Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 69822 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 279(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69822 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 279(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
“Come on,” I grit out.
“What’s wrong?” he asks again.
“Drive to the safe house,” I yell at him, irritated by Eli not answering and pissed off that I’m here and not with Aria. But more than anything I’m scared that something happened to her. It’s been nearly forty minutes since he called.
The ringing stops and it goes to his voicemail. Motherfucker. I lean forward, my palms on the dash and try to calm the fuck down. She’s safe.
“Tell me again how we should take on more when this shit is out of hand,” I mutter to Jase as he pulls up to a stop sign.
“What happened?” he asks again, incredulity in his voice. I stare at my brother, not knowing what to say because I don’t fucking know. I need to know.
“She’s safe,” I say out loud but it’s more of a reminder to myself and Jase asks, “Aria?”
As I nod my head, the phone rings in my hand.
“Eli,” I answer quickly, feeling my pulse throb harder.
“We have a problem,” he tells me as Jase makes a right and then stops at the light. He’s staring at me instead of watching the road.
“Four men on First Street took a shot at our crew. They knew where they were and went for the two stations at the end of the security block. Only one of our guys took a shot, he’s with the doc now and he’ll be fine.”
One breath out, a deep, low breath and I swallow the spiked knot of fear. She’s fine, I remind myself. My eyes close and my head falls against the headrest.
My heart is thudding, rather than beating.
“Whose men?” I ask him, and he answers, “Not Romano or Talvery.”
My jaw clenches, as does my fist. Fucking great. That’s the last thing I need right now. Another asshole fucking with me.
“Anything else?” I ask him, opening my eyes and staring at the cabin of the car. The red and white lights from outside dance on the ceiling as he speaks. “All four men are dead, but they were known to hang out with the man who tried to take Addison. The one Daniel killed back when he was checking out Iron Heart. Men for hire. And Carter,” he pauses and so does the beat in my chest. I know it has to do with Aria. I can feel it. “I was with Aria at the time. She was there.”
I can’t swallow. I try, but I can’t. There’s something in the way and I can’t breathe.
“She’s okay. But she was there, and she fucked up one of the guys.”
My gaze shifts to Jase, who’s asking me what’s going on. I can only stare at him as I question Eli, “What do you mean, she fucked one of them up? You’re supposed to protect her!” The rage is minuscule compared to everything else I feel. The shock and fear that she was there, the relief that she’s safe and fine. The pride that she fought alongside my men.
I can hear him huff and it sounds like he switches ears to tell me, “She killed a guy. She got away from me, chased him down the street and beat the piss out of him.”
My Aria. My songbird.
“I’ll remember that the next time she lets me off with a warning,” I say softly, imagining it happening but I can’t. I can’t see it.
“Is she upset?” I ask him, knowing she will be. I yearn for a time when she’s happy again. When this is all over and she looks at me the way she did before.
“She’s not handling it well, but she honestly wasn’t doing that good before it went down.”
“Anything else I should know?” I ask him as I see the sign for Hill Road and Jase turns the corner, not slowing down. The tires squeal as Eli tells me that’s it.
“I’ll be there in a minute. Gather the guys, I want to go over everything and see the footage.”
Chapter 18
Aria
I’ve killed two men, yet I don’t feel sorry.
Staring at myself in the mirror as I brush out my hair, I don’t feel sorry at all. I’m empty inside, and there’s no sense of remorse; I don’t even have anger left. Nothing. I feel nothing for the man I killed tonight. I remember his wide eyes full of fear. I can feel his hands on me, pushing me away. I can feel the thud of the gun hitting my skin over and over as it crashed into him.
And yet, I feel nothing.
Even Stephan. Thinking of him makes me feel nothing at all.
The hairbrush tugs as I pull it through a knot, and I take my time to carefully brush it away.
I think I must be sick. It can’t be normal to feel nothing at all when hours ago I killed a man. My eyes drift to the mirror and I stare at the woman I’ve become. I look the same as before. The same eyes, my mother’s eyes. The same everything as months ago.