Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 78627 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 315(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78627 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 315(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
“Tiana is smart. She’ll run at the first sign of danger.”
I fucking hope so.
Just keep running until I find you, bella.
My phone vibrates again, and it’s another photo of Tiana. She’s sitting in the fucking dark, looking so hopeless, my heart cracks down the middle.
I can’t make out much of her surroundings, so it doesn’t give us any clues.
So pretty. So vulnerable.
I’ll take from you what you took from me.
Jesus, the photo was taken close-up. He might already have her.
My breaths speed up, and I feel like a cornered animal.
“What’s wrong?” Misha asks.
“Another photo,” I say as I show the message to him. “We might get to her too late.”
Misha clenches his jaw as anger tightens his features. “If he fucking hurts a hair on her head, I’ll rip him apart with my bare hands.”
He’s already hurt her. So did I.
My woman’s been through hell growing up, and now she’s been thrown right back into the fiery pits.
It takes four fucking hours before we reach Lovere, and there’s a burning need inside me to kill the fucker who’s tortured us.
I will fucking find you, and you’ll beg me to kill you.
When we get off the speed train, I glance around, wondering where the fuck to go.
Just as I open my phone to look at the photo again, another one comes through.
It shows Tiana sipping on a cup of coffee while looking at a lake.
We’re waiting for you.
Intense relief washes through me. “She’s alive.” I show Misha the photo. “Let’s go.”
“Where?” he asks.
While tucking my phone into my pocket, I run toward the road where taxis are parked.
The partial sign in the background of the photo was all I needed.
“The Lake Hostel,” I answer as I open the back door and climb inside. In Italian, I instruct the driver where to take us, then look at Misha, “The fucker is waiting for us.”
“This has to be an enemy, you pissed off,” Misha mutters.
“We’ll find out which one soon enough.” I pull my gun from behind my back and check the clip while keeping the weapon out of the driver’s view.
Misha does the same, then whispers, “We’ll have to make every bullet count.”
“Trust me, I won’t miss.”
The taxi pulls up to the hostel, and I pay the fee. When we climb out, I scan our surroundings.
As the taxi drives off, I point to the left side of the property. “Go around that side. I’ll take the right. If Tiana’s not sitting by the lake, we can meet at the back entrance.”
“Got it.”
Splitting up, I jog toward the right side of the hostel while keeping my weapon ready by my thigh. As I come around the back, my eyes wildly search for my wife.
The moment I spot her walking back toward the entrance, I break out into a run.
She glances around her, and the second her eyes land on me, she throws the cup to the ground and runs into the building.
Fuck.
I hurry inside and see as she rushes straight through and out the front entrance.
“Tiana!” I shout, setting after her.
Cazzo, she’s fast.
Tiana heads for the road, and not looking for oncoming traffic, she crosses and darts into the trees lining the side of a mountain.
“Tiana!” I shout again, following her into the forest. “Tiana. Stop!”
On the uneven terrain, I start to catch up to her when a bullet whistles past me, slamming into a tree trunk.
“Cazzo!”
Another bullet hits near Tiana’s feet, and she shrieks before falling to her knees. She scrambles up and continues to run, screaming, “Please, Armani! Stop!”
She fucking thinks I’m shooting at her.
Stopping dead in my tracks, I search the area and see a man standing three hundred yards from us.
I return fire and catch sight of Misha as he runs toward the man. Knowing he’ll take out the fucker, I set after Tiana again.
She’s managed to put some distance between us as she darts like a hare over the rough terrain.
I put everything I have into the chase and start to close the distance between us.
“Tiana, wait!” I call out.
She glances over her shoulder, acute terror on her face. She stumbles again but keeps pushing forward.
When I’m close, I reach out to grab her, which has her shrieking and darting to the side. I reach for her again and manage to grab her shirt.
Tiana swings around, and my body plows into hers. I quickly wrap my arms around her and twist us, so I take the brunt of the fall.
The second my back slams against the ground, she tears free from my hold and pushes away from me.
“Stop!” I shout. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
She scrambles to her feet, and I get a good look at the woman I’ve terrified. Her tears have formed tracks down her cheeks, and her breaths are coming way too fast.
“Please,” she begs, taking a step back. Her hand covers her abdomen where our baby is. “You can do to me what you want once I’ve had the baby.”