Total pages in book: 35
Estimated words: 32295 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 161(@200wpm)___ 129(@250wpm)___ 108(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32295 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 161(@200wpm)___ 129(@250wpm)___ 108(@300wpm)
She's haunted my mind endlessly since I put her in the cab and watched her drive away. It has nothing to do with her father, either. I don't give a fuck that she's Alessepo's kid. It's her—her smile, her laughter, those gray eyes, that fierce courage.
"Karina?" I answer the call, my voice steady despite the adrenaline still coursing through me.
"C-Coda," she gasps my name, her voice shaking.
My hackles rise, fear for her shooting through me.
"Karina, what's wrong? Talk to me." I holster the gun without bothering to wipe it down, my senses prickling with a new kind of danger—one threatening someone I never meant to care for. And yet, I care for her far more than I've ever cared for anyone.
Domani eyes me, one brow lifted.
I shake my head, silently telling him not to even ask.
That's all he needs to know this doesn't involve him. Domani and I have worked side by side for fifteen years. Until him, I didn't have friends. I didn't need them, didn't want them, didn't give a shit about making them. The motherfucker wore me down.
I'd kill for him, no questions asked, and he'd do the same for me. But Karina is my business, and I'm not ready to talk about her to anyone.
"My father… I-I think he…" she stammers, stumbling all over her words as she tries to explain. Eventually, she gives up with a whimper. "I'm scared, Coda. I don't know what to do."
She's afraid. The same fiery little angel who put her hand in mine and followed me from that ballroom. The same brave little goddess who stood before me and stripped bare.
Hell no.
"Where are you?" My voice is granite-hard, a reflection of the cold anger settling deep within me. That motherfucker has her tangled in something dark enough to have her running to me. It's unacceptable.
"Northwestern," she whispers. "I-I didn't know where else to go so I ca-came back to campus."
"Stay there. I'm coming." I disconnect, all thoughts of cleanup and alibis pushed aside. Karina needs me, and that eclipses everything else.
The jaded, cynical motherfucker who has spent far too much time mired in darkness knows it could be a trap—an invitation to a bullet with my name on it. But it doesn't matter. In a matter of days, she's become the light in a world that I've let grow too dark. I'll be damned if I let that light go out. Not on my watch. Not ever.
"I have to go."
"I heard," Domani says. "You good?"
"I will be."
"You need backup?"
"No."
"Who's Karina?"
"My business."
He chuckles softly. "One of these fucking days, Coda…"
"Maybe, but not today." I pause, glancing back at him. "You good to clean this shit up and dump him?"
"Yeah. Go."
My boots echo against the concrete as I jog through the warehouse and out into the marina, leaving Domani on cleanup. My world narrows down to a singular mission: get to Karina.
Within minutes, I'm racing toward the university and the fiery little angel who needs me.
Fifteen minutes later, Northwestern University looms ahead, its grandeur doing nothing to ease the dread clawing at my gut. I park haphazardly, scanning the shadows for any sign of danger—or worse, any sign of Alessepo. All I find are students, blissfully unaware of the darkness lapping at the edges of their sanctuary.
She didn't tell me where on campus I'd find her, so I take off at a jog, checking every shadow. It doesn't take me long to find her—a lone figure huddled under an old oak tree. Her body shudders with silent sobs, her honey-blonde hair a disheveled veil hiding her face.
The sight breaks my fucking heart.
I may kill Alessepo for this moment alone. I've spent the last three days avoiding her because she deserves more—she deserves laughter and sunshine and happiness. All the shit I don't know how to give her. I'm a goddamn monster, falling in love with a lamb.
And somehow, in those three days, she's become worse off than she was when I was at her side. That's on Alessepo. And it's on me.
Never again. I won't ever allow her to cry like this again.
"Karina."
She lifts her head and sees me standing in front of her. "Coda." A fresh flood of tears pours down her cheeks as she flings herself at me, clutching my jacket with desperate fingers.
I catch her to me, pulling her into my arms.
Her body trembles—the contrast between her soft body and my hardened frame is a stark reminder of the gap that lies between us. It doesn't matter. Not any longer.
"Take me away from here," she pleads, the vulnerability in her voice ripping at my heart.
"Anywhere you want to go, cara," I promise immediately, guiding her toward the safety of my car. "You're safe now."
As she nestles into the passenger seat, I steal a glance at her.
Who knew that Miles Alessepo's princess would find solace in the arms of a man like me? But she has, and now there's no turning back. I'm her shield against the dark, her safety. I'll fucking kill anyone who tries to take her from me.