Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 94024 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94024 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
I saw the flicker of movement in his right hand.
And I couldn’t let him be the guilty party.
In a flash, I grabbed the gun from Phoenix’s hand, pointed it at my dad and shot him in the foot, then held it to Phoenix’s head while I trained my own gun on Andrei. “We should probably all sit down before someone gets hurt.” My dad screamed in rage from the floor. “Or more hurt, and it went straight through, so get up and stop yelling. You’re making Mom sad.”
“I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!” Dad bellowed.
I sighed. “To be fair, I did already die, and you’ll be late for my funeral, or worse covered in my blood, which really doesn’t look all that great to all the families we swore to protect.”
“Violet.” Chase held out his hand. “Walk toward me.”
She stood still and then gave me a syrupy smile. “No, I think we should all talk, get things off our chest, I’ll go first—”
“Fuck.” I didn’t lower the guns, but the bosses did stop moving, and Andrei looked proud that I was holding my gun to his head. It was the only thing I could think of that would make them not attack all of us in their hurt and their rage.
And now I was a dead man.
“Vi?” Chase frowned. “Honey, why is—” His brain worked. I could practically hear it. His eyes widened, and with a yell that sounded like it came from the pits of hell, he charged us.
All to get to Violet.
As if I would hurt her.
I tossed the gun back to Phoenix and spun around, grabbing Violet by the arm and pulling her against me, protecting her against whatever Chase was going to do and taking whatever anger he had for her.
I was dead already.
Why not be a human shield?
She stumbled back against the wall, my body covering her.
“My dad would never hurt me.” She shoved at me.
“No offense.” I gritted my teeth as Chase drove a knife directly into my back, poetic, really. “But he’s fucking crazy!”
“Get.” Stab. “Away.” Stab. “From.” Stab. “My.” That one went deep. “DAUGHTER!”
I dropped to the floor in a heap of burning pain from the short stab wounds in my back, and the entire room fell quiet until someone muttered, “Was that a steak knife?”
Welcome to the mafia.
I groaned and pushed to my feet, but I’d barely found any balance when Chase kicked me in the stomach and sent me sailing to my ass again.
Rolling to the side, I reached out and grabbed his ankle, then spun around and kicked him in the shin. A crunching sound filled the kitchen as he fell backward and then wobbled toward me.
I jumped up, even wounded. I’d been training for this since I was three. My mom had demanded it. I knew how to fight; I’d just always chosen not to.
I dodged a punch and then landed one to his jaw while everyone watched in horror, unable to move.
Blood trickled down my back as he tackled me to the ground, straddling me, ready to beat my entire face in.
I smiled when Phoenix held a gun to Chase’s head, followed by Andrei. “He’s already dead, don’t kill him again.”
“I told you.” Chase sneered. “What would happen if you touched her!”
“You did.” My smile was probably bloody. He’d gotten a few good blows in there. “But it’s not illegal to touch my wife, is it?”
“Before you pull the trigger.” Chase’s voice was a deathly whisper. “I’m going to kill him, then do whatever the hell you want to me. Phoenix, he dies first, then kill me, but I get to send him to Hell!”
“I wouldn’t.” Phoenix sighed like he was bored. “Since he saved her life and died in order to do it.”
Chase’s fist didn’t come flying. He held it over my head then slowly turned toward Violet. “Is that true?”
“Yes.” She didn’t look happy about it, though. What did I expect? “But because I think you actually might kill him, and I think Ash and Junior deserve that honor—I’m going to wait until you’re not on top of him to tell you why.”
That’s when I saw it.
The pain in Junior’s gaze as he walked over to us.
And the absolute rage in Ash’s. “Dad, I’m their king, remember? I get to decide what happens and who dies, and in this case, it will be my fucking pleasure to continue what you started—” He narrowed his eyes. “Also, you slept with my sister so…” He kicked me in the side and then pulled out a chair and sat. “Let’s talk. I have a funeral to go to and a person to kill.”
“Savage.” Maksim grinned at the spectacle and pulled out a chair while the bosses all set their weapons down on the table and sat.
My mom went and sat on my dad’s lap, waiting, her expression hurt, he was bleeding all over the floor from the gunshot wound in his foot, but he didn’t even seem to care.