Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 70525 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70525 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
She lightens the load of being crime lords and she makes it all worth it.
Caroline will likely never leave our clutches because she's so entranced by me. Who wouldn't be? I have everything to offer and nothing to lose. She couldn't do better than me.
I’m rich, powerful, handsome, and I have the perfect personality. I don't even mind sharing her with the rest of them.
We're riding along solemnly as we prepare for the kill at hand. It's always sobering to take a life, especially when the life is related to the one you love. We’ve collectively decided to forsake all the money that's been promised to us so that we can defend Caroline. It's an easy choice to make.
"You okay?" I ask my girl. "Are you prepared for this?"
She looks up into my eyes and buries herself in my chest. She’s curled up against my side, and I'm happy to provide comfort, but I also sense a strength in her that wasn’t there so very long ago. My girl’s come a long way.
It's a long ride out of the city so I settle in to enjoy being with her in this moment and for the rest of the time we have left today. I hope I'm the one to kill her father so that she’ll always look at me and know that I alone provided her with peace.
Just then her phone interrupts my daydream. It buzzes and she picks it up.
"Hello?” Her eyes flick over quickly to meet mine. “Oh. Hi, Daddy."
We’re all silent waiting to hear how this will go down. What the fuck could this villain possibly have to say at this point? She puts it on speakerphone so we can all hear, and we stay deathly silent at this critical moment.
"Hi, honey. So you're allowed a phone even as a hostage, huh? It must not be so bad over there." Edwin’s chuckle comes through loud and clear.
Wow, what a fucking asshole. I can see Caroline’s trying to be strong in the face of his horrible comments. What father wouldn't be bending over backwards to save his daughter? His easy tone shows how little he cares.
"So why are you calling?" she ventures. "Are you going to save me?"
She doesn't mean it. She doesn't want to be away from me even for a second. I’m just too good a find. I know I have her in my possession forever.
Plus, this is just her playing the part. We can’t risk showing our hand. But I'm still about to kill that bastard on the phone.
"No, sweetie, I don't have the money...yet. Come on, cut me some slack. I'm working on it. What I don't need is pressure from you."
"Daddy, they're going to kill me. Don't you care at all?"
"They're bluffing. Just remember that. They are absolutely bluffing."
"Whatever you say, Daddy." A single tear falls down her cheek, and I wipe it up with my finger.
I want to say comforting things to her but I wait so as not to betray our position.
"Look, I'm calling for a purpose. I know the Seven are planning something against me. I know this for a fact, and I'm telling you now that you need to stop them."
If he was callous before, now he’s a legit contender for Dick of the Year. He’s still just using Caroline, even now.
She gathers her strength, and I see a fire come into her eyes.
"Why would I do that, Father? They’re the only ones protecting me in this situation."
"Listen, I'm trying to warn you here. You know Archibald Cox? Well, he's the one that ordered the hit on you. And that attack on the building? I arranged it. I'll admit to that. I had to."
She interrupts him. "I almost got killed, you know."
"Well, that part wasn't supposed to happen. But that's beside the point. How do you think I got access to that many armed men? You know I don't have connections like that. It was all Archibald. He is the only one with the power to command that many men. Think about it, Caroline. He's been behind this whole thing from the start."
She drops the phone, and I grab it and hang up. All of us see the truth at the same time. We’ve been blind to it all this time.
What the fuck? It's like a punch in the fucking gut. Archibald is not only against Caroline, but he's turned on us? Our boss, the person we trusted above all else, the man who got us going in this fucking organization in the first place, has used his authority against us.
Sure, this makes a lot of the inconsistent events lately make more sense, but his reason is still left up in the air. What could possibly be his motivation for doing something like this? I mean, we’re the fucking reason his empire is what it is.