Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 128290 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 641(@200wpm)___ 513(@250wpm)___ 428(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128290 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 641(@200wpm)___ 513(@250wpm)___ 428(@300wpm)
Is this chick for real?
I don’t move, giving her the best target you could ask for. You know, if you’re a take-them-from-the-back kind of girl. I, for one, want to see the look on someone’s face before I ruin their fucking day.
I hold still for one second, two seconds, and just as I suspected, footsteps draw her closer.
Such a newbie.
I spin, sweeping my leg out, disarming and knocking her on her ass in one, perfect little twirl.
“Ah!” Katana cries, scooting back with wide eyes, gripping her wrist like a little bitch.
“Pathetic.” I scoff, picking up the gun she was holding, popping the magazine out and checking the chamber before tossing it at her. “Clearly you’re no prisoner here.”
Her fearful eyes snap to Grandma’s. “She’s one of them, isn’t she?”
“Quiet, girl.”
“She was sent here—”
“I said quiet!” Grandma shouts.
“Call Enzo! Please!” she begs, tears pooling and running down her cheeks instantly.
And okay, what the fuck?
My mind clouds with confusion as I take her in but then footsteps race up the stairs. My heart beats double time as a million scenarios race through my mind, simultaneously trying to count how many sets of feet are barreling this way.
Their steps are heavy, a steady march of stomps, so they’re coming in with more than the clothes on their backs. I count at least ten sequences, and my anxiety spikes higher, but I don’t show it. I clamp it down, focus on the calm, and pretend I’m unaffected, while internally comparing all the possible ways I could get out of this, trying to find the one with the highest probability of success.
Twelve men file into the room in the next second. They move in complete unison, rifles swinging from left to right, the spacing between them not off by a single inch as they surround the space like disciplined soldiers, creating a perfect circle around us. Right behind them and the last to filter in is the only man outside of Enzo I’ve ever seen in this house without a mask.
Mino’s expression darkens, and I take note of his hands, covered in shiny black gloves, a silencer sitting in both. I lift the gun in my hand, pointing it at Enzo’s second-in-command, fully aware doing so will end up with twelve pointed back at me. But the moment Mino’s eyes meet mine, there’s a split second of confusion before they widen, and instantly his palms snap open, his guns falling to the floor.
I take a moment to glance around the room, assess the threat, assuming the guards are coming at me from the back, but they aren’t. In fact, every single one has bowed their head, staring at nothing but their boots.
“What the hell is this?” the vicious bark that tears from Mino has my head snapping his way to find his fury isn’t pointed at me. He’s focused on Katana, still on her ass near the wall.
“Mino!” she cries, jumping to her feet and hiding behind his frame, but Mino doesn’t let her.
He shifts until his shoulders are aligned with mine, though keeping himself a few feet in front of me, and a strange sensation settles over me because it’s a protective maneuver.
Hmm.
Her head snaps between the two of us and she hugs herself. “She’s after me.”
He frowns from me to her, and I could spit on him for the way his features soften the slightest bit. “She isn’t, and that alarm is not to be used as a toy.”
“She had a gun!”
“Still do.” I smirk.
Katana cuts a quick glance my way. “She was going to kill—”
“No one was dying today,” Grandma interrupts, lifting her chin and heading for the door. “If you’ll excuse me, I have a library to see to.”
My head snaps her way and this time it’s her who scoffs, shaking her head on her way out.
“Is anyone going to explain this utter bullshit to me?” I ask, slowly looking from Grandma’s disappearing form to Mino, gun still raised in front of me.
“These are your men, Boston. They came in here to protect you. They are sworn to protect you at all costs.” He lifts his hands. “You can put the gun down.”
I smile wide, a laugh leaving me. “That’s…cute. No thanks.”
“You can see they lowered their weapons. Shit, I tossed mine the second I realized what I was walking into. As the woman of this house, our number one job when in this house is to keep you safe.”
“How reassuring, considering just a couple of months ago, she was the woman of the house, which means your number one job was to keep her safe. So again…” My features harden, and I move the gun back to Katana. “Thanks, but no fucking thanks, so I suggest someone starts talking.”
He shakes his head. “If there was something I could tell you—”
I fire the weapon and Katana screams bloody fucking murder. Mino whips around, taking in the blood along her calf.