Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 73724 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 369(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73724 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 369(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
Let her live. Please. Take me and let her live.
There’s a gunshot near us, and I let out a cry while I try to pull my body over Eleni’s so that the bullets will hit me instead of her.
I hear boots running toward us and just keep staring into Eleni’s eyes. “I love you. So much.”
Her features strain, and I can see it takes everything she has to whisper, “Love…you.”
A sob bursts from me, someone crouches right behind me, and I brace for the kill shot.
“I’ve got you. Stay down,” the man orders, and then I hear as he fires bullet after bullet at the enemy until the last shot rings in my ears.
I’m grabbed by my shoulder and forced to turn onto my back. My vision blurs from all the pain and blood loss I’ve suffered, and when it comes back into focus, my eyes lock on a pair of dark green ones.
Santiago’s sniper.
Knight.
“My sister,” I beg.
He nods, his eyes flicking between Eleni and me.
“Leave me and save her.”
He tilts his head, his features tightening as if he’s in intense pain.
Was he shot?
“Please,” I beg again. “Eleni.”
My vision starts to darken around the edges, and I might be hallucinating things when Knight brushes his hand over my hair, and I hear his voice rumble above me, “Don’t die on me. Just this once, let me be in time.”
Chapter 6
KNIGHT
Once Cassia and Eleni are settled into the hospital on the island, I stand at the end of the hallway for a few minutes.
It’s been a rough week. At first, we couldn’t get the sisters out of Greece, because they both had surgery.
Santiago had one of his private jets rigged with medical equipment. He also had Dr. Anthony go to Greece so he could monitor the sisters during the trip back to South America, where the island is located.
They’re both in induced comas, and the doctor can’t tell us whether they’ll pull through.
If only I’d gotten there ten minutes earlier.
I’m always too late when it counts most.
“Knight,” I hear Santiago call, and when I glance over my shoulder at the entrance to the hospital, he gestures for me to come.
I sigh as I exit the building, and when I join him outside, he asks, “How are they?”
I shrug. “We’ll have to wait and see.”
He shakes his head, his features tight with worry. “Besides Cassia and her sister, the bratva wiped out the entire family and most of the high-level associates in the Greek mafia. The rest of the organization is scattered.”
He lifts his hand and swipes the pad of his thumb over his bottom lip. “Leo and Enzo are on their way. I told everyone to gather here until we know if it was a one-off attack or whether the bratva is coming after all of us.”
I nod and glance through the windows into the hospital. When I see Dr. Anthony, I tap Santiago’s arm and nod my head in the direction of the man who’s been overseeing the sisters' care.
“Let’s hear how the women are doing,” Santiago mutters.
I shouldn’t care, but I can’t stop myself from following my friend into the hospital.
“How are they?” Santiago asks.
“Cassia is stable, but we won’t know the extent of the injury Eleni suffered until she regains consciousness. I’ve stopped the medication so they can come out of their induced comas. Only time will tell now.”
Santiago nods. “Thanks, doc.”
When Dr. Anthony returns to his patients, Santiago shakes his head and lets out a sigh. “There’s nothing else we can do here. I’m going to talk with Dominik so we can start forming a plan.”
Knowing Santiago is safe on the island, I don’t follow after him but find myself glancing down the hallway again. Before I’m able to think things through, my feet move, and the next minute, I find myself standing in the doorway of Cassia’s hospital room.
I stare at her pale complexion while the machines make nerve-racking noises.
A nurse comes down the hallway, and when I lock eyes with her, I ask, “Are the machines supposed to sound like that?”
She nods. “Her vitals are good. She’s a fighter.”
When the nurse walks away, I turn my attention back to Cassia and slowly step deeper into the room. I stop next to the bed, and my gaze drifts over the bandage around her bicep before settling on the breathing tube.
The memory of Cassia running behind Eleni flits through my mind. Through the scope of my rifle, I saw the gunshot wounds she suffered, but still, she kept running until I killed the second bratva soldier. The moment she realized help had arrived she seemed to lose all her fight.
The images flash through my mind like a reel from a film.
The bodies dropping as I killed one fucker after the other.
Cassia slowing down, and the bullet hitting her in the back.