Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 122242 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122242 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
"He'll come for me."
"He won't," I assure her. "Kincaid expects the hit to be called off at any moment. Finn and Roman are already working on building the case against every single person named in your notebook. Indictments will start rolling in soon. Tarasova has bigger problems now, Faith. His entire world just blew up. Believe me, he's never going to come for you again."
She searches my gaze like she's looking for any hint of doubt, but there isn't any. Tarasova may be a prick, but he's a smart prick. He'll try to negotiate with Kincaid to save his ass, and his first concession will be Faith's safety.
"What about finding out what happened to your sister?" she asks, her eyes wide and worried. "You can't just give up on finding out, Octavio. You've been searching for answers your whole life."
"I need you safe more than I need closure. Anything he could tell me about her won't bring her back or change anything. I made peace long ago with the fact that I would never know what happened to her. All I've wanted since was to bring them down. You helped me make that possible." I smile at her. "Everything I need to die happy is right here in my arms."
"You make me happy too." She melts against me with a nod, her honey eyes full of trust as I drag her back down in the bed beneath me to show her with my body exactly how happy she makes me.
"I love you, Octavio," she whispers.
"Te amo, mi conejita. Te amo."
"She looks good," Kincaid says, stepping up beside me as I watch Faith and January whispering back and forth on the couch. They've become good friends over the last few days. January sneaks over here when Kincaid isn't looking. He usually follows along a few minutes later. I'm pretty sure he knows before she ever steps foot out of the house, but he plays along, letting her think she won. He'd do anything for her.
"She is good," I murmur, smiling when Faith turns toward me, her eyes bright. Hamby was over here yesterday, helping her sign the paperwork to gain access to the allowance her trust provides. He offered to make me the executor once he read through the prenuptial agreement I had drawn up and realized that I was serious about not wanting her money, but I declined. I might not know him well, but it's obvious he cares about her. Even though he feared she was dead, he kept her trust fund safe and never gave up hope that she would reappear someday.
He promised to come see Faith again this weekend. He also brought her a bunch of pictures from her childhood. She sat in my lap after he left, crying as she went through them. I think having them means more to her than any amount of money ever will. For the first time in her life, she's coming to realize that she's always been wanted, always been loved. Maybe not by her bitch of a mother, but by her dad, Jordan Hamby, and the grandmother who no longer even remembers she has a granddaughter.
I promised Hamby that I'd take her to see her grandmother soon. She doesn't have a lot of time left, and I want Faith to be able to say goodbye to her before she passes. She needs to be able to say goodbye, I think.
She's working through everything, putting together the pieces of her past. But she's good. She's happy. There's a confident gleam in her honey eyes now, like she finally knows where she belongs…like she finally knows she deserves so much more than she's ever been given.
"Tarasova rescinded the reward he was offering for Faith's capture," Kincaid says, keeping his voice pitched low so Faith and January don't overhear. "He wants to negotiate."
I grasp onto the kitchen table to keep from falling over as relief hits me, weakening my knees. This is what we've been waiting on, what we wanted. She's finally free. Finally safe. Thank God.
"I know you want him behind bars, but you have an opportunity here," Kincaid continues, his expression unreadable. He nods in Faith's direction. "You know she isn't the only slave they were holding. There are others like her out there."
"You want me to free them."
Kincaid shrugs. "What you do is up to you. But putting him behind bars isn't going to stop the Bratva, not really. You know gangs and cartels run prisons. He'll be as comfortable on the inside as he has been on the outside. And sooner or later, someone else will sweep in to take his place. Any control we have over them will be gone."
I grind my teeth together, clenching my fists. He's right, damn him. As much as I want Tarasova in prison or a shallow grave for what he put Faith through…Kincaid is right. Toppling Tarasova won't save innocent women like my sister or Faith.