Total pages in book: 29
Estimated words: 27298 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 136(@200wpm)___ 109(@250wpm)___ 91(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27298 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 136(@200wpm)___ 109(@250wpm)___ 91(@300wpm)
“You ready?” Maxim asks, but I’m already in motion.
Maxim and I come out of the bedroom, guns trained on the two men, and we’ve got the element of surprise.
“Freeze!” I shout, but Jackson is already reaching for his gun. Before he manages to pull his gun out of the holster, I’ve got a bullet between his eyes.
Kelly turns her eyes on me, and I can see the relief as she holds on to Marco. I rush over to where she’s crouched on the floor and wrap my arms around the both of them.
“You came,” she sobs. “I knew you would save us.”
“Forever, sweetness,” I tell her and kiss the top of her head.
Maxim is covering Vince, so I don’t understand what’s happening when I hear screaming behind us.
“No!” Kelly’s terror is chilling, and that’s when I feel the pain explode across my back.
Chapter Seventeen
KELLY
When I see my father’s gun, the only thing I’m able to do is scream. By that point it’s too late, and everything happens in slow motion. Luke lets out a loud grunt when the bullet hits him in the back. As I reach for him, I see Rue slamming her fist into my father's face. Then I watch in horror as three shots hit my father in the center of his chest and he crumples to the ground.
“Luke!” I cry out, but I’m pinned under him and can’t see how bad it is. “Luke!” No, he can’t leave me.
“That always fuckin hurts,” he grunts and then lifts his head.
“Are you bleeding?” I try to push him off me so I can look at his back, but he doesn’t move.
“No, I’ve got a vest on.”
I close my eyes as relief floods me.
“Don’t cry.” He presses his mouth to mine in a soft kiss, but it only makes me cry more.
“I’m sorry I left the house,” I hiccup. “What a mess I’ve made.”
“It’s fine, sweetness. Everyone is okay, and that’s all that matters,” he reassures me.
Luke moves off of me, and when he gets up, he pulls me with him. I know he said he has a vest on but I still lift his shirt to see for myself. I run my fingers across where the bullet is lodged into the thick vest and say a silent prayer of thanks that he was protected.
“He’s dead,” Marco mutters from beside me.
He’s staring at our father’s dead body while Rue nudges him with her foot.
“Yep,” she chirps, confirming that Vince Sledge is truly dead.
“Who the hell are you?” the man that came in with Luke asks her.
“She’s Rue,” Marco answers for her.
“Are you okay?” I lay my hands on Marco’s shoulder. I know we hate our father, but this is a lot to take in.
“He’s dead,” Marco repeats, and it’s like his entire body unclenches with relief. “Do we have to bury them or something?”
“Why don’t you go to your room and grab anything you want to take with us,” Luke tells him. Marco doesn’t have to be asked twice before he rushes off.
“I’ll clean this up if you want to get them out of here,” the other man says and then tucks his gun into the holster under his arm.
“Great. I’m going to dip out. It was nice meeting everyone.” Rue creeps closer towards the door, but the man’s voice stops him.
“You’re not going anywhere.”
“Who is he?” I whisper to Luke.
“My foster brother Maxim.”
“You a cop or something?” Rue tosses back at Maxim, putting her hands on her hips.
“Or something.” He nods toward the couch. “Sit your pretty ass down.” That chipper expression falls from Rue’s face, and I can practically see her carefully crafted façade fade. She glares at him with contempt, and I wonder for the hundredth time where the hell she came from.
“She kinda helped us,” I tell them because I don’t want her to get swept up in whatever this cleanup is.
“She stays put,” Maxim responds, pulling out his phone.
“You all right?” Luke pulls my attention back to him.
“You’re the one who was shot. Are you all right?”
“I am now that I got you and Marco back.”
Those words make me melt into him. He was as worried about both of us.
“I love you,” I blurt out, and his brows lift. “I know it’s soon, and we don’t really know each other enough, but with everything—”
He cuts off my rambling with a kiss that nearly knocks me to my ass. When he breaks away, I’m left breathless as he looks into my eyes.
“I love you too.” He touches his forehead to mine. “Now let’s go home.”
The idea fills me with hope and warmth. “I’d like that.”
After we get our things and Maxim assures us that everything will be taken care of, we don’t go back to the safe house. Instead, Luke packs us up and takes us to his home. By the time we get there, it’s late and Marco is out cold. We get him inside and settled into one of the guest rooms without so much as a peep. I know that eventually we’ll have to talk about what went on today, but for now, I’m going to let him rest.