Total pages in book: 19
Estimated words: 17383 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 87(@200wpm)___ 70(@250wpm)___ 58(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 17383 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 87(@200wpm)___ 70(@250wpm)___ 58(@300wpm)
“Where is he, then?” Father barely moves his head to look at him.
“He’ll be here tonight. If we find anyone else, I’ll let you know,” the guard answers.
Father nods and waves him off.
“And there we have it. Quit your crying, Jess. You should be smiling.” Father flashes a toothy grin in my direction. “It’s your wedding day.”
13
ROMEO
Iwaited for the cover of darkness to make my move. Another dark and stormy night, but this one doesn’t leave me with a foreboding sense. It’s a reflection of my mood, or better yet, the heavens pissing itself in fear of what’s about to happen at Mayfair Manor.
Oh, yeah. I’m gonna enjoy this.
“Eyes up,” I order, the same way he did when he yanked me from my slumber.
To my surprise, he listens. His eyelids are fluttering, but they travel from the floor to mine.
“This can’t be worth it, can it?” I ask.
The gate guard can’t say a thing to change my mind. Having someone twice your size squeeze the life out of you in the most belittling way possible has to be one of the worst insults any man can endure.
Yet, here we are.
My black-gloved hand pins him against the rickety wall of his guardhouse. His feet dangle off the ground, the same way a kid might when embracing their parents. His reddened face is already bruised and swollen from the blow I delivered on my arrival.
A smarter man would’ve hit him in the back and kept going until the guard wasn’t breathing anymore. No one ever accused me of being a smart man, though, and I have a use for him beyond death.
He should count himself as one of the lucky ones—standing before my almighty wrath and living to tell the tale. Hell, the baseball bat I wanted to crush his skull with probably suffered more damage than his face.
“Don’t kill me.” There isn’t much air getting into his lungs, and he’s wasting it on begging for his life?
I’m not surprised, just disappointed.
“You felt mighty strong back at my place, didn’t you?” I tighten my grip while I speak. “What about now?”
I loosen for an answer, but one never comes.
“You feel like Jess did. Scared because your life is being taken from you.” My light. My purity. The last good thing in this world and these savages are trying to kill it.
“I was—” He struggles with every letter and stammers over every word. Can’t be easy to speak with your windpipe being squeezed in my vise grip. “Doing my job.”
“Kidnapping a woman is part of your job?” How I sound this calm when I feel like someone dropped a nuke in my chest surprises me. Makes me feel strange. As if I’m pulling way too much enjoyment from something that is and should be harrowing.
He declines to answer. Can’t blame him. I’d be pissing myself if the roles were reversed.
“You want to live, don’t you?” If he does not indulge my fun, I might as well move on.
His eyes flash with relief, and he bobs his head as far as it will go before striking my hand. I release him, and he drops to his feet. They give out to his weight instantly, and he topples over, heaving loudly from the floor.
I disarmed him while he was disorientated from my initial strike. I’m keeping the gun, too. The karmic justice of saving the day with the weapon that could’ve ended me is far too alluring to let slip.
“Thank you,” he says, as a fat tear rolls down his cheek.
“Oh, don’t do that yet. You don’t know what I want in return for your life.” Not that it matters. He’ll give me anything I want now, knowing how serious I am in going through with my threats.
“What is it?” His wheezy breath comes out like whistles ringing.
“How many guards are stationed inside?”
“Six,” he answers before I’ve finished the question.
“Where are they stationed?”
“Most will be on patrol.” As he says it, I see a flashlight in the distance. One’s outside. Assuming the rest are inside is my safest bet. “But at least two will be with Mr. Mayfair.”
“When you wake up, you’re free to go. Don’t try to find me. I won’t be so kind next time,” I say.
The gate guard’s face scrunches up in confusion. “Wake up?”
I drive my heel against the side of his head to answer him. It’s all he needs to go limp.
“Sleep tight.”
My attention turns to the small window that his head blocked while I held him up. Through it, I see Mayfair Manor. A ghastly monument shrouded in the black inkiness of night. Out of all the windows, there’s only one with a light on inside.
I’m coming, Jess.
And they’re going to pay for taking you away from me.
14
JESS
Bang! Bang! Bang!
It’s a war zone out there. Like an armada of soldiers has stormed Mayfair Manor to rescue me. Maybe it is. Romeo said Salvatore Lione wants Father destroyed, and my guess is he’s called in the big guns. Not that there are any weapons larger than his tree trunk arms.