Total pages in book: 192
Estimated words: 182641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 913(@200wpm)___ 731(@250wpm)___ 609(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 182641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 913(@200wpm)___ 731(@250wpm)___ 609(@300wpm)
“I followed the threat against her that led me to Daddy Henshaw, and I did what you couldn’t. He was planning an attack. He was going to go to her room first with gas bombs and then real ones, and only after you heard them go off, heard her screams if she even had the chance to, he was going to come for you. I stopped him. I solved the puzzle you couldn’t and then I took you. Don’t forget you’re only standing where you are because I fucking let you. Me. The rankless punk boy who—”
He clips me clean across the jaw and when he rights himself, I spit the blood he left behind in his face, baring my teeth this time.
“I told you what I wanted in return for the gifts I gave you.”
“Her fate has been sealed!” he screams. “It’s done.”
“You’re right. It is.” I lift my chin, the lock slipping lower as I drop the bomb he never saw coming. “Her guardian made sure of it.”
I’ve replayed this shit in my head a million times, but I only needed to once, ’cause in the end, the most obvious reason was the same, and when I came face to face with the man, suddenly, it clicked. Like her daddy said, that man promised to protect her with his life against all enemies and threats, and that’s exactly what he did.
Rayo’s eyes narrow and I bend my neck to the left, giving him a clearer view.
His attention drops to the area revealed, just visible beyond the lock. The fresh wound there, the mark familiar and of his own design, and he jerks back, stumbling over his own fucking feet.
Because he sees it.
He knows.
Sai Demonte didn’t betray the girl he swore to defend.
He saved her from the biggest threat she’d ever faced.
He saved her from her father.
Chapter 40
Bass
Four Years Ago
When the dude said “somewhere near here,” I thought he meant a couple hours away, but not thirty minutes later, we’re pulling to the curb in front of an old busted-ass house that looks like it holds what nightmares are made of.
But what do I know?
My house had a fresh paint job and a wooden welcome sign on the front porch, but the devil lived inside it. Maybe the good is hidden in the ugly so it can’t be corrupted, broken, or ruined.
My eyes narrow on nothing. “When can I see my sister?” I ask again.
The man climbs out of the driver’s seat and slips into the back, once again sitting across from me. “The woman who runs the home across the way will come get you as soon as the doctors call to say she’s out of surgery.”
Surgery. Doctors. She’ll be scared when she wakes alone, but what can I do?
“Cops won’t be waiting there for me?”
“The second I leave you here, everything that happened before today disappears.”
Finally, I drag my gaze back to his, doubting his every word. “How?”
“I work with powerful people.”
Such a cop-out answer. But then again, maybe he does. The ring on his right hand is a shiny kind of gold I’ve never seen. “And my mom?” My jaw tics at the thought of her.
He frowns, and when he speaks again, his eyes stay locked on mine, each word delivered slower than the last. “There is a man I know. He makes people disappear.”
“Is that what’s about to happen to me? I’m gonna walk in there and ‘disappear?’”
“No.” He dips his chin, almost as if he’s lowering himself so we’re equals, when that couldn’t be further from the truth. “What’s going to happen is you’re going to lie low here. You’re going to do what’s asked of you and you’re going to prove yourself. You’re going to earn trust and you’re going to learn the value of it. You’re going to thrive and come out stronger. More.”
Scoffing, I shake my head, watching as some kids my age come barreling out of the trees in the back, basketball tucked under their arms. There’re three of them, and they run past, pausing for a short second to glare at the car I’m sitting in before taking off again.
“You don’t know me, man,” I tell the suit. “Maybe I’m gonna go in there and kill everyone in their sleep.”
“Maybe.”
My head snaps his way and I glare. “I will if I have to, and I won’t even blink. I’ll feel nothing.” If they come at me, threaten me, I fucking will.
I won’t live through what I did again. Not now. Not ever.
The man shocks me when he smirks. It’s strange, but I get the feeling that was what he wanted me to say. “I believe you, kid, but if that doesn’t happen, then I look forward to seeing you again.”
A frown pulls at my brows. “I thought you said I wouldn’t see you after today?”