Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 45515 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 228(@200wpm)___ 182(@250wpm)___ 152(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45515 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 228(@200wpm)___ 182(@250wpm)___ 152(@300wpm)
“It’ll be OK,” I managed to get out. “Just stay as close to me as you can, and I’ll do my best to protect you.”
“I’m scared,” the girl whimpered.
“I know. But I promise I’ll do everything I can to get us both out of this. I won’t leave you.” I didn’t tell her we had help coming because the last thing I wanted was for her to slip up and say something. It would give away any advantage of surprise the guys from Bane had.
“What’s gonna happen to us?”
I shook my head. The combination of the guy choking me nearly to death and the lick I’d taken when I’d smashed the back of my head into that same guy’s chin was enough to make me dizzy. I had no idea how to answer that Goddamned question.
After a couple moments, I looked up at her terrified face. “What’s your name, kid?”
“Effie.” Her face was tearstained, and she looked like she had a sunburn, but otherwise didn’t appear to be hurt.
I nodded. “That short for something?” I wanted to distract her while I struggled to sit up. I needed to think if I wanted to figure out how to get us out of here in case Bane couldn’t find us right away. Wylde said Bane’s intel guy, Ripper, was good, but I’d really feel better if I had Wylde on this. And I’d never fucking tell him I fucking thought that because it would make him more of an insufferable bastard than he already was.
“Euphemia.” She said, wiping her nose on her wrist and grimacing like she thought the snot was disgusting. “It’s Greek. It means ‘well spoken.’ So Mom said I needed to read a lot so I could live up to my name.”
“Well, Euphemia is a mouthful, but I like Effie.”
She ducked her head. “It’s a freak name.”
“It’s a great name,” I snapped. “Don’t you let anyone tell you different. If I were you, I’d make everyone call me Euphemia just to fuck with ‘em.”
That got a small giggle out of the kid. She still looked scared, but she’d stopped crying at least. “My teachers at school can never say it.”
“Yeah. I bet first days are hell.”
“What’s your name?”
I lifted my chin and gave her a cocky grin. “Lemon.”
Her eyes widened. “Really?”
“Yep. I have a sister named Apple. She’s the sweet sister. I’m a bit… tart.”
Despite the situation, the child managed a small, genuine laugh. “Tart means you’re a little sour.”
“Yep.” I tried to match her smile with one of my own when I was still trying to take stock of my body. I didn’t think I was injured. Just winded and a little banged up. All in all, I think I gave better than I got. “You know. Like a Lemon.”
We shared a smile before the van took a sharp right turn and threw us both against the wall of the van. Effie yelped and I managed to catch her. They’d zip-tied my hands together, but in front instead of behind, so I was able to protect her a little.
“Do me a favor, Euphemia. Check my back pocket and make sure my phone is as far down my back pocket as it can be.”
She nodded and I rolled over so she could push my phone farther down so it was as secure as I could make it. Considering I was wearing a bikini top and a pair of cut-off jean shorts, I was damned proud I’d even remembered the fucking phone. I had nowhere else to put it. Also, it wasn’t a fancy smartphone. I’d never take one of those to the beach. Nope. This was an old ass, small-as-shit flip phone Wylde had fixed for me as a backup. Which was both good and bad. Because he’d be looking for my main phone first. I had no doubt Apple would do what she had to do so I knew it was only a matter of time before he found me. Just might take longer than I’d like because I had my back-up phone. On the other hand, it was good because it was small and fit snugly into my back pocket. So, all I had to do was hold out until Wylde sent someone for me.
“Whatever you do, don’t say a word. You can cry, you can scream, you can do whatever you need to, but don’t talk. The more information you give them the easier you’ll make this for them.”
“What are they gonna do?” Euphemia looked up at me. And yeah, I was calling her Euphemia to get her used to it because, once we were out of this shit situation, I fully intended to get her to make everyone call her Euphemia just to fuck with the people in her life. Fucking with people was the best way to show them you cared. Or that you hated them and wanted them as far away from you as possible. Either worked.