Total pages in book: 42
Estimated words: 40128 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 201(@200wpm)___ 161(@250wpm)___ 134(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 40128 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 201(@200wpm)___ 161(@250wpm)___ 134(@300wpm)
I watch the way she ducks her head and see her turmoil. My woman has found her own personal demons, and after I slay these tangible ones, I have to find a way to destroy those invisible ones. One by one, Damon’s men fall, little pussies who I recognize as a local gang in Dallas. They were probably hired to do his dirty work, which fucking sucks because we are creating a host of new enemies with this war. Still, I’d burn this city to the ground for my woman.
One by one, bodies fall to the ground, but I want one head above all, and that is Damon’s, the piece of shit who took my woman in the first place. The man who thought he had a right to touch the most precious thing in the world and then harm her. Melanie belongs to me, and anything that happens to her is worth killing for. I’ve never had to get my hands this dirty, but there’s nothing I won’t do for my heart and soul.
“Looks like I have something you want,” he says with a smirk.
I stare down the motherfucker and although he appears tough, standing closer to Melanie than I am, he doesn’t have the resolve that I do. It’s written all over his face. Fear washes over him, and it fills the air like a terrible aroma. I want to rip his heart out with my hands for the way my love has been treated, but his death will be enough for me. I hate him with everything in me, but her safety and care are all I need.
“Damon, this is between you and me.”
“Oh, this is much bigger than you and me, playboy. You fuck around and break young girls’ hearts, and now you have the audacity to be upset about the one whore that I took.” At first I’m confused, but the insult to my wife sends me over the edge. I don’t bother wasting time with his nonsense. I want revenge and to make him pay, but now that we’re here, Melanie needs me more.
This isn’t some movie where the fucking villain gets a damn monologue. I put a bullet in his head, and his body dropped. I already know he’s working with the stupid bitch from the salon, and I haven’t broken any hearts.
After he falls, I kick his gun away and rush to Melanie’s side, picking her up in my arms. She’s been through so much that I hate myself more than I can say. Will she still love me for not protecting her? Fuck. I see the wounds and know they wouldn’t be there if I’d strangled Damon the first time I wanted to do it.
“Son, it’s time to go.” Something feels off about all of this, and I can’t figure it out. How did they know about her classes and schedule? Who else was helping Damon and Chrissy? It’s not like she had a tail on the way to school. Someone in town would have noticed it. Her security detail was light, but it’s not nonexistent.
Who knows Melanie’s routine as well as her team? Just me, and maybe her parents. Unless they were stalking her, and only one other person comes to mind, but I hope not for Melanie’s sake. The call and the security break-in.
Chapter Eighteen
Melanie
His arms remain wrapped around me as Will’s father drives us back to Steeleville where Doc is waiting at the hospital to tend to my wounds. I refused treatment at a Dallas hospital, and I could see both relief and concern on their faces because of it. They didn’t want the added questions, but the wait to assess my damage would take longer.
Will hasn’t uttered a word the entire ride, and his father looks through the mirror several times with questioning eyes. Slowly, I pull away from my fiancé—or should I say former fiancé, since there isn’t a ring any longer—and the lack of words emanating from his lips says more than he knows.
My heart cracks. “Will, you can’t blame yourself,” his father says.
“The fuck I can’t,” he snarls. “I should have killed that bastard when I had the chance, and I needed to keep guards I trusted on her at all times.” He turns to me, looking me over with such sadness in his eyes. Taking my hand in his, he asks, “Can you ever forgive me for what they did to you? I know that your hair will grow back, but the abuse and pain you suffered was unbearable. Your neck wound is all my fault. They could have strangled you to death because they couldn’t get that damn thing off.”
I take my hand from his and ask, “Is that why you were so disgusted back there?”
“Melanie, please tell me you’re not serious?”
“I thought you were horrified by me.”