Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 71275 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71275 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
“Falcon has her,” he said matter-of-factly.
“FUCK!” I roared, unable to keep my mouth shut.
I ran my hand through my hair and gripped a handful, pulling hard. I had to get this sheer terror consuming me under control. It was taking over. I wanted to storm out of here and go get her, but my motherfucking leg was making that impossible.
Blaise didn’t flinch. “He wants the money that he says is his from the buildings Churchill sold of his. He’s asking for more than the buildings were worth. Over a million dollars more, to be exact. He knows we have that and thinks he can demand it of me and get it because he has Rumor. No one places demands on me.”
No. No, he was not going to let her stay there. I’d tear the place down to get to her if I had to.
“You’ll have to put a bullet in my head to stop me from going after her,” I spat, not caring about his power or his fucking pride.
“KING!” The fear in my father’s voice was clear. He was sure I’d die right here, and if I didn’t manage to control myself, he’d be right.
Blaise, however, didn’t seem at all affected by my outburst. He studied me for a moment, saying nothing. I knew the man could have his gun out and put a bullet between my eyes in the blink of an eye. I had to save Rumor, and I couldn’t do it dead.
“If I hadn’t spoken with Maeme moments before walking in this door, you would be. Dead on the floor, that is. But unlike my father, when he stood in my position, I have one weakness. My wife and son. So, I have one question for you. Do you love her?”
I stared at him. I knew the story. We all did. He’d been obsessed with the woman he eventually married years before she knew he existed. He protected her. Took care of her from a distance. And when the man she thought was her father and the brother that she’d grown up with tried to sell her without her knowledge, he had killed them both and taken her. I wouldn’t consider what he felt for his wife love because it was much stronger than that emotion.
I didn’t trust love. It came and went. People changed. Moved on. It faded.
The sheer anguish that was seeping through every pore of my body because Rumor had been taken from me wasn’t love. It was stronger. It didn’t fade. I had already accepted that what I felt for her wasn’t going to end. I would always want her. Hear her laugh, feel her sweet touch as she reached out to me. All the shattered pieces of my soul from the darkness in my life, she had put them together. She saw the good in me. Something no one else had ever looked for. She had found it and accepted me for all that I was.
“She’s claimed my goddamn soul.”
There was a small hint of a smirk on his face at my description.
“I see,” he replied. “Then, you should know that they’ve not just taken Rumor, but they’ve taken your child as well. Maeme informed me that Rumor is pregnant. This means they’ve taken not one, but two family members. It’s no longer about money. They’ve just brought hell to their doorstep.”
I stood, stunned, unable to speak as he turned to Stellan.
“Get the men ready. Thatcher has the location. Gage is headed that way now. We take them all out. If they stand in the way, they die,” he informed him, then left the room as Stellan followed him.
My eyes locked with my father’s. He looked as completely shook as I was.
“Jesus Christ, Maeme,” he swore as he ran his hand over his face.
When had she found out? How long had she known? Fuck! Rumor was pregnant. Was she sick? I had to get to her. She needed me. She had to be so fucking scared. She would be terrified for the baby. I was fucking terrified for them both.
Mine. They’d taken what was mine.
“Why didn’t she tell me?” I asked, not sure it was directed at my father or not.
I would have stayed with her. Taken care of her. I’d have fought to stay there.
“Maeme. This is her doing. She knew you wouldn’t finish the job. This was her way of protecting you and Rumor … and my grandchild.”
I sucked in a deep breath. The sharp, stabbing pain in my chest was worse than the gunshot to my leg had been. I had to get to her.
“Get me crutches,” I said through clenched teeth.
My dad shook his head. “No. You can’t go. It’s the fucking Insantos. You can’t walk.”
“I’M GOING TO GET WHAT IS MINE!”
My father took two steps in my direction with his finger pointed at me. “If you want to be alive for your child’s birth, then you will use your fucking head! We will get her. This is all our fight now. You heard Blaise. He’s taking this personal.”