Total pages in book: 40
Estimated words: 35602 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 178(@200wpm)___ 142(@250wpm)___ 119(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 35602 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 178(@200wpm)___ 142(@250wpm)___ 119(@300wpm)
I check the address that Saul sent me, and quickly realize it's for a women's home that's located in a country next to ours. I cross the border without any trouble and race ahead of the clock to hopefully get there before Saul. I don't even trust my right wing man to be alone with Tallulah... I'm fucking obsessed, still, after all this time.
Reluctantly, I remember there's still a prize on bringing Tallulah home, dead or alive. Even though most of my men know that I won't want her brought back to me in pieces, I'm still worried one of them will do it. Pull the trigger and end her life, trying to bring her body home as a trophy. Little do they know, if they so much as harm a hair on her head, I'm going to kill them, including their families. I need to ensure they know just what a big mistake they've made by angering the don of the Scorpion cartel.
I get closer and closer to my destination. I soon see the house in front of me. A small crumbled down building. It looks like it's seen better times, especially now that it's fucking burning into cinder.
I stop the car a street over, and race to find out what happened. When I reach the house, the first thing I hear is the wailing of a small child inside the home's burning walls. I can't bring myself to leave that kid in there.
I groan, pulling my shirt over my head while still recovering from the all the alcohol I've drank tonight.
But there is no time for hesitation and no chances left to take. I hold the shirt over my mouth to prevent smoke poisoning. I go into the burning building, following the wails until I find the baby in a crib crying his heart out while his mother lies on the floor, unconscious from all the smoke that's in the room. A beam has ripped itself from the roof and buried her. The moon shines upon the scene ominously.
I muster up all the strength in my body and throw the beam off the woman, my fingers sizzling as they make contact with the blaze. I collect her in my arms, and try to wake her up. I don't know if she's dead already. I check for a pulse, and it's there. Although faint, I think she's still alive. I slap her to wake her up, and her eyes open, cloudy and unsure of what's going on.
"Where's my baby?" she asks in Spanish. "Where's my baby boy? Save my baby, not me!"
I force her to stand on her own two feet, and point for her to get out of the room while she still can. The walls are crumbling all around, small explosion sounding from the rest of the house. I gather the woman's child in my arms and follow her shaky steps out of the burning house.
As I walk through the rooms and lead the woman out of the building, I'm unsure whether my mind is playing tricks on me or not. But I can smell her. I can smell Tallulah's scent, white peaches lingering in the hallways, everlasting even though the whole damn floor is burning.
As we make our way out, the staircase crumbles in front of us into a pile of burning ashes and ember. I ignore it and pull the woman to safety along with her child. I shove the kid into her arm, still screaming and wailing for his mother.
She looks up at me grateful and almost enchanted by my presence.
"I need to go," I tell her darkly. "You need to get the fuck out of here before someone else finds you and treats you much less kindly than I just did."
"I don't know where to go..."
I groan, pulling out my wallet and thrusting some money into her shaking hands.
"Just leave," I tell her darkly. "You need to get the fuck out of here. Now."
I scream at her in Spanish when she doesn't move, and that finally gets her going. She clutches her child and shakily walks away from the fire. The baby wails.
My heart is pounding. I can tell I'm still drunk, and I need to get the fuck to Tallulah before anyone else. But suddenly I'm frozen to the spot.
Saul texts me, and I realize he's not here yet. He gives me the location where Tallulah is, though.
in the shed in the back of the garden of the house which hasn't been set on fire yet.
I make my way across the grass, the golden blades crunching beneath my feet.
I want to run, but something is stopping me, something's slowing me down. I make my way across the gardens in slow motion. My hand lingers on the doorknob of the shed, wondering.
Am I ready to submit myself to Tallulah's whims and desires again? Am I ready to make her mine, even though it possibly means she'll betray me again before we have our happy ending?