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)
“I’m here, baby.” With eyes for nobody other than his woman, Julius moves to kneel by her side, taking her good hand and squeezing it tight. “I’m here.”
Her voice no longer working, she breathes out, “I love you.”
And for the first time in my life, I see my brother cry. His shoulders shake in silent sobs as tears trail his cheeks and he lowers himself down to her swollen face, pressing soft kisses to her lips, and whispering, “I’m so sorry, baby. Love you. Love you more than a man should love his woman.” His tired, trembling words cause a lump in my throat. “Thought I lost you. Wanted to die. Just take a bullet and blow myself out of this world.” He sighs in relief. “We’re going away from here. Moving away from all this badness, okay? We’re going to live, you and me. No more of this bullshit, okay?”
Ana’s lips move, but no sound comes out. “Okay.”
Julius gets up to his knees and looks to Manda. “Thank you.” He turns to Evander. “I owe you.”
But when Julius looks to the third person, the stranger wearing the half mask, the one he swore was in the room, he doesn’t find him.
I’m already gone.
Your wife is alive.
As I sit on the bed, looking down at the hogtied man lying bloody on the floor with the makeshift muzzle around his mouth, I keep telling myself the danger is over. I have her now, and I’ll keep her safe. But I am a realist, and that real part of me knows that promising to keep somebody safe is not only stupid, but also an impossible vow to keep.
She’s safe.
Then why doesn’t my heart stop racing? It’s almost as if I’m afraid to hope it’s all over, that we’re permitted to live a life free of repercussion.
If Ana is alive, that means Ling could be too.
“Where’s Ling?” I ask him, and from around the muzzle, his lips turn up into a feeble smile, his dull eyes blinking softly.
He’s close to passing out, and I need to act quickly if I want answers.
Making my way over to him, I pull down the cloth muzzle, freeing his mouth, and I crouch by him. “Listen, you got nowhere to go, and you might think this is as bad as it gets”—my eyes hood dangerously—“but I promise you that what I will do to you should you not answer my questions will make what you did to Ana a cake walk, you get me? Now, where’s Ling?”
He blinks down at the ground, and wheezes out a hushed, “I don’t know.”
I’ll get back to that. Right now, something that has been bothering me from the very beginning needs an answer. “You knew Dino didn’t do it. You knew he didn’t kill Raul. Why didn’t you vouch for him?”
His speech slow and slurred, he murmurs, “And miss my opportunity at eventually being king? No. I loved him, but this was my shot at something big. I would’ve been stupid to guarantor for him. I hated losing him, but he was in my way when business was concerned.”
That’s honesty, plain and simple. I have no reason to doubt his answer.
I look down at this man with disgust. Although I want to bash his brains in and show him every bit of torture he showed my woman, she’s alive and needs me to be of sane mind, because she has a long recovery ahead of her. When times get tough and her hope dissipates, she’s going to need someone to leech off, and that person’s going to be me, so I got to save all that good energy for when she needs it. I plan to be there, by her side, every difficult step of the way.
Nothing in this world was made right by two wrongs taking place.
I’m exhausted. I just want this to end.
“Tell me one thing, Gio, and I swear I’ll make it quick.” He glances up at me, eyes shining, as I ask, “How did you know where to find Alejandra?”
He smiles again, albeit weakly, and his eyelids flutter closed. “Got a snake in your midst, Carter.” His grin intensifies, but his voice wanes. “A snake with bright… red… lips.”
I hide my emotions well, but my heart stutters.
Motherfucker.
It seems the devil wears winged liner so sharp it can cut a bitch.
The mistake is mine and mine alone. I was a fool to trust a creature as feral as she.
Nothing would save Ling from the painful death I was going to deliver. I would have her head, hack her to parts, piece by piece, until there was nothing left.
Nobody fucks with my family.
Ling Nguyen will never see me coming.
Word will spread. She’s officially a dead woman walking.
I lift my gun and shoot a smiling Gio Gambino in the head. And I shoot until there are no bullets left to discharge.