Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 127941 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 640(@200wpm)___ 512(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127941 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 640(@200wpm)___ 512(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
The Escalade begins creeping down the road and I watch out the window, desperately trying to work out what’s giving me this strange feeling. I sit up a little straighter, and as I do, the guys adjust themselves in their seats. Carver’s fingers tighten on the steering wheel while King’s hand falls from my knee and fiddles with the door handle.
They feel it just as strongly as I do, yet not one of us voices our concerns because we have absolutely nothing to go on.
I look up ahead through the wide windshield of the Escalade, finding the massive gates for my property intact and untouched. The sight seems to ease me, but the feeling doesn’t go away.
The street is empty. I’ve gotten used to seeing the children playing in their yards and the wives coming and going for their mundane little chores, but today, there’s nothing. It’s a fucking ghost town.
“What’s going on?” I murmur to myself, not waiting for a response because it’s not like the guys actually know. “Where is everyone?”
Grayson just shakes his head, not ready to even attempt to piece the puzzle together.
We slowly continue down the private road, and as Cruz leans forward with his eyes widening in horror, my stomach drops. I follow his gaze to Carver’s driveway and my heart sinks. His big iron gate has been rammed right off its hinges, but the size of it should have made that impossible.
“Explosives,” King mutters, answering every single one of our thoughts.
My heart races like never before, terrified of what we might find if we continue, but how can we not? This is our home. This is the one place the boys trusted that I’d be safe.
Fear rattles me. This shouldn’t be possible. The guys locked this place down like Fort Knox when they intended to leave me behind. The alarms should be blaring and Carver’s phone should have been lighting up with calls from the security company letting us know that shit has been going down. Hell, we should have at least had calls from the neighbors telling us that someone was trying to fuck with our home.
Where’s the fucking loyalty around here?
Carver stops by the fallen gate and we all stare out the window, looking down the long driveway at the house that sits at the very end. Even from here, it’s clear to see that the front door is wide open. The hedges have all been hacked at with chainsaws, the garage door has been rammed, and there are tire marks all over Carver’s manicured grass.
My heart races even faster. Someone has really come in here with the intention to fuck things up, but if it’s this fucked up out here, I can only imagine what it’s like inside.
I suck in a gasp, remembering that when I ran out of here just two mornings ago, I left something extremely important behind.
Lady Dante.
Carver’s knuckles whiten as he grips the steering wheel with an iron like force, and without missing a beat, he hits the gas and we fly down the long driveway. He has to swerve to avoid fallen branches, sending us all fumbling to the side in the Escalade.
The moment his tires come to a screeching halt, I start to climb over Grayson’s lap, aiming for the door handle, but King grabs the back of my tank and yanks me right back into my seat. “Stop,” I screech, glaring back at him. “What are you doing? I have to check on her.”
The guys ignore me, pulling guns and weapons from who the hell knows where, and not a second later, Carver is reaching over to the passenger side glove compartment and pulling out a small handgun. His arm stretches back and the gun is pressed into my chest as Carver looks back, his eyes boring into mine. “Whoever did this could still be in there,” he tells me. “Shoot first. Ask questions later. Got it?”
I swallow hard and let out a shaky breath as the rapid pulsing in my ears makes it nearly impossible to hear. “Got it.”
CHAPTER 19
The boys share a quick glance, each of them meeting one another’s hard stare with a million messages passing between them. Then as if on cue, they nod, and every door handle is pulled hard.
They dive out of the car, and before I can even think about trying to keep up with them, Grayson’s fingers are curling around my wrist with a hard, impenetrable grip.
He pulls me hard and I fly out of the Escalade behind him, barely getting my feet under me before the boys start running toward the house. Carver goes straight for the front door, racing up the stairs three at a time and not even breaking a sweat while Cruz races around the back of the house, catapulting himself over the side gate.