Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 88114 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88114 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Worse, it would be like spitting in the face of all that’s good, and I won’t do it.
Finn shakes his head. “We’ll do our best, but the family—”
“Fuck the family. I don’t care if they’re not happy about this.” I shove him away and stand up. He curses, tries to pull me back, but I’m already striding out from cover and toward the front door with my hands raised in the air.
My heart’s thudding hard and I keep thinking at any moment my life might be over. If Hugh has guys at the windows with guns trained me, they can pull the trigger and end it right now. That’s what they want—but the night remains quiet, and I remain alive.
Someone in there is smart. They must realize that if they kill me outright, here and now, my men will swarm this place and finish them all off.
I’m the only thing keeping them alive.
I stop at the door and pound on it twice.
“Hugh,” I call out. “It’s me. I’m here alone and unarmed. Open the fuck up and let’s talk.”
There’s some shuffling from inside and the door pulls back a crack. Hugh’s face fills in the space, grinning that slimy reptile smirk.
“I knew you’d come,” he says, head cocked. “Should we have a chat?”
“Is Tara alive?”
He nods quickly. “Definitely alive. Your man isn’t, I’m sorry to say, but she’s alive. A little worse for wear, but hey, you know how it goes. Come on in and let’s talk.”
I shove inside and Hugh staggers back. Several guns are instantly trained on me as Hugh slams the door and waves his men down. Cormac’s sitting at the table, looking tense—at least he’s smart enough to know how bad their position is right now—and next to him, tied to a chair, is Tara.
Her face is bruised. She’s been hit, at least a few times. She stares at me with tears in her eyes and I glance at the hall where Rory’s body is lying face down in a puddle of black blood.
“I’m sorry,” Tara says and starts to sob. “I’m so sorry.”
“Quiet,” Cormac says and looks at me. “Glad you could join us.”
Hugh walks around me and goes to stand beside Tara. He puts a hand on her shoulder and squeezes hard enough to make her groan, and I step forward, prepared to beat him to death with my bare hands but a gun points at my face.
“Stay where you are,” Hugh says. “All I need to do is say the word and you’re dead. The only reason I haven’t done it yet is because I know all the men you have outside this adorable little cabin are waiting and eager to fill us all with very nasty bullet holes. Let’s have a chat and settle this.”
“Let her go,” I say through clenched teeth. “That’s the only way I’ll talk.”
“The girl’s our fucking leverage,” Cormac says with a sigh. “You know that won’t happen, so be reasonable.”
“What do you think is going to happen here?” I look from Cormac to his son and back again. “I can’t let you leave with her. If you give her to me, I’ll kill you all for hurting her. You can kill me, but then my men will come in here and kill you. What’s the end game? How’s this go?”
“The deal we offered you,” Cormac says, sitting up straight. “You take on the dark parts of the family. We take on the light. This ends with all of us alive because right here and now we decide to work together for once. Listen to me, Kellen, I know you’re angry. I know all you want to do is murder me and my son and all our men and be done with this. But be reasonable. We can all prosper and we can do it together. Look at how we got in behind your back. You’re not perfect.”
I take a deep breath and look at Tara. She’s trembling and crying and her face is swollen and ugly. And right then, looking at my girl, I know what I have to do.
“If you hadn’t hurt her, this might all be different,” I say, staring at Hugh, because I know he was the one stupid enough to touch my wife. Cormac would know better. “But you hit her. You scared her. And now I have to kill you all.”
Hugh sighs and tuts and shakes his head. “Kellen, you still don’t get it, but I know how to change your mind. Tara, tell our friend here what you did to his father.”
She sobs once and shakes her head. “Please,” she says.
Hugh squeezes her shoulder hard. “Tell him.”
“Stop it,” I say, growling as I step forward, but I’m grabbed and held back by two of Hugh’s goons. “Don’t touch her.”
“Tell him,” Hugh says and pulls her hair back. She yelps in pain and he shoves her face forward, angling it to look into my eyes. “Tell him the truth. Tell him what you did to Orin, to his father. Tell him, Tara.”