Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 136731 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 684(@200wpm)___ 547(@250wpm)___ 456(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 136731 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 684(@200wpm)___ 547(@250wpm)___ 456(@300wpm)
My response is simple. “Put it down.”
Evander inclines his head. “Sure, okay. But I’m not going to kill this one.” Gio’s eyes harden, and Evander grins. “No. I’m just going to muzzle it.” Then he lifts the gun and pulls the trigger, twice.
Gambino screams in agony as his kneecaps are blown to pieces.
Ignoring his yelps and cries, Evander and I hog-tie him like the pig he is.
I stand behind Maxim Nikulin, and my entire body shakes with rage. He has yet to notice he has company.
The small woman tied to the big wooden X is unrecognizable. Her face is swollen, her eyes are black and bruised, and now, because of this sick fuck, she has a jagged gash trailing the length of her face.
I don’t know this woman, but if Julius chose her, those are all the credentials I need to see. And right now, she’s being cruelly brutalized.
No.
That just won’t do.
Pistol in hand, lightning fast, I snake my arm around Maxim’s neck and pull him into a chokehold. Dropping the knife, he begins to struggle. He elbows me, pinches me, tries to move me in any which way, but all it does is fuel my rage. Before I know it, I’m throwing him into tables and knocking chairs down by slamming his head into them. The longer the struggle, the hotter the embers of my fury burn.
Maxim’s fight weakens until all he can do is gasp for breath.
The plan was to let him pass out, tie him up, and then deliver him into Black’s custody. But as I stand here with this madman choking in my hold, I look over at the broken woman he’s marked, and I know, in this moment, I can’t do what I originally intended.
I will break my promise to Black, and it will likely cost me my freedom, but I can’t let Maxim Nikulin live.
The man in my hold falls in and out of consciousness, falling to his knees before me, and I follow him down. Head lolling to the side, I release him and lift my hands to either side of his head, grasping him tight. With a swift jerk, multiple snaps sound and I let go of him. He falls to the ground with a thud, his eyes wide open but crossed, mouth parted, his head slumping at an unnatural angle.
Without another thought, I make my way to the naked and scarred, unmoving petite female tied to the cross and loosen the knots at her feet and arms, letting her down to the ground.
My heart sinks. It doesn’t look like she’s breathing.
“Ana?” I gently tap her face. No. She’s definitely not breathing. My panic rises. “Ana, fuck! Stay awake. Shit, wake up.” My only thoughts are of Julius finding her like this. I growl out, “Live, goddamn it!”
My eyes close in dejection as her small, limp body lays on mine. She’s so small. So tiny.
No. She’s not leaving without a fight.
“Live. Come on, girl, breathe. Do it.” I lay her down on the ground, place my hands together between her breasts and pump. I do this a long while, but… nothing.
No.
Julius can’t lose another person.
Pulling her up onto me, I rock her body as if one would a child, and I beg her to not let my best friend bury another person he loves. I whisper in her ear, “If you can’t do it for Julius, do it just to spite those motherfuckers.”
“Twitch, I need you to hold her still,” a soft feminine voice sounds, and I look up to find my sister coming toward us with a shot. Evander follows close behind. I hold Ana still as Manda opens her mouth and injects her under the tongue.
Then we wait.
Manda mumbles, “Come on.” But a minute passes and nothing happens. “Come on, Ana! Fight, damn you!” Manda looks to me and orders, “Lay her flat on her back. Now.”
I do as I’m told and watch in shock as my sister clenches the fingers of both hands together to make a giant closed fist. She lifts it high and brings it down hard onto Ana’s chest. Teeth gritted, she growls out between blows, “You. Are not. Going down. Like this.” She delivers another blow, then yells, “You hear me, Ana? I can do this all night!”
Four blows pass, and when Manda lands the fifth, harder than the others, I watch in amazement as Ana’s body goes rigid. She opens her eyes as wide as she can around the bruising and takes in a gasping breath. And the moment that happens, Manda bursts into loud, noisy sobs, falling back against her Evander, who holds her tightly in support.
Ana’s eyes close again, but her chest moves as she breathes deeply.
“Julius,” she croaks out, holding her shaking hand out to a man who isn’t there.
I move to take that hand, and that’s when I hear him.