Total pages in book: 50
Estimated words: 46500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 233(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 233(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
Alejandro cut him a withering look before looking back at me and Joey. I tightened my hand around the keys in my hand. “I’ve got addresses. Only a handful of places they could take her.”
Some of my fear drained out of me at that. I could work with addresses. I could work with cold, hard evidence.
“Well, what the fuck are we waiting on?” I growled. “The second they touched my woman, they signed their goddamn death certificates.”
Alejandro nodded once and made a motion for one of his men to come forward. “Set up shop,” Alejandro ordered him. “I want a location within the fucking hour.”
21
Alejandro’s man had a location for us within the hour, just as Alejandro had instructed. Granted, he was five minutes away from hitting the deadline Alejandro had given him, but he did it.
Joey gripped my shoulder. “Whiler is covering you from the front. I’m going to cover you from the back. Our goal is to get Jessie out of there. Retaliation can come later, do you understand me?”
I gritted my teeth but nodded once. I wanted Jessie back home with me more than anything, back safe in my arms where I knew no one could touch her.
Joey was right. Retaliation could wait another day.
“Let’s move,” Joey ordered.
We crept out of the woods, and Joey moved to block me, popping off two shots. Two bodies fell from the trees with a sickening thud that made a smirk twist at my lips.
Served those fuckers right for touching what belonged to me.
We moved closer to the trailer, and Whiler quickly took out the two men standing guard, quietly lowering their bodies to the porch so they wouldn’t make any noise when they fell. Nodding once at Joey, I kicked the door in and dropped to the ground while Whiler and Joey took care of the men in the house. I crawled through, intent on finding Jessie.
“Ink?” Jessie’s strangled voice reached my ears.
I surged to my feet and rushed towards the sound of her voice. She was in a bare room. The flooring had been stripped down to the plywood. A bruise was forming on her cheekbone, and there was dirt on her pretty face, but otherwise, she seemed unharmed.
I quickly squatted beside her and worked on unbinding her wrists and legs. As soon as she was free, she lurched into my arms, sobbing into the side of my neck.
“I’m here, my girl,” I crooned, holding her tight to me. I buried my face in her hair, squeezing my eyes shut, my heart clenching in my chest as relief flooded my veins. “I’m so sorry this happened to you again. I’m so, so fucking sorry, my girl.”
She was crying too hard to say anything. I stood from the floor with her in my arms and emerged from the room. Relief flooded Joey’s eyes at the sight of her still dressed and mostly unharmed.
“Thank fuck,” he breathed.
I nodded once, sharing his relief. Whiler held the door open for me so I could get through with Jessie in my arms. Then, I stood back as Whiler lit a candle and set fire to the curtains.
Joey turned to me. “Get her to the safe house. Either Alejandro or I will catch you up on things. Need to make sure this gets taken care of. Alejandro is waiting where we left the bikes for protection on the ride back.”
I nodded once and strode off with Jessie still cradled in my arms. Her crying had slowed some, and now she was just clutching at me, her face still buried in the crook of my neck.
“Thank you for coming for me,” she rasped, her voice sounding raw and scratchy. I imagined she had done a shit ton of screaming.
“I’ll always come for you, Jessie. I’d follow you into the depths of Hell and burn the fuck alive for you if I had to.” She stayed silent, but I didn’t need a response. As long as she knew I would never leave her to suffer, I was okay.
I emerged from the woods a little while later. Alejandro was leaning against his SUV, his armed guards standing around him. He nodded once at me. “You want her in the SUV?”
I shook my head. “I want her with me.” I gently set Jessie on her bare feet in the dirt and grabbed my helmet off the seat, strapping it to her head. She stared up at me with those dark eyes, uncertainty lingering there.
“Are we okay?” she asked softly.
To answer her question, I grabbed her face in my hands and slanted my lips across hers. I kissed her hungrily, like a starved man. My tongue danced with hers as I curled an arm around her waist and dragged her closer to me, changing the angle of my head to deepen the kiss.