Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 114551 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 573(@200wpm)___ 458(@250wpm)___ 382(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114551 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 573(@200wpm)___ 458(@250wpm)___ 382(@300wpm)
“Your dad was busy getting me hard,” I call back, a wicked grin stretching across my face, knowing only my boys and Oakley would truly understand what I could possibly mean by that, while Matthias’s army is probably wondering why the man they’ve sworn loyalty to is fucking the prisoners.
My sweet little Firefly groans, disgust etched into her face. “I didn’t need that visual in my head,” she tells me. “Now would you hurry up and get over here so we can get this over and done with?”
“Oh, yeah,” I say, hurrying through the courtyard, squeezing my way through the surrendered army. “Coming through,” I say, tiptoeing around them and clipping a few with the chains braced around my wrists. “Excuse me. Hey there. Hello. Don’t mind me. How ya doing? Oh, nice ring,” I say, stopping by a woman and gazing at the massive fucking rock resting on her petite finger. “I’m gonna need that.”
“What?” she breathes.
“You heard me.”
The woman sighs, and not a moment later, slips the rock off her finger and presses it into the palm of my hand, and with that, I scurry the rest of the way, not wanting to hold this up any longer than necessary. After all, Oakley only has what’s left of tonight and tomorrow, and I’m sure she doesn’t want to be wasting it here.
Reaching the roof, I step in toward Cross’s left side, and I don’t miss the way his gaze drops to the bullet wound in my chest that’s still steadily bleeding. “You good?” he questions, studiously ignoring the bruises covering my skin, knowing damn well they were provoked.
“Fine,” I say. “Let’s just get this done.”
Turning my attention to Zade, I watch as he looks out at the army before him, committing every last face to memory and making a note of his enemies. “In a little over twenty-four hours, I will ascend Empire’s great throne and inherit the crown,” he calls over the night. “This is your only warning that those who stand against me, those who betray their leader will be punished to the full extent of our law, and I intend—”
“Fuck. Get down,” Cross roars. His booming voice has us all dropping to the ground without question, and as Santos emerges from the crowd, a loud gunshot echoes through the courtyard. My hand whips behind me, the heavy chains slowing my movement, but Zade is already there, firing back, the gun once held at Matthias’ temple now aimed at Santos.
Zade lets off two shots, and in his moment of distraction, Matthias throws himself off the roof and lands in a sea of his loyal followers below. They quickly form a cluster around him, protecting him with their lives. Some of them grab their guns while others flee. Not wanting to risk Oakley getting hit by a stray bullet, we take off, darting across the rooftops and keeping to the shadows.
Gunfire follows us, but they’re shooting blind, and I can’t help but zero in on the sound of Oakley’s booming laugh as Sawyer clutches her arm, making sure she doesn’t fall behind. “I’m so pissed we didn’t get him, but that was fucking awesome,” she says.
“You’ll get your chance,” Cross tells her.
“I had a whole speech planned out and everything.”
I can’t help but laugh, and as the bullet wound in my chest really starts to bother me, I pull myself together, zipping my lips and not exerting any more energy than necessary. My focus needs to be on getting my ass back to the car.
Reaching the end of the roof, we launch ourselves straight off the edge and fall to the ground as Oakley hesitates, waiting a moment for Sawyer to stop and hold his arms out to her. She takes a breath, and then remembering who the fuck she is, Oakley takes the plunge and jumps after us, looking like a fucking goddess as she goes.
With one final trek through the thick bushes surrounding the compound, we try to get a move on, but my pace quickly starts to slow as I grow light-headed. Zade hovers closely by my side, ready to push me along if need be. It’s agonizing, but I make it all the way to the car, and the second I fall through the back door of Zade’s SUV, Oakley takes my hand, and just like that, unconsciousness claims me.
Chapter 24
OAKLEY
A heaviness rests on my heart as I stand out on the roof of the DeVil Hotel, tears welling in my eyes as I watch the sun slowly set and the sixtieth moon rise in the late afternoon sky.
This is it. Tonight is the night. The hour before dawn will end it all.
I’ve been hollow all day, and the guys have been tiptoeing around me, too scared to say the wrong thing and leave me a wreck, but honestly, they’re feeling it too. It’s been a heavy day. I’ve cried, laughed, forced smiles, and then cried some more.