Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 115400 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115400 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
“Then we stay,” she says.
Without skipping a beat, Chiara pulls out of my hold and turns on her heel, heading back to the main floor, and the moment we pass through the tunnel and back into the chaos, she takes off at a sprint.
“CHIARA,” I call after her, but she’s already gone.
Most of the purchasers have been taken out by my men, but there are still a few left. Both sides exchange gunfire, but my girl races straight through the center like a fucking angel dancing across landmines.
She’s fearsome and wild, and I’ve never been so fucking proud of her.
Reaching one of the cages, she drops to her knees in front of a girl on the ground of the dirty cage, her hands protectively covering her head as she sobs with fear. “I’m going to get you out,” Chiara calls over the noise as a bullet whizzes straight past her face.
For fuck’s sake. She’s going to get herself killed.
Moving in behind Chiara, I shield her body with mine before taking the gun from her hand and shooting out the lock. The cage door swings open, and without wasting a single moment, Chiara dives into the cage and pulls the terrified girl out.
The two of them stumble through the dead bodies and indicate for one of my men to come collect the girls, only as the woman is taken from Chiara, she doubles back, refusing to call it quits just yet. “There’s still more,” she says, not fearing the world around her for even a second.
“Okay,” I tell her. “Lead the way.”
Twenty minutes later, every purchaser within the room is dead, along with every guard or person who had any hand in making these auctions happen. All while Chiara stands out by the convoy of SUVs, offering water and blankets she found in the warehouse to every last woman rescued.
“What’s going to happen to them?” she asks, joining me a moment later.
“Whatever they want,” I tell her. “I can offer them a new life far away from here, but I would assume that many of them already have lives they won’t wish to leave behind. Friends, family, a support network. I can only help as much as they’re willing to accept, but they’re safe now, Chiara. Just as you are. Ezekiel and his men can’t hurt them anymore.”
She nods and steps right into my arms. “Thank you,” she murmurs. “I know it’s not common practice for you to run rescue missions for women you don’t know, but I appreciate that you did.”
“Anything for you, my sweet angel.”
She nods and buries her face against my chest, simply breathing me in. “I think I’d like to help them. I don’t know how, but I just feel . . . I have to.”
“I know,” I tell her. “We’ll figure something out. A foundation perhaps, somewhere women who’ve been hurt in the way you have can find safety and start to rebuild their lives.”
She nods and meets my stare. “You’d help me do that?”
“Of course, Angel. I’m sure both Krista and Evie would also commit to the cause.”
“You know, I’m still annoyed that you interrogated Evie. She didn’t deserve that.”
My face scrunches, and though this isn’t the time to get into it, I can’t help but come clean. “About that. There was no interrogation. A pure heart like Evie, she wouldn’t be able to handle it. She told me everything I needed to know on the car ride over and once in my office, we made funeral arrangements while she sipped on tea.”
Her jaw drops and she stares at me in shock. “You’re a real asshole, you know that, right?”
I nod. “I do.”
Shaking it off, she lets out a heavy breath. “Okay. So, this foundation. We’re going to do it. We’ll make it happen.”
I nod and a moment of heavy silence falls between us, and it’s clear she’s deep in thought. “Chiara,” I say, drawing her attention. “I was wrong to send you away. I thought you were safer on the outside, that once you were separated from me, Monica would no longer see you as a threat. I am sorry. I was wrong. I should never have hurt you like that.”
“I provoked her,” she admits. “The night she came into the bar, I provoked her and led her to believe that I’d told you everything she’d done. I thought it would scare her into leaving me alone, but all of this happened because of her. They were there when I was taken, both Monica and Sergiu. They were the ones pulling the strings. They made this happen.”
I nod as my gut tightens with unease. “I know,” I tell her. “But they won’t hurt you anymore. I’ll make sure of it. Now, please, my sweet angel, let me take you home.”
Chiara nods and lifts her gaze to mine. “I want them to pay, Killian. For everything they’ve done to me. I want them punished.”