelids were too heavy to fight against.
“Don’t you—”
The loud explosion of gunshots rang out from the hall. Dorman jerked back from me and rushed for another door away from the hall, running like the coward he truly was. Gritting my teeth, I rolled, then rolled again until my body dropped from the table and landed on the floor with a loud thud that knocked the breath from my lungs. I was pretty sure I bruised a few ribs, too.
I bit back a whimper, trying to force myself to breathe. I couldn’t just lay there and be a sitting target. I had no idea who the fuck was here, but I needed to find cover. Because if it was an enemy and not someone here to help me… well, I could find myself in a much more dangerous situation than the one I was currently in.
When I moved, my vision blurred, the pain in my skull threatening to take me under, but I forced my eyes open wider. I couldn’t give in. Not yet. I needed to get these bindings loose and get the fuck out of here.
I wiggled across the floor like a caterpillar, having to stop every few seconds to remember to breathe. To not pass out. To not vomit all over myself again. The pain was damn near about to drag me under. And I was pretty sure I was bleeding rectally, which definitely wasn’t a good thing.
Boots thumped into the room—two sets. I paused, holding my breath, willing myself not to make a single move or sound.
“Ace?”
I burst into tears, sobs tearing from my throat. “Papa?” I cried, slumping to the floor. He was here. He’d come, just like he’d promised in my dream, though I hadn’t dared to believe it. But he was here. He’d come for me.
I could give in now. I could give into the pain and the nausea and the fear. Because he was here, and he would keep me safe.
“Got Dorman,” I heard Jax announce. I turned my head to the side, blinking through blurry eyes filled with tears as Jax dragged Dorman out of the room he’d disappeared into by the back of his shirt, an assault rifle slung over his shoulders.
“Good. Hold him. Ace?” Gunner called again, his boots thumping across the floor.
“O-Over h-here,” I choked out, my vision becoming dark around the edges again.
Gunner rushed around the table and dropped to his knees next to me, quickly rolling me over and sitting me up. His jaw was clenched, his eyes burning with fear and concern and anger as he yanked his knife from his belt and cut my bindings. Immediately, I clung to him, sobbing as I buried my face in his neck.
“Can you walk, baby?” he roughly asked. I shook my head. I didn’t think my legs would hold me up. “Alright, sweet boy. Just hold on to me, okay? Can you do that?” When I nodded, he pressed a kiss to my temple and stood from the floor, his arms beneath me, cradling me to his chest. He looked at Jax. “Make him fucking suffer. I need to get Ace out of here and to a hospital.”
Jax nodded, a chilling smile tilting his lips. With that, Gunner quickly left the room. Immediately, two men I didn’t recognize flanked us, rifles at the ready as Gunner rushed to the nearest exit. I just quietly cried into his neck, not daring to look up, not wanting anyone to see how much of a mess I was. It was bad enough that Jax had seen how bad off I was.
Sunlight suddenly warmed my skin, and then, Gunner was depositing me into his truck. He slung his rifle into the backseat, then ripped his shirt over his head, draping it over my body. Once I was buckled in, he closed my door and pulled his phone from his pocket, calling someone as he rounded the truck.
“Yeah?” Jax asked, sounding a little winded but… cheerful? I heard a gurgle. “Just finishing up.”
“That was fast,” Gunner grunted as he shifted the truck into drive and peeled away. He set the phone on the middle console and reached over, grabbing my hand in his and lacing our fingers together. His bare arm flexed as he fishtailed onto the highway, speeding toward… somewhere. God, my head hurt. “Meet me at the hospital?”
“Yeah. Which one?”
“The one we passed about five miles from the warehouse,” Gunner told him. I moaned in pain when he hit a rough bump. My head slumped back, darkness threatening to drag me under again. “Ace baby, hang on for me. Don’t go to sleep.”