Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 94513 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94513 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
It wasn’t a female. Nicco was thrown back so hard that he landed on his butt in a loud crash as his body knocked over several of the empty liquor bottles. A much larger guy walked into the apartment, closing the door behind him. I sucked in a breath and held it. He was here, and I’d been wrong. In the light of day, he was even more attractive. And he had a gun in his right hand, pointed at Nicco.
“I didn’t do it, man,” Nicco told him, holding up both hands. “I swear it!”
The man tilted his head, and the sinister gleam in his eyes lifted to me.
Topaz. His eyes were topaz. They were breathtaking, but they belonged to a man who was holding a gun and wanted to kill me.
“You said I had twenty-four hours,” I blurted.
He motioned to Nicco with the gun in his hand. “I lied. You did as expected and led me to answers.”
“He’s not here! Tell him, Halo! He’s gone.”
Those eyes swung back to Nicco. “Then, where the fuck is he?”
Oh God. We were all going to die.
I put both hands on my stomach, as if that were enough to protect the life inside me. If he shot me, my hands weren’t going to do anything.
“Ares enlisted in the Army after graduation. He left for boot camp two months ago.”
Rage lit his expression as he lifted his arm and pointed the gun at me. “You lied to me last night.”
I shook my head. “No. No, I don’t know where boot camp is. I planned on telling you this tonight.”
“You expect me to believe that? Why wait? Come here to see this guy? Hmm? What was it you were warning him about? I told you if you ran, I’d kill you and your entire family.”
“That’s not it. You don’t understand,” I replied just as a bullet silently whizzed past me and into the cabinet, causing something to shatter inside.
A cry tore from my mouth, and I dropped to the floor.
“WHOA!” Nicco shouted. “Don’t kill her! She didn’t do shit! I swear it!”
“That was a warning. If I’d wanted to kill her just now, she’d be dead,” he replied.
Another sob escaped me, and I ducked my head, covering my mouth. Wishing I could crawl into a small hole and hide. He’d shot at me.
Oh God, oh God, oh God.
“What is it you want? She told you he’s at boot camp,” Nicco told him as his voice cracked.
“I want vengeance. That’s what I fucking want,” he drawled. “An eye for an eye might be all I can have right now.”
“Wait!” Nicco shouted.
I was afraid to look up at either of them.
“She’s pregnant.”
His words, however, caused my head to snap up, and I stared at Nicco in shock. How did he know? I’d not told a soul other than Crosby.
“And you think I care?” The man sounded disgusted.
Nicco’s gaze met mine. “If the vengeance you’re seeking is for Crosby, then, yes, I do.”
Crosby? I sat up from my crouched position. A cold chill ran through my body as I stared at Nicco, then looked at the other man. Why were they talking about Crosby and getting vengeance for him?
“What does that mean, Nicco?!” I demanded, my main concern no longer being the gun.
The man swung his weapon back to Nicco. “I’d like that answer too.”
I saw movement out of the corner of my eye and looked over to see Ronnie with his own gun pointed at the stranger. I froze, wanting to warn the man because I needed to know what he had to do with Crosby.
It was on the tip of my tongue to say something when the man moved so fast that I would have missed it if I’d blinked. The crack of the gunshot made me jump just before Ronnie fell back, hitting the wall as the gun dropped from his hand. I gasped in horror as blood oozed from between his eyes. Covering my mouth, I was sure I was about to be sick.
“Fuck!” Nicco swore. “I told Ares not to, okay? But he’d found a pregnancy test hidden in the trash. Then, he got Carina’s phone and checked it or some shit. He looked at their messages or something. He got real fucking worked up over it. Halo had been talking to Crosby a lot, and he had heard it—I guess listening from another room. Then, he listened in on the last call she made to him. She told Crosby about the positive test.” He shook his head. “Ares has a fucking temper, and he is real protective of Halo. I told him not to take the damn gun and go hunt him down.”
I stared at Nicco as all the blood drained from my face. I heard a wail and realized it was me. Wrapping my arms around my stomach, I began to rock.