Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 95906 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 480(@200wpm)___ 384(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95906 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 480(@200wpm)___ 384(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
It seemed to take forever to reach the room that had suddenly gone deathly quiet. It was only when I was a few feet away that I heard the guy warn, “Now you call that kid back here—”
“No,” was the singular, broken response.
A terrible silence followed and then there was a sickening snapping sound that I was all too familiar with, followed by an agonized scream.
My body went cold as I stepped into the room. I ignored the debris scattered all over the floor. I only had eyes for the giant of a man pressing Micah face-first against the wall. Even from my position, I could tell he had Micah’s right arm pulled behind him. The sound I’d heard was proof of what he’d done to that arm.
I didn’t even give any thought to it before I did the exact same thing to the fucker’s knee… well, the back of his knee, anyway. I didn’t hold back as my shoe made contact with the back of Asshole’s knee. There was a satisfying crunching sound just before the man screamed in agony. He automatically released Micah and fell to his good knee as he grabbed his bad one.
“What the—” was all he got out before I kicked him in the face, knocking him to his back. He ended up lying on top of a partially broken dresser.
The man let out a few pitiful cries as he cupped his bleeding nose.
I used the time to glance at Micah who’d slid to the floor during the melee. He’d managed to turn his body around so he was facing the room and he’d pulled his knees up, presumably to protect his battered body. His choking sobs mixed with deep breaths as his eyes met mine. The sight of him cradling what was likely a broken arm would have been enough in itself to have me reaching for the asshole in front of me again, but it was Micah’s eyes… those beautiful emerald eyes that were wet with tears that had me grabbing Asshole’s shirt collar and pulling him up just a bit.
Micah didn’t say anything as I struck the man again.
And again.
He didn’t have to.
Despite being covered in blood and his pale skin quickly turning dark with bruises, his eyes told me everything I needed to know… everything Micah needed me to do for him… wanted me to do for him.
There would be no walking away from him this time.
“Never again,” I vowed softly to Micah, though I doubted he even heard me. Then I turned my eyes back to the man beneath me.
“Never again,” I repeated to the fucker. I had the pleasure of watching his eyes flood with confusion, then stark fear as I raised my arm and did what I hadn’t allowed myself to do in a long time… not since that moment when Brady’s knife had torn through my flesh so long ago.
I let go.
Chapter Three
Micah
I wanted to let him kill Ricky.
I really did.
I wanted to sit there and relish every strike of the man’s fist against Ricky’s face, especially the ones that had Ricky begging for the guy towering over him to stop.
How many times had I made that same plea?
Dozens?
Hundreds?
And how many times had Ricky stopped? How many times had he shown me mercy?
That was an easy one.
Zero.
But it wasn’t about me. It hadn’t been in a really long time. And as much as I would have loved to just climb to my feet and leave Ricky to his fate, I knew it wasn’t going to happen. I couldn’t let it. And not because I gave a shit about what happened to Ricky.
Bottom line was the fucker wasn’t worth going to jail for and that was exactly what would happen if the stranger towering over Ricky’s body continued to lay into him.
I tried to focus on my rescuer, but I couldn’t see anything out of my left eye and the vision in my right eye was quickly failing so I wasn’t sure how long before that one swelled completely shut too. I tried to take stock of my other injuries beyond the breath-stealing pain in my arm. My legs felt okay, but I was in so much pain that I knew the chance of actually climbing to my feet was equal to the number of times Ricky had been kind to me.
Yep, zero again.
Zero, zip, none.
I opened my mouth to call out to my rescuer but all that came out was a strangled moan. I coughed as I attempted to draw in a deep breath and then tried again.
“Hey,” I managed to whisper as I worked hard to focus my good eye on the guy leaning over Ricky’s now still body.
Two things hit me at once as I watched the guy continue to land blow after blow on Ricky’s face which now resembled hamburger more than anything else.