Total pages in book: 169
Estimated words: 167671 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 838(@200wpm)___ 671(@250wpm)___ 559(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 167671 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 838(@200wpm)___ 671(@250wpm)___ 559(@300wpm)
Cora.
“What have you done with them? Why is she out cold?” I grit. “Tell me, right now.” I clutch my knife so tightly I can feel it etch into my skin. “Did you fucking hurt her?”
“After the stunt she pulled, she should be happy she still lives,” he replies, swallowing down the apple in the most aggressive way I’ve ever seen.
That’s it. I’ll fucking kill him.
Suddenly, Heath grips my shoulder right as I was about to move.
“Not so fast,” Stefano says, holding up a phone with a button on the screen. “If you so much as touch me, her life will be forfeited.”
I glance at Ivy and the object tied to her chest.
A bomb.
“You strapped a fucking bomb to her chest?!” I say through gritted teeth.
“I knew you lot would be coming, so I made sure to prepare.”
“She doesn’t deserve this,” Max says.
Stefano approaches. “She is a thief who needed to be taught a lesson, so I gave her one. And you don’t have the slightest idea what you’ve gotten yourself into.”
When he gets too close, I point a knife right at his skull. “Take one more step and I will flay your fucking skin off your living body.”
The man merely smiles like he’s enjoying this.
Groaning in the back makes me instantly look up and lose sight of the man in front of me.
She’s awake.
“You know, I think we may have gotten off on the wrong foot,” Stefano says, stepping back a little to avoid the pointy end of my blade.
“I doubt that,” I reply. “You fucking destroyed our house.”
“That was an unfortunate necessity,” he says, still twirling that damn knife of his. “After I finally learned where Ivy was keeping …” His eyes darken. “My daughter.”
CHAPTER 57
Max
So it is true. Cora isn’t hers.
Ivy’s eyes crack open, and I glance her way.
“So you see, this was all a misunderstanding.”
“Misunderstanding, my ass,” Heath growls back. “There has to be a reason she stole your daughter.”
Ivy whimpers.
“Ivy,” I mutter, wishing I could take her pain away.
“You won’t get her back. She stole my daughter after all, so it is my job to punish her as I see fit,” Stefano says.
“Punish her?” I ask, shaking my head. “You don’t know how well she took care of Cora. It’s all a big mistake, I’m sure.”
“A mistake?” Stefano raises his brows and lifts a finger. “Oh no. She planned this for months.”
I glance at Ivy, who eyes me with despair, hoping it isn’t true.
But when she opens her mouth to try to speak, only gibberish comes out.
“What is she trying to say?” Silas mutters at Heath.
“I don’t know.”
“Don’t bother. She’ll only try to lie some more to spin a web around you like a goddamn spider,” Stefano says.
“Daddy? I’m scared. Can I go to my room?” Cora asks.
Fuck, hearing her panicked little voice makes me want to grab her and take her with me right now. But Stefano’s hell-bent on keeping them both here at all costs.
“Soon, honey,” Stefano replies. “Daddy has to take care of some guests first.”
“You mean Silas, Heath, and Max?” Cora mutters.
His eyes narrow. “Yes. I believe they stormed into my house uninvited. How many men did you take down? Five?”
“Twenty. At least,” Silas retorts.
He snorts arrogantly. “You think that’s a lot?” Roaring laughter follows. “How many men do you think I have, kid? Just a couple hundred?” Suddenly, his laughter stops. “I am one of the lieutenants of the Bones Brotherhood, and you are in way over your head.”
Silas’s face darkens. “Send me a thousand, I don’t care. I will kill them all to get to her.”
A smile tugs at Stefano’s lips. “Brave. I like that. So what do you want, boy? Money?”
Silas lifts his knife higher. “You think I need money?” He laughs menacingly. “I have more money than I could ever fucking dream of.”
“Then what do you want? The girl?” Stefano snorts. “You can have her after I’m done with her.”
“Over my dead body,” Heath growls.
I’m glad he feels the same way.
Stefano chortles. “That can be arranged, no problem.”
“I don’t think you understand us,” Silas says. “We’re not leaving here without her.”
“What about Cora?” I ask.
“Cora stays here. With me,” Stefano growls.
“Daddy, I’m scared.”
“I know, honey,” he says.
“Don’t be scared, Cora. We’ll take care of everything,” I tell her.
“You think you’re the good guys?” Stefano growls. “When you harbored the thief who stole my child out of my own damn home?” He points at Ivy. “My wife is dead because of her.”
I gasp. “What?”
And it’s hard to believe for me as well.
“She destroyed our family. And you gave her a pass.”
My gaze fixates on Ivy, who desperately tries to speak, but her throat seems to have been clamped shut by all the pain she’s had to endure from whatever this fucker did to her.
I home in on her face to try to decipher what she wants, but then I realize her earpieces are missing.