Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 78464 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78464 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Something felt wrong…very wrong, so I sat up in bed and stared at him.
He opened his phone, and the light lit up his face in the dark. His thumb scrolled then he opened an app. He seemed to be looking at his security system. He started to flick through the camera feed, looking from one image to the next.
My heart started to race. The sweat came from nowhere and formed on my forehead instantly. “Axel?”
“Fuck.” He headed to the closet.
“What’s happening?” I got out of bed, and my leg got caught on the sheet, making me trip to the floor.
Axel didn’t check if I was okay, which told me this was bad.
He came out of the closet and flicked on the lights. He put on his black sweatpants, a bulletproof vest over his bare chest, and in his arms was a heavy black gun, a big one, like the kind the military carried. I didn’t know anything about guns, but it looked like one of those automatic ones that fired a ton of bullets at once.
“Okay…what the fuck is going on?”
At that moment, the alarm must have been tripped, given the sirens coming from the hallway.
I was in nothing but his t-shirt, standing there utterly useless as someone invaded our home. I hoped it was a dumb burglar who’d just picked the wrong house, but my heart told me it wasn’t.
“Get dressed.” He barked his order without looking at me, typing on his phone like he was sending a text.
I didn’t ask questions and did as he asked. I put on whatever I could find, my dark-blue pajamas bottoms and flip-flops. My hair was in disarray, and I quickly put it up in a bun so it wouldn’t get in my way.
“Take this.” He handed me a handgun and a vest that fit me like a dress. “You know how to use it, right?” He was serious but spoke calmly, while I was about to hyperventilate.
I took the cold metal and gave a nod.
“The safety is off.”
“Okay.” I pointed the gun to the floor. “What’s happening?”
“They’re in the house.”
“Who’s they?”
“I don’t know,” he snapped. “Security is dead. Aldo is in the safe room.”
“Uh, we have a safe room…?”
“We don’t have time now. Whoever is here, they know what they’re doing. Aldo dispatched more men. They’re on their way.”
It was hard to form words, not when I could barely breathe. “How long will it take?”
He walked into the other room and ignored what I said.
“Axel, what are we going to do?”
“These doors are bulletproof.” I'd thought the space was open between the living quarters and the bedroom, but now I could see there were doors hidden in the walls. He pushed his palm into the molding, and the doors popped out so they could slide closed. “Shut the doors and lock yourself on the inside.”
“What—what about you?”
“I’ll kill them.”
“By—by yourself?”
“Baby, we don’t have time for this. We probably have seconds. Shut this door and lock it.” He was red in the face. “Do you understand me? Don’t open this door for anything, no matter what you hear. I can hold them off until help comes, but I can’t do it if I’m worried about you.”
“Oh Jesus…” I started to cry, holding the little gun to my side.
“Baby, look at me.”
I started to sob, scared what would happen on the other side of the door.
“Hey.” He grabbed my shoulder and shook it. “Focus. Now.”
“I can’t lose you—”
“You won’t. Now get your ass in there and lock the door—”
“Axel.”
“Don’t make me ask you again!” He shoved me across the floor and rolled the heavy doors shut.
It had a big lock in the center, something that kept the doors in place. I turned the knob and heard the unmistakable click. I gulped down a couple heavy breaths before I ran to my phone on the nightstand. Without thinking, I grabbed it and called the first person who came to mind.
My father.
As if he’d been waiting for my call, he answered before the first ring finished. “Sweetheart—”
“Dad, I need help.” Tears crackled in my voice, and I gave a jolt when I heard distant shouting. I wasn’t sure if Axel was still in the living room, or if he’d left through the door of the suite and ran into the hallway. The alarm continued to blare.
“What’s happening?” he blurted, his gentle voice now authoritative.
“I—I don’t know.” I said everything as fast as I could. “Men are in the house…guards are dead…alarm is going off.”
“I’m sending my men now. Hold tight.”
“Wait, don’t go.”
“I’ll call you right back.” Click.
I sat on the rug on the floor, the gun held in my hand, leaning against the side of the bed as I continued to hyperventilate. It was Axel against who knew how many men, and I was there alone, unable to help.