Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 85322 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 427(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85322 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 427(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
Trees still lined the road, like the main street, but all the leaves had fallen, allowing me to see the vast fields beyond.
I passed the first house and then the second. Half a minute later, the third house.
After that, I checked the distance. We had to be far enough away for gunshots to go off without raising suspicion. Then again, that would be too merciful. When I was done making them suffer, the quietest way to let them go was by strangling them.
That could be fun.
The seconds ticked by in the dead winter landscape of grays and browns, and— “What the…” I stepped on the brake and sucked in a breath. Someone had rolled out one of those strips of tire shredders right in front of me, and I swerved to the left, almost ending up in the ditch. “What the fuck!” I yelled. I slammed my hands on the wheel before I opened the door. Holy fuck, it was Finn stepping out of the thicket on the right side of the road. Parka, gloves, beanie, definitely his beard and his steely gray eyes.
My heart raced as I hurried out of the car.
“What’re you doing, man?! What the fuck!”
He strode toward me, jaw set. “You left the city in a hurry, so I figured you might need to be stopped in a similar fashion. You were supposed to come up tomorrow with Kellan. What’s the plan here, Alfie?”
The plan? Was he fucking serious?
“I’m gonna kill them,” I spat out. I flinched forward, ready to push past him. “What did you think? Get outta my way.”
He planted a hand on my chest and shoved me back, his eyes flashing with barely contained fury. “You stand the fuck down, cousin. Right now, you have two brain cells battling for third place. You ain’t gonna do shit until you can think straight. Get back in the fucking car, you hear me?”
My chest heaved, and I glared at him. He stood between me and that house, and I had to—
“I won’t tell you twice.” He pointed to the car. “What part of ‘the inner circle doesn’t go to prison’ don’t you understand?”
Who was gonna catch me out here?
“I’m sorry, are the cops hiding behind the house?” I asked incredulously. “There’s nobody here!” I threw my arms out.
He got in my face again, and he jabbed a finger at my temple. “There’s something missin’ in here too. A safehouse isn’t all about a remote location, for chrissakes. Did you speed here? Are you sure you weren’t followed? Do you have a protocol in place in case a traffic camera caught your ass?”
“I think I can afford the ticket,” I snapped.
“It logs your fucking location, you dumb shite! Who’s gonna remove that for you? Huh?” Once again, he pointed to the car.
My ears burned, and the embarrassment weighed almost as much as my anger.
“When we go to a safehouse, we let Eric know our exact route so he can turn us into ghosts,” he told me. Then he walked over to the shredders and hauled them off the road again. “I knew you were gonna pull some stupid-ass stunt.”
I gritted my teeth. Fine, I sucked. Happy? I’d messed up.
“I wanna kill them, Finn.”
“And I wanna be home, licking ice cream off Emilia’s ass, but here I am.”
My eyebrows flew up.
He walked toward me again. “Gimme the keys.”
“Uh…they’re in the ignition.”
So I guessed he was just gonna steal my car? He got behind the wheel and gave me an expectant look.
Fine.
I opened the passenger’s door instead, and he revved the engine.
“You asked us to make sure you didn’t kill them,” he stated.
“I know. Then I saw the video where one of them beat Mom to a bloody pulp. People can change their minds.”
“Hence, why I’ve been here for three fucking hours already,” he muttered. “I had a feeling something would happen once Eric told Colby to look for those videos. There wasn’t a chance in hell he’d keep it to himself if he found anything.”
I looked out the window, toward the house. It wasn’t big, maybe two or three rooms, one story. Red brick. The front yard had seen better days, and the fence had rusted.
It was definitely secluded, though.
“I’mma let you go to town on their asses. Torture them all you want, but you’re not snuffing out the last light.”
I glanced back to him as he drove up the driveway. “Can I ask why you give a shit?”
“Because we’re family. I just gotta keep you straitlaced enough so your man won’t leave you again.” He killed the engine and got out.
I swallowed hard. West wouldn’t leave me for this. I was sure. Sort of. No, I was. I knew his worries came from a different place. West was afraid I’d fall into a depression or something because I’d taken a life. Two lives.