Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 118333 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 592(@200wpm)___ 473(@250wpm)___ 394(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 118333 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 592(@200wpm)___ 473(@250wpm)___ 394(@300wpm)
“Flame!” Maddie’s voice rang out around the room, and her husband stopped in his tracks. His face, which had appeared expressionless to me when I first met him, now looked broken and torn.
“Ash . . .” he rasped. “Ash . . .”
“I know,” she soothed and slowly wrapped her arms around him. “We will get him back.” But when her eyes briefly met mine, I thought she didn’t look as confident as she sounded.
“We’ve gotta get them back,” Smiler declared and stood beside AK. “They’re fucking kids. They ain’t meant for this shit yet.”
“Here.” Our attention snapped back to Edge as he held something in the air. He had been in Shark’s pockets. He was holding a USB drive.
“Be back soon, babe.” Tanner released me and rushed from the room. In seconds, Tanner was back clutching a laptop. He took the USB from Edge and the screen came on.
I lost all the blood from my face when Diego’s face filled the screen. A cry slipped from my mouth. Tanner looked back at me. He must have seen I was crumbling, as he came to me and pulled me to him.
“You have something of mine,” Diego said. “So I have taken something of yours.” The screen cut to the three young men. The camera wasn’t perfectly clear, but it showed the boys tied to chairs, their faces and bodies beaten and spattered with blood. Miguel, one of Diego’s men, held each of the boys’ faces up by their hair to show the camera it was them. One by one, AK, Smiler, and Flame made noises of anger and rage. They rocked on their feet and looked ready to find Diego and kill him in the most painful way possible.
“You have my fiancée, Adelita, and I want her back.” I felt like my legs might have given way if Tanner hadn’t been holding me. But I stood tall. I had to. I had to face this. I had to face Diego and his threats. “In three days, we will meet at the old abandoned town close to where you live. I have been reliably informed by our associates who live close to you that you know it well.” Tanner’s breathing changed. The Klan. The Klan had informed him of this place. “There, we will make the exchange. Adelita for these three young men.” In that second, the bubble burst. The bubble I’d been living in with Tanner for the past few days burst, and the reality of our tenuous position was cruelly exposed.
I was going back to Mexico.
Tanner held on to me tighter as though he could feel me slipping from his grasp. As though he could sense, that this, us, like this, was coming to an end. Its inevitable conclusion.
“Three o’clock in three days.” Diego stood back, and Miguel put a gun to one of the prospect’s heads. I knew it must have been AK’s nephew by the way he suddenly kicked a chair across the room. “If Adelita is hurt, one of your prospects will pay the price.” Diego stared down at the camera, and my skin crawled. It was like he could see me through the lens. Cold shivers broke out over my body. “Until then . . .” The screen went blank; the room was thick with silent anticipation.
My eyes lowered to the ground. When they lifted, everyone was looking at me. I inhaled deeply, hating what was I was about to say . . . but it had to be done. “I will go.”
“No,” Tanner spat from behind me. The pain in his voice, the plea, made me close my eyes and fight the devastation that was running so thickly in my veins. When I opened my eyes, I searched out Styx. “I know Diego.” I looked at Flame, AK, and Smiler. “He is a man of his word. He has promised to harm the boys if I am not exchanged. And he will.” I held Tanner’s hand tighter. I would find it hard to ever let go. “We will make the exchange. I will go with Diego. You will get your prospects and family members back.”
“No!” Tanner snarled and spun me round. I didn’t look into his eyes. I couldn’t. But Tanner placed his hand under my chin and forced me to face him.
“I have to,” I whispered before he could speak. The gutting pain I held in my heart at the thought of being torn from Tanner was reflected in his light-blue eyes. He shook his head, about to protest, but I put my hand on his cheek. “I can’t let them die.” I swallowed back the lump in my throat. I nodded, a silent agreement with myself that this was the right thing to do. With my hands on Tanner’s cheeks, I brought his mouth to mine and kissed his lips. “It has to be this way, mi amor. I cannot let them die . . . I would never be able to live with myself.”