Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 68006 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68006 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
“Your eyes,” Buck whispers.
“Already taken care of.” I don the shades I took from the first guard.
Pain lances through me.
But I won’t let any of it stop me.
They will not take me alive.
And they will not get any information out of me.
We stalk quietly through the pathways toward an open door, brandishing the guards’ weapons.
“We may have to separate,” I say.
Buck nods.
“Once we’re out, get to safety. Anywhere. We’ll find each other.”
“The others?” Buck asks.
“Wolf didn’t make it.”
Footsteps advance toward us.
“See you on the outside,” I turn right, while Buck goes left.
A moment later, a shot rings out.
Damn! Buck!
But I have no choice. I get out.
And I get out alive.
The Phoenix always rises.
37
KELLY
A buzzing.
The man who calls himself my father pulls out a phone.
“Damn,” he says.
My so-called brother, The Dark One, glares at him. “What now?”
“I was right. They know we didn’t leave the building. SWAT teams are on their way, and the building’s on lockdown.”
“Leif will come for me,” I say.
“Leif won’t get the chance,” The Dark One says.
“You’re no match for him.”
The Dark One pulls a knife from the sheath at his waistband, holds it to my neck, the cool blade pressing against me. “If I can’t have you, no one will.”
“Cool it, Ronald,” the elder Smith says. “No one’s harming her.”
“She’s mine. You gave her to me.”
“Right now our only option is Plan B.”
“She won’t make it.”
“If we have to leave her here, Ronald, we will. We’ll come back for her.”
I don’t know what they’re talking about, but please, I beg the universe. Please, let them leave me here. Leif will find me, and I’ll be safe.
Except…
Will I be? Will I ever be safe with the two of them out there?
“Did you know he plans to give his fortune to my mother and me?” I say, targeting The Dark One.
“Ronald knows I’ve already made adequate provisions for him.”
“Besides, whatever you get will ultimately be mine,” The Dark One says.
“Absolutely not. Do you think I’m going to share a penny with you?”
He places the blade at my neck once more. “You don’t get it, do you Kelly? You’re mine. You were always mine and you will always be mine.”
“And you’re a sick bastard,” I say, waiting for his blade to slice me open.
I should be more scared than I am. But he never cut me on the island, although he threatened to. He raped me, but he never hurt me with the knife. I’m betting that he won’t do so now.
“Get that knife off of her,” Smith says. “You hurting her was never part of the deal.”
“Hurting me wasn’t part of the deal?” I can’t help a stilted laugh. “You do know what he did to me on that island.”
“He never harmed a hair on your head.”
“You want to bet? I suppose you don’t consider rape to be hurting a woman.”
“You bear no scars from that,” The Dark One says.
My father glares. “The place was a den of sin.”
“You bet it was,” I say, “so why did you send me there? If you’re truly my father, you should’ve protected me.”
“I shot my load into your mother some thirty years ago,” he says. “That doesn’t mean I have any feelings for you.”
“Then why are you giving me your money? Why are you giving my mother your money?”
“I made a deal with your mother long ago,” he says. “I made a deal…for you. All it took was a couple mill, and she was happy to tell me all about you and promise never to try to find you. She never knew about your brother, about how he felt about you, but I’m betting she would have gone with it if I’d thrown in a few diamonds.”
“And you promised to give her all your money eventually? That doesn’t make any sense.”
“She’s not getting a damned thing,” Smith says. “But you are, Kelly.”
“Why? I don’t want your stupid money.”
“Because…I’m old and tired and sick, and it’s the least I can do.”
“What?” I drop my jaw. “You’re giving it to me out of guilt? That’s a load of crap. If you had any guilt, you would never have—”
“Enough!” From Ronald. “Shut up. Just shut up.”
I stop talking, but not because Ronald ordered me to. I stop talking because it’s all coming together in my head.
It’s a freaking horror story.
My mother…
My father…
And my half-brother…
Somehow they all found out about me, and Ronald—The Dark One—became obsessed with me.
My God, what a sick fuck.
My mother…
Oh, she was only too happy to sell me off.
And the server that day. Georgianna.
She must have been bought off too.
My God, is there anyone in the world who can’t be bought?
Leif.
My Leif can’t be bought.
“Both of you are a couple of sick fucks. And so is my fucking mother. She’s a sow.”
“Ronald, we need to execute the plan. Now.”
“I’m not leaving without her.”