Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 136731 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 684(@200wpm)___ 547(@250wpm)___ 456(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 136731 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 684(@200wpm)___ 547(@250wpm)___ 456(@300wpm)
When Julius asked Ling how far it was to the loft, I stopped breathing.
Sleeping people do not stop breathing.
I righted myself the moment I realized. I was lucky no one had noticed.
Knowing it won’t be long till I make my escape, I fight my racing heart and continue to breathe steadily. And I will continue to do so until the car comes to a stop.
The car finally begins to slow, the breaks quietly squeaking. Ling opens the passenger door and exits. After a short moment, the car moves on, slows once more and finally, the engine cuts out.
It’s almost time.
My heart drums up a beat likely to cause a heart attack. I’m petrified.
The cold sting of bitter tears prickles the inside of my eyes.
This is my only hope.
The door beside me opens, and without a single thought, I sit upright and slam my head forward into… Shit. Into Ling’s.
She stumbles then falls back, holding her now bleeding nose, and that’s all I need. Stepping outside, my bare feet hit the icy cold ground, and without even knowing where I’m going, I run.
I hear him. “Fuck!”
The anger in his voice fuels me. I run harder, around the side of the building, tears rushing down my face. I didn’t even know I was crying until my vision blurs. Huffing and puffing, pain radiates through my heel as I step on something sharp. I cry out as it pierces the skin. I know I’m bleeding, but I can’t do anything about it. My hands are tied.
I stand and stumble.
Shit, that hurts.
I try once more, but my body crumbles underneath me.
Goddamn it. Shit! No.
I’m not going anywhere.
I’m done.
And, God, that really sucks. I had a plan.
You’re weak. You’re pathetic. Embrace death, you asshole. It’s the best you’re gonna get.
Those bitter tears fall freely, and I welcome the release. Sitting on my bottom, I wait. Footsteps sound behind me, and in a rare case of modesty, I lower my face to my knees to hide my tearstained cheeks and red eyes.
Without a word, his arms come around me, under my knees and behind my back, and he carries me back to the car.
“You broke my nose, bitch,” Ling utters. She sounds more annoyed than angry when she mumbles, “Do you know how long that’ll take to heal? I’m going to be purple for two fucking weeks. Thanks, by the way.”
Julius sits me down in the open car door and lifts my foot. I risk a peek to find him glaring up at me. “You stepped on a nail.” Shaking his head at me, he reaches down, grips the butt of the nail with his fingers and pulls. I yelp and pull back. Pain radiates through my foot, calf and shaking knee. He examines the nail. “It’s rusty. You ever had a tetanus booster?”
Ling stands behind Julius, licking blood off her upper lip, smirking. “Hurts like a bitch, don’t it?”
It does. It really does.
Julius turns to Ling, and in a gesture of affection, reaches up to hold her face in his hands, running his thumbs over her cheeks. “You okay?”
Ling smiles a bloody smile. “You know how I like it.” She glances at me before blowing me a kiss. “That was just foreplay.”
The fact that this woman gets off on pain makes me ill. The fact that Julius seems to be the one who delivers said pain breaks my heart. He’s probably just like Dino, and if that’s the case, I have no hope in hell of surviving.
He releases her face then hands her his cell. “Call Aida. Tell her she’s going to need a tetanus booster and antibiotics. Ask her if there’s anything she can do for your nose.”
Ling nods then moves toward the entrance of the building, away from the car. My heart jolts. Having Ling around made me feel safer. And now I have an angry god-like man in my midst… I decide to be honest. “They’re going to kill me.”
He doesn’t respond, just watches me.
“I don’t want to die.”
His jaw tics, but he says nothing.
“You’re my only hope.”
It’s then he responds, a short bark of honesty, “If I’m your only hope, little sparrow, say your prayers. You’re as good as dead.”
The statement forces my chest to tighten as anxiety sets in. My chest heaves with unsteady breaths.
I’m not ready to die. I don’t even know how to live yet. It seems unfair somehow.
Julius straightens then crosses his arms over his chest, looking something like an avenger. It’s such a sight, chills run down my spine. As he watches me, Ling unceremoniously blows blood out of her nose and onto the pavement.
She doesn’t seem like a bad person. She could also be my one hope of escaping. Shame courses through me. “Sorry about your nose.” This comes out in a near whisper.
Ling looks me up and down, narrowing her eyes for good measure. “All’s fair in love and war.”