Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 77205 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77205 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Not his own.
One of his men then.
Had Millie shot him too?
I tried to shove Millie behind me, even though I hated the idea that someone could approach from behind and hit her.
Better those chances than having her facing Neeley.
“You’re not walking out of here,” he growled, eyes that of a man who had nothing left to lose.
And, even as I thought that, all I heard was silence.
No more footsteps.
No calls of his men.
Were they all down?
And if so, fucking how?
I couldn’t fuck this up.
If I raised my hand too slowly, if he saw the movement before I could get the gun high enough to shoot, he could easily hit me. Then there would be nothing standing between him and Millie.
I couldn’t let that fucking happen.
“Give me the girl. Is she really worth your life?” he scoffed.
She was.
She was worth my life and every single fucking one of his men’s lives.
But even if I were selfish enough to hand her over, he had to know that I knew he was never going to leave me as a witness.
“She’s worth a few mill,” I said, watching Neeley’s face grow tight.
That was his weak spot.
The money.
“Know exactly what it’s hidden in too. Just need her to bring me to it,” I added.
His jaw was ticking and his gaze slid away.
Just for a second.
Half of one.
Enough for me to start to raise my gun.
But he had better instincts than I’d been giving him credit for, and his finger slid to the trigger before I could even get the gun half way up.
Fuck.
Fuck fuck fuck.
But then, a shot.
Two.
Three.
I ducked, yanked Millie down with me.
Neeley’s body jolted once, twice, then his head fucking exploded with blood and brain matter.
He wobbled there for a moment.
Before, finally crumbling to the ground.
And there, standing less than a yard back, gun still raised, was someone I never expected to fucking see there.
Neo.
What the fuck?
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Millie
About two hours after Silvano left, I had the crushing realization that I had no freaking idea where to even start making my own plan to help the man I had now fallen hopelessly in love with.
All I did know was that he couldn’t face Neeley alone. That I couldn’t lose him because of his stupid pride.
“Men,” I grumbled, the exclamation making Storm’s head jerk up, looking at me, confused. What does that mean, Mom? “It means your gender are a bunch of bull-headed buffoons who think they’re bulletproof,” I answered his silent question.
Satisfied with that, Storm went back to sniffing around a particularly interesting tree on the side lot of the hotel. He’d had enough of the back of the property as I’d stress-walked him, thinking maybe the exercise would help me think more clearly.
He’d been gone for hours.
It felt like days.
Like weeks.
All I wanted to do was reach for my phone and call him. But I didn’t have my phone. And I didn’t want to call him if he was in a dangerous situation. Nothing could give away your location like a screaming ringtone, right?
“Ugh,” I grumbled, then exhaled hard. “I guess we should go inside, huh, buddy? You’ve got to be getting tired.”
I was.
And yet I wasn’t at the same time.
My body felt exhausted.
But my mind was racing, antsy, barely able to hold onto one thought for longer than a minute or two.
Luckily for Storm, he was none the wiser about what was going on.
I was sure he could pick up on my tension, but he had yummy food and lots of walks, and a big bed that likely smelled like other dogs, even if they’d washed it.
He was a happy camper.
I was alone in my misery.
I was busy watching Storm as we moved through the lobby of the hotel. I really wasn’t paying attention to my surroundings.
It wasn’t until a man’s voice called out, “Millie!” that I realized how stupid I’d been to get distracted.
My heart sank to my feet as my heart flew into my throat.
Mentally, I was calculating my escape routes, wondering if I could be safe in the hotel room if I could slip into the elevator or fly up the staircase.
Or was I better off staying in the lobby?
With just the nighttime desk clerk to help save me.
Against men who were willing to kill to get me for my father’s money.
Then, another voice, more accented, calmer, called out, “Mrs. Allegro?”
Mrs. Allegro?
My alias?
Sort of.
I didn’t have the papers to go with it like Silvano did. But still. It was my cover.
How could he know that?
Had he bribed the attendant?
But this was a different one from the morning. He didn’t know my face or where I was staying.
I whipped around, heart hammering, and saw them.
Two men who had to be brothers, all dressed in expensive suits. Both undeniably handsome with the kind of laid-back but aware carriage that felt very familiar to me now.