Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 67140 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 336(@200wpm)___ 269(@250wpm)___ 224(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67140 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 336(@200wpm)___ 269(@250wpm)___ 224(@300wpm)
My heart stutters in my chest. Did Fraternitas find me so quickly?
The men who get out of the second car aren’t wearing skull rings, but they do look like thugs, though.
One of them holds the door open as a man in a suit climbs out and scowls at the wind, buttoning up his wool overcoat.
“I’m sorry,” Tommy mouths to me, and my heart sinks to my feet.
Oh, Tommy, what have you done?
“This her?” the suit asks Tommy.
“Yeah.” Tommy doesn’t look at me. He scuffs the pavement with his sneaker.
This was why Tommy texted me out of the blue. It’s a trap, and I’m the stupid bunny who hopped right into it.
I move to the middle of the alley, but the thugs are already closing in.
“Get outta here,” one of them orders Tommy, and my friend gets back in his car and does as he’s told. My heart sinks, watching Tommy drive away.
“Hello, Elodie. I’ve been looking everywhere for you.” The suit smiles, and a gold tooth flashes at me. “Umberto sends his regards.”
Umberto, the loan shark, who’s been after Margot and me.
Adrenaline screams through me, telling me to run, but the thugs have me surrounded. “I have money,” I croak.
“That’s good. That’ll help. But I want something more. Tommy tells me you have an in with Fraternitas.”
I almost laugh out loud. My life is ending, and everything’s surreal.
I shake my head.
“Don’t lie to me, Elodie. I don’t like it. He said he’s seen you with one of them. And these guys, they get possessive. Apparently this guy was all over you. Intimate-like.” His tone of voice makes me want to scrub out my ears with bleach.
“That was then,” I say. “It’s not like that anymore. But I can give you cash. For the loan. It’s in here.” I hold up my purse.
One of the thugs comes and takes the whole thing out of my hands. I keep quiet. It’ll suck, but if I’m lucky, I can trade the contents for my life.
The thug fishes in my bag and holds up a wad of cash. The suit’s eyes narrow.
“You’ve been holding out on me.” The thug paws through my bag, taking a quick count. He recites a number to the suit, who says, “I guess being a Fraternitas mistress pays.”
I wasn’t his mistress. I was more than that. I hear Jaeger saying, I love you, and you love me, too, and the thought warms me, even though I’ve left him behind.
“Take the money. All of it,” I say. “Just let me go.”
“We could do that. Or we could take you, too, and trade you for millions.” Ice slides down my spine. This is what I was afraid of. “All those Fraternitas guys are loaded.”
“He won’t pay for me. He kicked me to the curb. Do I look like I’m with him?” I spread my hands.
“Except you’re wearing that ribbon around your neck.”
I touch my throat, and he’s right. I forgot to remove it. One night wearing it, and it’s already a part of me. I could tear it off, but it’s too late. These guys have seen it, and I want to keep any remaining memento of Jaeger I can get.
And it doesn’t matter because the suit says, “He’s already put the word out that you belong to him.”
“Like I said, that was then. Things change. "The wind blows my hair into my mouth, but I speak through it. “Men leave, all of them.” Even as I say it, I know it’s a lie.
Jaeger would never leave me.
You belong to me. And in his world, a vow like that cuts both ways. I was his, but he was mine, too. He chose me. And no matter what happens, he’ll always be the one for me.
As if I’ve conjured him out of my head, Jaeger’s voice echoes down the alleyway. “Elodie.”
I close my eyes, hoping I’ve imagined it. But no.
Jaeger stands at the mouth of the alley. He’s in jeans and his black leather jacket. No weapons that I can see. But he doesn’t need any.
He prowls closer.
“Stop right there,” one of the thugs says.
Jaeger doesn’t stop coming toward me. “I heard you wanted to speak to me,” he says without taking his eyes from mine. I sink into their ocean depths.
Did he hear what the thugs said? How long has he been here?
“Do you have business with my Elodie?” he asks the suit.
“Matter of fact, we did. But now we’d like to talk to you.”
“So talk.”
“I’ve heard of you and your brother.” The suit sounds like a fanboy. “You were legends in the fighting rings. And you were what, seventeen?”
“Fifteen. We were made to fight.” Jaeger stops a few feet away and holds out a hand to me. “Elodie, come here.”
It takes a moment for the signal to go from my brain to my legs, but I go to him. The distance is a hundred thousand miles, but it takes no time at all.