 by Natasha Knight.jpg)
Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 91847 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91847 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
From the moment I first laid eyes on Madelena De Léon, I felt a primal urge to protect her. Keep her safe. Her father had failed her. I would not.
She is innocent, and I have no business taking her to my bed. But Madelena and I are bonded. Our destinies inexplicably linked. As is our survival.
My past is dark. I’ve made many enemies and betrayal runs rampant in my world. But sometimes those closest to you are the most dangerous of all.
If I was a better man, I would let her go. I know it’s the only way to keep her safe.
But any goodness I had in me vanished long ago. I am a man condemned. I want what I want.
And what I want is her.
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
1
SANTOS
“Where is she?” I groan, gritting my teeth as Dr. Cummings stitches me up.
“I don’t know. She ran out while I was trying to keep you from bleeding out,” Val tells me for the hundredth time.
“I realize that. Fuck!” Pain has me hissing. The local anesthetic is slow to work, but I don’t have time to wait. I lean up on my elbows, the flexing of my stomach muscles agonizing.
“Relax, Mr. Augustine,” Cummings says, signaling to Val for help.
“I’ve got men out looking for her,” Val says as he touches my shoulders and eases me down onto my back.
I look past him, willing the doctor to hurry up. The wound looked worse than it was, although I can still see Madelena’s face in that moment before I passed out. Her shock. Her horror. Does she think that I’m dead? That she killed me? The loss of consciousness was due to the crashing of my head against the floor. But there was no time to brace myself and it was either her or me.
“I need to go,” I tell them both. “Now.”
“A few more minutes,” Cummings says, sweat slick on his forehead. For a doctor, he looks fucking queasy. “It’s best for you to rest—”
“That’s it,” I say, sitting up as soon as he has slapped the bandage on. There’s a moment of dizziness, but I shut my eyes against it, and it passes. “Get me a shirt.” Val is already coming out of my closet with one, and I pull it on, wincing as I drag my arm on my injured side into it. “Where’s my brother? Why isn’t he here?”
“We can’t get hold of him. We’re still trying,” Val says.
“Has anyone been to the lighthouse?” I ask, standing. Blood has crusted on the waistband of my slacks, and I know I need to take it easy for the stitches not to rip open, but I need to find her. I need to get to her before she can do anything stupid. I saw how distraught she was after what her brother—her fucking idiot brother who will be dealt with—told her.
I will also never forget the look of utter shock on her face when she saw where the letter opener she still held was lodged.
“The lighthouse? Why would she go there in this storm?”
I glance out the window as the beacon washes the raging waves in light. They haven’t found her in the building or on the property, and there’s no way she could have gotten far on foot in this weather. No vehicles have left the premises.
“Because that’s going to be her instinct,” I say, knowing it in my gut. It’s the worst fucking place she can go in the state of mind she’s in. “I’m going up there. You keep trying my brother. And make sure Odin De Léon sticks around.” The fucking asshole.
“I’ll go with you,” Val says.
“No cell service out there.” I don’t give him a chance to reply before I’m out the door. The service elevator doors miraculously slide open as soon as I push the button, halle-fucking-lujah, and I ride down along with two soldiers Val sends after me. It’s faster than I could have gone on the stairs in my state.
I see in the reflection on the back of the mirrored doors how the stain of blood is spreading on the once-white bandage. At least it’s a little less painful now that the local anesthetic is finally kicking in.
Once the doors open, I hurry back out of the building the way I brought Madelena in. A woman gasps when she sees me, and someone drops a tray, but I ignore them all. The two soldiers flank me. I move as quickly as I’m able out into the storm and take a moment to look at the hulking building of the lighthouse in the distance.
Wind and rain howl, and I swear when lightning strikes, I see people out on that catwalk. But the temporary illumination is gone too quickly, and it’s too far to see. Besides, no one can be out there. The lock on that door is intact. I saw that myself when Caius and I went out there the night of the wedding.
Christ. Has it only been days since then? It feels like a fucking eternity has passed.
The wind picks up as we approach the narrowing neck of the cliff. One of the men curses, huddling into his coat and leaning to fight the force of the storm that seems determined to keep us away.
“Madelena!” I call out, but she wouldn’t hear me over the storm.
When we reach the lighthouse, I open the door and reach in to search for the light switch. I find it but nothing happens when I flip it. I try several times to no avail.
I dig my hand into my pocket to get my phone, planning to use its flashlight, but I come up empty. It must be in my jacket.