Total pages in book: 34
Estimated words: 31834 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 159(@200wpm)___ 127(@250wpm)___ 106(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 31834 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 159(@200wpm)___ 127(@250wpm)___ 106(@300wpm)
“I am showing you mercy,” he said. “You should be so fucking grateful right now.” He gritted his teeth.
Grim was tempted to let up, to allow him to suck in oxygen to breathe, but he couldn’t do it. Death, quickly and swiftly, would have to come to Anthony. He stared into the bastard’s eyes. He fought but wasn’t any good at defending himself.
Grim choked the life right out of him, and he waited, watching for life to ebb away. Each second that passed, he remembered Eve’s terrified scream. That sound would replay in his head over and over again.
Anthony got what was coming to him, and Grim waited.
Seconds passed, then minutes.
He checked the man’s pulse and when nothing touched his fingers, he felt a sense of relief as he got to his feet and stepped back. This was what he needed to do.
“Eve,” he said, calling out to her.
He had to get her in the house.
Grim turned to her and watched as she stumbled toward him. He went to her, wrapping his arms around her, holding her close, and then walking with her back to the house.
He put the call out to his men, and he discovered Anthony had come alone.
Grim tried to hide the dead bodies from his wife. Good men had lost their lives in trying to defend his wife.
“It’s okay,” Eve said.
But he heard the pain in her voice.
He carried her to his office and was about to place her on the sofa, but saw the blood. He also spotted the bloody knife that he kept hidden under his chair.
“I found it,” Eve said, collapsing into the chair. “While he was talking to you. That’s what I stabbed him with.”
“Good girl,” he said. He was so freaking proud of her.
“You’re not mad?”
“No, why would I be mad? That asshole invaded my home and he hurt you, Eve. He doesn’t deserve to live.” He reached into the drawer of his desk and pulled out the first-aid kit.
Returning to her, he saw the blood dripping from her arm.
“Does it hurt?” he asked.
“Oh, yeah. Remember when I told you that I spent the summer constantly falling and wiping out my knees on tarmac?”
He nodded.
“This hurts a whole lot worse than that. Trust me. There’s a lot of pain.” She released a breath. “A whole lot of pain.”
Grim assessed the damage. “I’m going to have to take you to a doctor to have it removed.”
“We can’t go to the hospital. Don’t they report gunshot wounds and you’ll be in trouble?”
He shook his head. “Don’t worry about any of that, because I have people I can call. It’s going to be okay.”
Grim pulled out his cell phone and dialed the doctor he knew he could trust. Once he was sure he was on his way, he put his focus back on his wife.
He saw the bruising coming out across her face. She had taken a beating.
“Tell me where it hurts,” he said.
“I’m fine, Grim.”
“No, you’re not.”
She shook her head. “He hit me a few times, kicked me, but to be honest, at the moment, all that’s hurting is this.” She pointed at her arm. “And I’m so happy.”
“Why are you crying?” he asked.
“Because you’re safe and I know you killed him, and I know it makes me a bad person for being this happy, and … I’m a horrible person.”
He shook his head. “You’re not a bad person, Eve.”
“But I wanted to kill him. I prayed for you to come and kill him.”
“That doesn’t make you a bad person. He was doing bad things. He was … there are kids that are not going home tonight because of him. I’m going to find them, and I’m going to bring them home. I am going to bring his entire operation down, Eve, and he is dead. I killed him. I choked the life out of him.” He cupped her face. “You are not a bad person.”
“I love you,” she said.
“And I love you, always.” He pulled her into his arms and he knew he would do anything for her.
Anything, but leave or divorce her.
****
Three Weeks Later
Eve glanced at her husband. He was sleeping.
For the past couple of weeks, she knew she had scared him and kept him awake. She didn’t mean to scare him. It had been three weeks since the home invasion. Three weeks since she had to have a bullet removed by Grim’s personal doctor. The man didn’t ask any questions, all he wanted was to be paid and listened to. Eve followed his instructions and had cleaned the wound regularly, and she was healing quite fast.
Sleep was hard for her. At least last night, she’d been able to fall asleep without a single care in the world. It had been a busy three weeks for Grim.
Whenever he did leave, there were always ten if not twenty guards at the house. Eve liked it. She spent the time baking cookies, and this time, she got to know the men as well. She hated that she didn’t know the names of the men who’d given their lives to save her. Eve didn’t know if they had willingly died or simply didn’t have a choice.