Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 146666 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 733(@200wpm)___ 587(@250wpm)___ 489(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 146666 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 733(@200wpm)___ 587(@250wpm)___ 489(@300wpm)
Suddenly, they were inside Reaper’s.
“Put me down. Put me down!” she cried.
“Soon. We’re nearly there. Just stop hitting me.”
Shoot. She hadn’t even realized that she’d been banging her fists down on his back.
He stopped and shuffled her around before entering a room. Panic still held her in its nasty grip.
Breathe.
She couldn’t . . . she couldn’t seem to catch a breath!
“Let me out of here!” a female voice demanded. “I can help! You had no right to lock me up in here!”
This guy had locked someone locked up? As he set her on her feet, she stumbled back, staring around. It looked to be an office. There was a big desk facing the door and a worn-looking sofa along a back wall.
There. That’s where she’d be safe. The space between the wall and the sofa. She didn’t really see the other woman. She was too busy trying to make space to fit her small body.
“What’s going on? What did you do to her?”
“I didn’t do anything to her, Emme,” Butch said with exasperation. “I’m supposed to protect the two of you.”
“So you throw us both in a locked room?” Emme demanded. “I should be out there! I can help!”
“No, you shouldn’t and you can’t. Reyes wants you in here. Safe. Hack wants the same for her.”
“She’s with Hack? Wait, this is Sav’s sister, Greer?”
This woman knew her? Wait . . . Emme. Reyes. Right. Reyes was the President of the Iron Shadows. And Emme was his girl.
A gorgeous woman with dark curly hair crouched in front of her small hiding space.
“Hey there. You’re Greer?”
She managed to nod, even though she was still fighting to breathe and there were dark spots dancing through her vision.
Do not pass out. Do not.
She pressed the nails of her right hand into the top of her left wrist.
Emme took her in. “She’s having a panic attack.”
“What?” Butch appeared over Emme’s shoulder, staring down at her. She shied back.
“Butch! You’re scaring her.”
“Shit, shit, shit!” The other man ran his hand over his head, looking stressed. “Fuck. I didn’t mean to. I just wanted to get her to safety.”
“It’s okay. It will be all right. We’re just all going to stay nice and calm,” Emme said. She smiled at Greer as she sat in front of her. “My name is Emme. I know you don’t know me, but I know your brother, Sav. He’s a good guy. And so is Livvy . . . not that she’s a guy. But you know what I mean. Did you know that dogs have panic attacks? They often shake and pant and bite themselves. You’re not tempted to bite yourself, are you? Because I’m sure you can gnaw on Butch instead.”
Butch groaned. “Hack is going to kill me for scaring her.”
“Also, you locked us up,” Emme pointed out.
“For your own safety.”
It seemed crazy, but their banter was helping her relax. She managed to take a deeper breath.
No one is going to hurt you.
Hack will be back soon.
“I could be out there! I’m an excellent fighter,” she told Greer.
She was?
“No, you’re not,” Butch countered.
“Am too. Well, I’d make a great general anyway. I’m a good strategizer.”
“Emme, it’s a street brawl, not war.”
“Everything is war,” Emme said in a low, dark voice.
“Right. I let you out there, you get hurt, and not only is Reyes after my ass but your dad will be too.”
“Aww, you scared of Markovich?” Emme taunted.
“Any sane person would be,” he countered before stepping away to do something on his phone.
Emme leaned in. “He scared you, huh? Want me to get a bit of revenge?”
Greer shook her head. No, she knew that Butch was just doing what Hack had asked of him. She didn’t want any sort of revenge on him. She already felt silly enough hiding like she was. It was obvious that he didn’t want to harm her.
“Yeah, I agree.” Emme nodded and stood, stretching. She walked over to a handbag that was sitting by the desk.
What was she doing?
Greer looked over at Butch, but he wasn’t paying them much attention. He was frowning down at his phone.
Shit. She hadn’t even thought much about what was going on outside. What if Hack was hurt? Shit. And she was just sitting here!
“Oh my God!” Emme screamed, making Greer jump and Butch spin around.
“What? What is it?” he demanded.
“Spider!” Emme jumped on the sofa next to her. “There’s a spider!”
Shit! Greer wasn’t scared of spiders, but the way Emme was acting, she obviously was. What if it was poisonous?
“What? Where?” Butch asked. “And shit, get down off that sofa before you hurt yourself.”
He was so grouchy. And overprotective. He held his hands out to grab Emme and she quickly smacked her hand down on the top of his head.
“What the hell!” Butch reached up, touching the spot where she’d gotten him, and his fingers came back covered in blue slime.