Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 144908 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 725(@200wpm)___ 580(@250wpm)___ 483(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144908 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 725(@200wpm)___ 580(@250wpm)___ 483(@300wpm)
She forced herself to keep from leaping at her best friend and attacking her. “Amanda, how are they going to kill him? Master? How are they planning to kill him?” She kept her voice very calm. It shook, but she managed to keep her cool. Somehow. She wanted to run out of the now-way-too-small bathroom and find him. See for herself that he was safe. Where was he?
“I’m sorry, Ambrie. I didn’t know what to do. I honestly had never heard you talk about him. When you said you were married to him and you looked so happy, I tried to make myself believe you were making it up or you were, like, a victim of Stockholm syndrome. Tell me what to do to make this right. I don’t know what to do.”
“You have to tell me how they planned to kill Master,” Ambrie insisted.
Amanda shook her head. “I don’t know exactly. Only that I was supposed to take you out of the restaurant at a certain time and they knew he would follow. They have a sniper waiting to kill my brother if I don’t comply. I guess they’ll kill Master when he follows to get you back. That must be the plan.”
Ambrielle covered her face for a minute before raising her head and looking at her friend. She’d known Amanda a long time. She’d always known Amanda had a difficult time making decisions. She just hadn’t realized how hard it was for her to really think things through when no one helped her. “These people are ruthless, Amanda. They could come into this restaurant with guns and kill innocent people. It wouldn’t matter to them how many they killed to make their point.”
“What are we going to do?”
Lissa and Scarlet emerged from the stalls to wash their hands. Amanda jumped and let out a little surprised squeak.
“We’re going to make certain everyone is safe,” Ambrielle said. “I have to find Master.”
“Ambrie,” Lissa cautioned, “if he’s not inside, don’t go outside. Stay with Casimir or Czar. We need to get Blythe out of here first. The others will find the sniper, or if there’s more than one, they’ll clear them. Just go back to the table like nothing’s happened.”
“I’m going to find Master,” Ambrie reiterated. “Hopefully, he’s at the table.”
She didn’t wait for Amanda. She didn’t care if the other women were angry that she didn’t listen to them or if later Master gave her a lecture because she didn’t follow their advice. She hurried out of the restroom and made her way to the entrance of the back room. She could see that the chair Master had been sitting in was vacant, and her heart began to pound. Had he gone outside? He didn’t like to be with a lot of people.
Where was he? She turned to survey the main dining room as Amanda seated herself beside Marcus. She watched as Lissa whispered to Czar. Master wasn’t in the main dining room. The restaurant wasn’t all that big. If he wasn’t in either of the rooms, had he gone outside onto the large patio area, where there was outside dining? The area was covered and there were gas heaters. She made her way through the tables to the double doors that led to the outdoor seating. Just as she went to open the door, a very large tattooed man with long, thick hair stepped in front of her.
“Whoa there, little sister, where are you going?” His voice was low, a hoarse rasp, as if his vocal cords had been permanently damaged.
Ambrielle looked up at him and should have been terrified. He was covered in prison tattoos. There wasn’t anything soft about him, and yet she wasn’t in the least afraid. He was wearing Torpedo Ink colors, and he had called her little sister. That was enough for her.
“I’m looking for Master. Amanda just told me Walker Thompson’s men are here to kill him with snipers. The plan was for Amanda to get me to go outside with her, knowing he would follow. They were going to shoot him.”
“Then going outside isn’t a good idea, is it?” He had his hand around her arm. Gentle. A shackle. There was no moving.
“I can’t find him.” She tried not to sound as if she was panicking. “Wait. If they were here to kill him, if that was the plan all along, it stands to reason they would have sent someone inside. A team. They have these assassins. Not like regular mercenaries. They’re different. Master thinks they were trained at the same schools you were.” She was so afraid for Master that she was talking too fast, the words tumbling out, falling over one another.
The huge giant was gently pulling her away from the door and in the direction of the kitchen. “I’m Destroyer. You must be Master’s woman. There’s no mistaking the fairy princess description.” All the while he kept directing her away from the patio doors. He was such a large man, and so incredibly strong, it was easy for him to block her with his body and move her where he wanted her to go without making it seem as if he were being overbearing and pushy.