Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 80660 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80660 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
“Really, guys, I think you’ve got the wrong person. We can talk about this.”
To his relief, they didn’t whip out guns and mow him down in the middle of the Paris street on a pretty summer afternoon. One man, who was easily five inches taller than him and possessed shoulders that blotted out the sun, stepped forward with his fists raised. The first swing gave Soren a brief flash of hope. The man had power, but he moved slow. Soren dodged the punch and swooped in to quickly deliver one of his own.
The only problem was that his companions didn’t wait for Soren to beat him. Two more jumped into the fray and they were faster. He blocked one swing, but grunted as a fist slammed into his ribs, knocking the wind from his lungs while another connected with his jaw. He dodged a few more, but blows were starting to sneak through more and more often. This was a losing battle. He needed to run, but he was afraid he wasn’t going to be fast enough now.
All the separate pains were blurring into a single, throbbing pain that encompassed his entire body. His heart was racing, and it was getting damn hard to breathe.
A pained shout surprised him from another part of the sidewalk, and he suddenly lost two of his attackers. He didn’t question it. With renewed hope, he tightened his fists and beat a man with an absurdly large nose and stringy brown hair. Behind him, there were more sounds of fists hitting flesh, grunts, and pained cries. Sirens pierced the air, but they seemed to be coming from too far off to be helpful.
“I can’t take my eyes off you for two seconds,” a voice he’d never thought he’d be happy to hear grumbled.
Soren’s heart gave a painful skip in his chest, and he almost laughed. Alexei had come to his rescue again. His would-be killer was turning into a fantastic avenging angel.
“Just popped out for coffee,” he panted, dodging a haymaker to the side of his head.
He wobbled on his feet, swaying a little. Exhaustion gnawed at him. He’d not slept the night before, and he’d spent the majority of the day on the run from one person or another. Sleep was sounding really good right about now. Fuck, he’d be happy to sit down for five minutes.
Alexei stepped up beside Soren and sighed with heavy irritation. “Do you mind?”
“Nope. Be my guest.”
The attacker looked from one person to the next, confusion drawing lines on his brow. He then looked behind Soren at the same time as Soren stepped aside, revealing four men on the ground, groaning and bleeding. Some unconscious. Yes, Alexei was definitely efficient.
With lightning speed, the young man delivered two swift hits and slammed the man headfirst into the nearest wall. He collapsed like a bag of potatoes and didn’t move.
For a few ragged breaths, they stared at each other. Alexei’s sharp eyes swept over him from head to toe, his frown growing deeper by the second. Soren tensed, not sure if he should be preparing to defend himself or trying to run. He wasn’t sure he could. Everything hurt.
“Come on,” Alexei said suddenly. He grabbed Soren’s arm and jerked him toward the nearest black Mercedes driven by his attackers. After shoving Soren into the passenger seat and shutting the door, he raced around and climbed behind the wheel. In seconds, they were speeding away from the scene of his attack and disappearing into the crush of Paris traffic as the police arrived on the scene.
“Alexei—”
The assassin swore loudly and hammered his fist on the steering wheel. “I swear to God, this is the last time I’m rescuing your ass!”
Soren smiled to himself, wincing at the pain from his split lip. He relaxed in the seat and closed his eyes. He didn’t know where Alexei was taking him, but he believed that he was safe for now. Maybe he could convince Alexei to help him take care of his current problem.
Either way, they’d figure it all out when he didn’t hurt quite so bad.
Chapter 9
Alexei stood over Soren, his hands braced on his hips. The man was a mess. Part of him wanted to go back and shoot all those bastards in the head for what they did to him. At the time, there had been far too many witnesses. No killing in view of the public was usually a damn good rule.
But he still wanted to kill them. Rules be damned.
While they’d zipped across Paris, he’d called his friend to meet him again. His friend got rid of the car, while Alexei helped Soren up to his apartment. Again.
This time, he put the man in his bed. Soren was mumbling about his face and ribs hurting. He was also sleepy and wanted to sit down. Alexei had barely gotten him into the bed before Soren nodded off. He felt around his head, checking for lumps but didn’t feel any. It was likely that he’d really fallen asleep versus passing out.