Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 71179 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71179 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
29
FALCON
The pain is a constant companion, throbbing in time with my pulse, a reminder of the beating I've endured. It's etched into every bruise and in every shallow breath that stings my broken ribs.
Blood trickles down my face, warm and sticky, as I struggle to keep my eyes open. The pain throbs in time with my heartbeat in a cruel, metronomic pulse that amplifies the agony of every bruise and cut on my body. My limbs are heavy, bound tightly by the rough ropes biting into my skin. There's no way for me to escape, not that I have the strength left to try.
I tilt my head upward, wincing at the effort it takes.
“You’re a piece of shit,” one of the goons says.
I want to spit back a retort, but my mouth is dry and raw from screaming earlier. So instead, I clench my teeth and glare at him, trying to convey my hatred through my gaze alone. It's all I have left.
Will they force Savannah to look upon my beaten and battered body?
Because I don’t care what happens to me. Physical pain is far from new to me.
I endured it more than once on the inside.
What’s new is the torment raging inside me—the helpless fury, the gnawing guilt. I'm shackled, powerless, my battered body a prison within a prison—a cage with more walls than the actual prison I endured for eight years.
Savannah is here, and she’s going to walk into a battle she’s not prepared for.
She’ll be strong. There will be no piercing cries that I’m forced to hear. Instead, she’ll show strength and defiance, even as they do God knows what to her.
She’ll use what strength she has to save me.
And that’s not what I want.
I would gladly battle against a thousand armed soldiers to save her from the McAllisters’ clutches.
I see her then, through the blood that has trickled into my eyes, making them tear up and burn as if a hundred bees have sunk their stingers into my flesh.
She’s wearing a black hoodie, one of mine, and—
Her brother. Vinnie is with her.
What the hell was he thinking?
Same thing I’d have been thinking. No way is Savannah coming here alone.
A defiant spark ignites within me.
I know the moment she sees me.
The look on her face is not shock. Not even horror or disbelief. She clearly knows what these people are capable of. Still, her mouth falls open and color drains from her pink cheeks. She closes her mouth and her jaw goes rigid.
A potent mixture of fear for me and anger at my captors.
Anger at how I’ve been treated. And anger that she couldn’t prevent it.
Her lips tremble.
I open my mouth to speak, but I hear a gun cock behind me.
Someone else has entered the room.
I see two goons, Declan McAllister, and Mario Bianchi. Savannah and Vinnie. Mario and Vinnie seem to be whispering to each other.
So who is behind me, aiming to shoot? I don’t dare turn to see the man who’s threatening to kill me. He’s most likely unhinged, but he won’t do it. I’m the only bargaining chip they have with Savannah.
Still the fear slices into me like a sharp icicle. I endured eight years behind bars, and I have a new chance at life. I don’t want it to be over.
“Miles, no!” Savannah shrieks.
Miles. So that’s who’s got a gun pointing to the back of my head. Such a coward. Can’t even look me in the fucking eye.
One thing to say about Zion. He was a perverted motherfucker, but at least he wasn’t a coward.
“Shut up, Savvy,” comes Miles’s voice from behind me. “Dad, hold this gun on him so I can fuck her right in front of him.”
I furiously work the rope on my wrists, the friction making them raw. “The hell you will,” I grit out.
But the attention of the senior McAllister and Bianchi is elsewhere.
On Vinnie.
Neither one looks pleased.
They take him to a corner and speak to him in hushed whispers. Savannah attempts to come to me, but the goons hold her back.
“What have you done to him?” she demands. “Can’t you see he needs a doctor?”
“Not for long.” Miles’s voice again.
“Why don’t you show yourself, you yellow-assed pussy,” I manage.
“Tough words from an ex-con who’s tied up and beaten to a pulp.” But he still doesn’t come out from behind me.
“Words are all I’ve got at the moment,” I say, “but if I could, I’d look you in your lily-livered eyes before I take your life. In fact, I will. I promise you.” I strain against the ropes around my wrists. “I won’t die at your hand. You’ll die at mine, and I’ll make sure I’m looking you straight in your fucking eyes when you do.”
He laughs behind me.
“Miles, please…” From Savannah.
“Fuck off, bitch. You broke a promise. You came with me willingly, and then you refused me. I hate you. I fucking hate you, and I swear to God I’m going to make your life hell as my wife.”