Total pages in book: 180
Estimated words: 170747 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 854(@200wpm)___ 683(@250wpm)___ 569(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 170747 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 854(@200wpm)___ 683(@250wpm)___ 569(@300wpm)
As if she can sense it, she reaches up and grabs my wrist, wrapping delicate fingers around my tattooed skin. The contrast is like night and day.
“What is Nero going to do to me?” she asks, her speech slurring again. That can’t be good.
I stroke absentminded circles over her neck. “I don’t know what he wants you for, avecita. But I promised you will never be a slave again. I will keep that promise. Don’t ask any more of me than that, please.” She nods solemnly and focuses her gaze straight ahead, shutting down the conversation. I cannot just break an agreement for her. It’s not how the world works. It’s not how this world works. To deny Nero the girl he spent ten million dollars on? Well, that would start a war I’m not prepared to take part in. Not for her. I may feel sorry for the girl, but I’m not about to fuck around with Nero for her.
He and I will definitely be having words though. I need to know that he won’t abuse her or hand her off to anyone who will. This is one of those situations where emotions are nothing but a hindrance.
When the car pulls up to the gate, I stare at the scene in front of me. One of the solid iron gates is hanging off its hinge, and both guards lay dead, their blood soaking into the desert sand. Jesus fucking Christ. Some of my men scramble from the SUV behind us and manage to get the other gate open wide enough for us to pass through. As soon as we pull up, Lucas rushes from the front door with the doctor trailing behind him.
I pass Anna off to Lucas, and her head lolls against his shoulder as she drifts on the edge of sleep. “Stay with her while the doctor sees to her.” I look at the gash on her head. “She doesn’t like needles. You might have to hold her down.”
His face pales, but he nods and walks away with the doctor. Carlos leans against the side of the SUV, a cigarette propped between his lips. “I managed to patch the bullet hole. He’s alive if you want to start torturing him.” I glance past him to where two of my men are dragging a guy from the back of the SUV. The sole survivor of this little attack. How unfortunate for him. “Put him in the basement,” Carlos calls out. “And chain him up.” His eyes dance with something dark and sinister.
They drag the man past us, his legs hanging uselessly beneath him. “You sure he doesn’t need the doctor first? Wouldn’t want him dying on us now, would we?” I smirk at Carlos, though I’m feeling anything but amused.
“Eh, hundred bucks says you can get it out of him before he carks it.”
I snort. “Why would I bet against myself?” And why would I want to make this fast?
“Hey, it’s a fair bet. Not like you haven’t accidentally killed someone we wanted information from before.”
“One time.” I roll my eyes and walk towards the house. “When the doctor is done with Anna, have him fix the guy up just enough to survive an hour and a lot of fucking blood loss.”
Carlos laughs. “Sure, boss.”
An hour later, and I stand in front of the man Carlos brought back. His wrists are bound in chains and pulled above his head. He’s shirtless with a wide bandage around his torso, covering the bullet wound. A piece of tape holds a needle in his arm, attached to a blood bag. I’m told he will bleed out internally before the night is out regardless, but I won’t tell him that. A lack of hope tends to make people so very unwilling to talk.
“Who do you work for?” I ask, forcing the burning rage down so that I can focus. Interrogation must always be rational. He grits his teeth and glares at me, making me laugh. “You broke into my house, so you must know who I am. You must have known this couldn’t end well for you.”
“I have no fight with you,” he growls. “We just came for the girl.”
I crack my neck to the side before grabbing him by the throat. He chokes, his eyes going wide. “She is under my protection. You take her from me, and we have a fucking fight,” I snap. Carlos’ questioning gaze meets mine from his position against the wall. I ignore him and focus on the man hanging in chains again. “Who do you work for?”
He says nothing and a slow grin works over my lips.
“Oh, you just made your life very hard, mi amigo.” Carlos shakes his head. “I’ll get the pliers.”
12
Anna
I wake up to a pounding in my head. Rolling over, I slowly twist my neck from side to side in an attempt to alleviate the ache. I stretch and freeze when my fingers meet a warm body. Cracking my eyes open, I find Lucas on the other side of the bed. His eyes are closed, his mouth hanging open as he sleeps. There’s a pillow wedged between our fully clothed bodies. I wait for a sense of discomfort to come, but it doesn’t. It’s as though my mind can’t even comprehend Lucas as any kind of threat. He’s just too innocent, too…kind. Kindness is a quality I can’t recall ever seeing in another person, but he has it.