Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 84203 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84203 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
The second the line went quiet, I knew she was no longer with her phone, and I pulled up the tracker I have on her—which is a tiny chip in the ballet slipper charm I gave her. I never thought I’d need to use it, but better to be safe than sorry.
I was already with Lincoln and our team of men figuring out how to locate Ellie, so when I knew Sienna had been taken, we suited up and took off after her. It didn’t take long to track her to the Gutierrez’s warehouse. Since they weren’t expecting us, we had the element of surprise on our side and were able to easily take them out.
Finding Sienna and Ellie was easy because all we had to do was follow the raised voices. But when we got there, we realized that shit had already hit the fan. Eleazar’s wife was on the floor bleeding out, while Eleazar was pointing a gun at my wife and Ellie was begging him not to kill her. Without thought, I put several bullets in him, and Lincoln took out his guard. My wife was in danger, and I meant what I said. She comes first, always.
With Eleazar and his wife dead, I had my men clean up while Lincoln and I got Sienna and Ellie out. Both were trembling and crying, obviously traumatized by what they had witnessed. I don’t know who killed Arielle, but even when it’s deserved, taking someone’s life is never easy.
Now we’re back at the penthouse. Sienna is curled up in my lap, and Ellie is still holding onto Lincoln. Both of them are still shaking and crying softly, and if I could kill the assholes who did this to them all over again, I would.
“Hey, Linc,” I say, “Someone should probably go to the warehouse.” Because there’s nobody left in the Gutierrez family, there won’t be anyone to retaliate, but we need to double check that all our tracks are covered to safeguard us against the cops.
He nods and starts to sit up, but Ellie latches on tighter, whimpering. “Please don’t leave me,” she murmurs.
“I’ll go,” Rex offers. “Bruno has already spoken to the cops, so everything has been handled.”
“Thank you,” I tell him. “Keep me updated.”
“I need to go to the bathroom,” Sienna murmurs, sniffling back her tears.
When Sienna is gone, Ellie turns to look at me, and all I can see is devastation and fear in her eyes. I’m confused as to why she’s still fearful since the threat has been removed. Then, in a trembling voice, she asks, “Am I...Am I going to go to jail?”
It takes me a second to wrap my head around her question before it hits me...“You’re the one who shot Arielle?”
“She went after Sienna,” she chokes out. “Was going to kick her...I couldn’t let her hurt the baby.”
“Micah,” Sienna breathes.
I turn my attention toward where my wife is slumped over, her arms wrapped around her waist, her face way too damn pale.
“Hellcat, what’s wrong?” I ask, going over to her.
Tears fill her lids and then spill over. “I’m bleeding.”
What? “Where?” I drag my eyes down her body, trying to find where she’s hurt, but I don’t see any blood. “Where are you hurt?” I ask, getting worried. She seemed okay when I carried her to the car. Shaken up, yeah, but not injured.
“The baby,” she murmurs, and Ellie’s words that I didn’t have time to absorb, immediately click.
Sienna’s pregnant, and Arielle was going to kick her in the stomach, so Ellie shot her.
Fuck.
“You’re pregnant?” I ask softly, palming her cheek and wiping the falling tears.
She nods. “I found out today. I tried to call you,” she says, fresh tears sliding down her face, and my heart cracks. She needed me and I wasn’t fucking there. Dammit.
“I went to pee and there was blood. I...I don’t know what to do.” She looks up at me, silently begging for me to make this right, but I have no idea how. So, I do the only thing I can think of. I call my mom, who advises me to take Sienna to the hospital, which is exactly what I do.
I offer for Lincoln to stay with Ellie, but she insists she wants to be there with her sister, and I get it. They’ve both been through a traumatic ordeal, and now her sister might be losing her baby that she only just found out about.
“I’ll drive,” Lincoln offers, so I can sit in the back with my wife. I hold her the entire way, praying that everything’s okay.
Fortunately for us, it’s a slow night at the hospital, so Sienna is seen right away. Since only one person can go back with her, Lincoln stays with Ellie in the waiting room. The nurse asks Sienna a bunch of questions and then attaches a band with a barcode and all of her pertinent info to her wrist. We’re taken to a private room where she’s given a gown to put on while we wait for her to be seen.