Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 80207 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 401(@200wpm)___ 321(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80207 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 401(@200wpm)___ 321(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
I’m coming, Vincent.
“Noooo!” Everleigh screams, the sound filled with agony and desperation.
She hurries to me and throws herself over my chest.
“No. Don’t die. Please, Alek. I can’t live without you,” she rambles, her arms around my neck threatening to strangle the little life I have left from my body.
More gunshots erupt, and Dario drops dead to the floor, the side of his face blown away.
Papa.
I don’t know where I find the strength, but I push Everleigh back, and struggling to my feet, I wrap my arm around her shoulders so I can lean on her and keep her close.
“We need to move,” I order.
My girl wraps her arm around my lower back to help me move, careful not to touch the torn skin. When we get to the door, and I’m about to tell her to pick up Dario’s gun, I see my father hurrying down the hallway.
He locks eyes with me and picks up his pace while barking, “Come. Hurry!”
I didn’t expect a warm reunion. That’s not the kind of person my father is.
“Where’s Vincent?” he asks, his voice strained.
I can only shake my head as I lean into Everleigh so I can limp faster.
Papa’s eyes land on her, and before he can ask who she is, I say, “She’s coming with me.”
“Boss. We’ve got Prodi out back,” Grigory, my father’s second in charge, calls from down the hallway.
Papa forgets about Everleigh as he spins around and jogs toward Grigory.
“Let’s hurry,” I tell Everleigh, and as we head past the bodies of Prodi’s men, I get a sliver of satisfaction that they’re dead.
“Your father came, Alek,” my girl whispers with overwhelming relief making her voice hoarse. “We’ve been saved!”
I pull her closer to me, and together we find our way out of the warehouse that’s been our prison for weeks…months.
I won’t know how long we were Prodi’s captives until I talk with my father.
Papa came.
If only he had come earlier.
From the blood loss I’m suffering, I start to feel severely lightheaded, and Everleigh struggles to keep me on my feet as she drags me to the nearest SUV.
“Alek needs to go to the hospital. He’s been shot!” she shouts at someone.
I can’t keep my head up, and I start to drift in and out of consciousness.
At least Everleigh will get to live.
Strong arms grab me, and I’m forced into the back of an SUV. It only takes seconds before I feel Everleigh’s hands pressing down on the bullet wound to my thigh.
“We have to hurry,” she cries, the desperation in her voice growing thicker.
I still hear gunfire, and I can’t tell how long we wait before the SUV dips from men climbing into the vehicle.
“Aleksandr,” Papa snaps.
Years of conditioning have me lifting my head.
“Don’t you dare fucking die,” he orders.
“Yes, sir,” I mumble, my speech slurred.
Grigory is behind the steering wheel, starting the engine and driving us away from the hellhole where I lost my brother and found a consuming love.
I have no idea where we are when Papa snaps, “Stop the car.”
Grigory pulls over, and once again, my vision goes spotty from losing too much blood.
“Alek!” Everleigh shouts, ripping me back to reality. She grabs hold of my arm, but it’s only for a second before she’s ripped away from me.
“No!” Using the last of my strength, I shove the door open and stagger out of the SUV. “Stop!” My eyes focus on Papa as he shoves Everleigh into a field. “Papa!” I shout, but my voice is too weak to carry to him.
My body fails me, and as I drop to my knees, three shots echo into the night.
NoNoNoNoNo!
My entire world implodes as I watch the bullets hit Everleigh. Like a string that’s been pulled too tight, my sanity snaps.
The last thing I see is her falling to the ground.
Chapter 16
Alek
Coming to, I’m confused as fuck.
My body feels like it’s been torn apart, and I struggle to pry my eyes open.
For a blissful moment, I don’t remember what happened as I glance around the sterile room, seeing Misha sitting on an armchair.
My best friend glances at me, and instantly a smile spreads over his face. He rushes to the doorway, and leaning out into the hallway, he shouts, “Alek’s awake!”
My parents and Tiana come barreling into the hospital room.
Mama looks like she’s aged ten years, a shock of white streaks in her dark brown hair. Her face has new lines, and her eyes are dull with heartache.
Tiana starts to cry and comes to grab my hand.
Then my eyes land on my father’s stern face.
Vincent.
Everleigh.
The moment of bliss splinters, and every shard flays my soul to shreds.
My brother’s head falls forward, and blood trickles from the gunshot wound to his temple.
NONONONONO!
My body fails me, and as I drop to my knees, three shots echo into the night.
My entire world implodes as I watch the bullets hit Everleigh.