Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 65872 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 329(@200wpm)___ 263(@250wpm)___ 220(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65872 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 329(@200wpm)___ 263(@250wpm)___ 220(@300wpm)
It takes everything in me to swallow down the bile that rises with his words. This asshole needs to die just on principle alone.
“Guess we better get a move on then,” I respond with a laugh. I shock myself at how relaxed I sound. In reality, I’m biding my time so I can end this asshole. I have a feeling he needs it more than even Eyeball …
Chapter 12
Nicole
If you asked me how I was not freaking out and panicking as each horribly slow minute passed, I’d tell you I had no idea. Somewhere deep inside of me, I know that my man is out there, very close. He will rescue us. I don’t know how he’s going to do it, but I know he will. I just need to find the courage to wait. In the meantime, despite the fact that King said he was here to help, somehow, I need to defend myself and get Gabby to do the same. Sadly, I think she’s in some sort of shock. She’s operating on the surface as normal, but her eyes hold a glassiness to them that is unnerving. I don’t know what happened before I woke up in this hellhole, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t good.
“Gabby?” I murmur. “Come over here and sit beside me.”
She looks at me and her face reminds me of a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming vehicle that’s barreling toward her. My heart squeezes in my chest. I have a lot of anger toward Gabby for the pain she caused my boys. I’m not a blind parent, however. My boys could have handled things better on their end. Even Thomas should have talked about things with his brother. That doesn’t excuse Gabby’s hateful and selfishness, nothing could. I can, however, let go of some of my hostility toward the girl. She’s young. There’s hope this will wake her up. If nothing else, it should wake up Skull enough that he starts listening to Beth and stops spoiling the girl. Dragon spoiled Kayden and the boys at times, too. I admit it. That said, he made them respect rules and stood with me when it came to punishment. There were times I felt he could be too harsh, but I can’t deny that the two of us managed to raise three remarkable children. They may not be perfect adults, but they’re damn close.
The thought of my kids makes me smile. I sigh as I try to hold on to their beautiful faces in my mind as Gabby slowly sits down. When I turn my head to the side, for the first time I focus on Gabby and not on everything that’s happened or my surroundings. I gasp when I take in the dark purple bruising around her throat.
“Gabby,” I whisper, my voice breaking as I reach out to touch the side of her neck.
I didn’t notice them before, making me feel shame. In my defense, the room doesn’t have that much light. Plus, I think these bruises are just now beginning to darken. She jerks away from me, just as my fingers graze the darkened flesh.
“I’m fine,” she snaps harshly, her entire body vibrating with fear to the point that she’s gone rigid beside me.
“You’re not. It’s clear that you were choked. Hell, from the look of it, they almost killed you. Tell me what they did.”
“No. It’s fine. I’m fine.”
Despite the fact her body is giving off silent messages to stay away, I take her in my arms and pull her into me. She remains stiff for a minute or two. Then finally, I can feel her tremor against me. “Shh …” I whisper. “It’s going to be okay. You’re okay.”
“I’m not,” she cries. “You aren’t either. They’re coming back. You … you heard what they have planned.”
Finally, her body gives in completely to her grief as she wraps her shaky arms around me. With a gut-wrenching wail, she begins sobbing. I hold her, letting her vent her grief as the front of my shirt becomes wet with her tears. She’s sobbing so painfully that I can’t help but cry with her. “I don’t know how, but it’s going to be okay,” I tell her.
“I can’t let him touch me again. I can’t. I’d rather die.”
I put a hand on each of her shoulders and pull her back. “Then we’re going to fight.”
“But—”
“No buts,” I interrupt. “We’re going to do everything we can to keep safe until Dragon and your father get here.”
“We can’t fight them. They’re too strong,” she argues.
I’m doing my best to make sure we keep our voices down. We’re also further away from the camera area now. Still, I make sure my voice is barely above a whisper. There’s a large fan, or maybe even a heat pump outside close by. It makes for a constant humming in the room and I’m praying that’s enough to help make our conversation private.