Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 77344 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77344 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
What the hell was that about?
“Okay. Well, while you do that, I’m gonna give Lil a call,” I said, moving away from Miko. Mostly because I liked being in his arms just a little too much.
“That’s a good plan. Zeno, you got a gun, right?” Miko asked, making Zeno look over, one brow cocked as if Miko was asking a ridiculous question.
“Alright. Good. I will be as fast as I can.”
“Miko, I’m a grown-ass woman. I’ll be fine.”
But, damn if his protectiveness didn’t give me that warm hug feeling once again.
As soon as he was gone, Zeno went back to work, music thumping, as I moved closer to the door for some quiet to call Lil.
I wasn’t surprised when it rang and rang. Lil could sometimes be a bit like Zeno—getting lost in her work, blasting her music, letting the rest of the world fall away.
But I kept trying, knowing it would annoy her eventually and she would pick up with her usual Hey, Babe. Then maybe ask something wholly inappropriate, like if I’d climbed Miko like a tree yet.
What I didn’t expect was a hushed, desperate, “Max, help.”
My stomach bottomed out as my pulse rushed through my veins. “Lil? Lil, what’s going on? Is someone there?” I asked.
But just then, there was a loud thunk followed by a pained cry from Lil.
I wasn’t even sure I hung up my phone as I rushed toward the door.
“Max?” Zeno called. Then, as I bolted down the hallway, “Max, wait!”
But there was no waiting.
Lil was in trouble.
And I was the only person around to help.
I cursed myself for not grabbing Zeno’s gun he’d mentioned. Or at the very least, a butcher knife from the drawer.
But there was no time to go back as I flew out of the building and ran down the street, thinking of how much damage someone could inflict on Lil in the time it took me to run from Zeno’s place to her little side street.
I paused only for one second to draw in a breath before throwing open the door and rushing inside.
The place was a fucking disaster.
Tables were overturned. Brilliant blue sapphires, deep emeralds, and striking rubies were scattered around the floors, mingling with diamonds and various metals Lil used to make the settings.
There, in the middle of the mess on the floor, was Lil’s gun. The same one she’d held on Miko what suddenly felt like ages ago.
“Lil?” I called, trying to be heard over the music bleeding from the surround sound speakers.
Some instinct had me stepping toward the gun.
But I’d barely gotten a foot inside of the apartment before the door slammed behind me and hands shoved into my shoulders, sending me stumbling forward.
If the desk was where it should have been, I would have landed on it, would have needed to struggle to scramble up.
As it was, I managed to slow my momentum, duck, and swing around.
Then there he was.
Those bright blue eyes immobilized me for a second.
“You’re starting to be a real problem,” he said, panting hard, blood dripping lazily from his nostril. From, I reminded myself, his fight with Lil, who I didn’t see, who I didn’t hear.
“Shoulda killed you when I had the chance,” he added, lunging. “Won’t make that mistake again.”
He was going for my throat, but I was quick enough to duck, to bend, and charge forward, ramming him back into the wall.
If I wasn’t worried about Lil, I could have used his momentary shock to slip out of the door, to get onto the relative safety of the streets.
But I couldn’t leave her. She wouldn’t have left me.
Which meant he had a chance to straighten, to square up, and then land a blow to my jaw that sent me flying.
I crashed to the floor, a thousand little gemstones biting into me at the impact.
But there was no time to focus on that.
I flipped over and scrambled backward, knowing that if I just got far enough, I could get to the gun.
My attacker reached down, though, grabbing my ankle, and dragging me back across the floor. There was nothing I could do to stop him. He was bigger. Stronger. And there was nothing to grab to keep myself in place.
My hands flew out, grabbing for anything around me.
There was nothing as convenient as a knife. But my hand closed around a pair of the pliers Lil used for work. It wasn’t the needle-nosed ones that I could have used to ram through this bastard’s eye. It was one of the blunted ones, meant for trimming metal.
But it was all I had.
So as soon as he had me in the middle of the room, likely trying to keep me from the gun, he lowered down again, hand going toward my throat.
Mustering every bit of strength I had, I plunged the pliers out toward his face.