Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91809 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91809 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
“What the—? Luna? Luna, I’m coming! Everleigh,” he shouted. “Are you there? I know you’re there.”
“Present,” she sang.
“Don’t you dare hurt her! I’m on my way. Keep your fucking hands off my daughter!”
“That’s entirely up to you.”
I thrashed in my bonds. Victor! He’d been under for too long. “Let him up! Please, let him breathe!”
“I don’t care where in the world you are. You have until sunrise to face me or Luna’s dead. Oh, and bring the laptop. You know the one I want.”
She ended the call, typed something, and then tossed my phone in the water. “All right,” she said, sounding like it was pulled out of her. “Let him up.”
Wolf dragged Victor out of the water. He slid along the bank—not moving, not gasping, not breathing.
He was still.
Wolfgang hummed. “I think he’s dead.”
“Oh well,” Everleigh said over my cries. “Not my fault Sinclair made it difficult.”
Kneeling down, Wolfgang untied Victor’s ropes. My eyes widened as he flipped him and started CPR.
“What are you doing?” Everleigh snapped. “Leave him. Who cares if he dies?”
“Are you kidding?” Wolf bounced on his rib cage—each pump pounding my own chest. “Do you know how much the sole heir to the Wilson fortune is worth? Just because he’s not useful to you anymore doesn’t mean he can’t be useful to me. The Wilsons will give me billions to get him back in one piece.”
“Fine. Whatever. How greedy are you? It’s not enough for you to take over the Rogue empire? Have to drain the Wilsons’ bank account too?”
Victor shot up, spewing river water. My body gave out. I slumped against the tree, cycling through bawling and thanking every deity there was that he was alive. What was wrong with this monster? Why was she determined to take everyone I loved away from me?
“You think this means you won?” I kicked out, catching Everleigh’s shin. “My father’s going to show up here and take your fucking ass down. It’s over, Starling. It was over the second you made that call.”
“Blah, blah, blah.” The dark did nothing to hide her eye roll. “You’re cute to warn me, but Daddy isn’t getting away from me this time. Trust me. As long as I’ve got you, he’ll do whatever I say. By now, he knows I don’t bluff.”
“By now, he knows you’re crazy! He knows that no matter what he does, you’ll kill us all anyway.”
She giggled. “Yeah. I will.”
My rant lodged in my throat. I wasn’t expecting her to admit it that easily.
“What choice will you give me? After he’s dead, I can’t let you run around shouting about what I’ve done and getting in my way. I’ve paid Captain Capaldi a lot of money to throw any complaint with my name on it in the trash. Trouble is,” she sighed. “You, your boyfriends, and your fucking fiancé have money too. Way more than me put together. That’s why I had to take them out and why I’ll have to take you out when all this is done.”
“But you—”
“Shut up, or I’ll gag you. We’re done chatting.” Everleigh spun away. “Wolfie, get him on his feet. I told her bastard father to meet me at your place.”
“What? Why?” He did not sound pleased.
“Duh. I’m not going to kill him anywhere that’s connected to me. We also can’t do this in the woods in the middle of the night. He and a dozen Rogues could surround us before we know what’s happening. Your place has security and cameras everywhere. He’ll have no choice but to come alone.”
“Luna,” Victor rasped. “Luna... are you okay?”
“I’m okay, baby. I’m right here. Everything’s going to be okay.”
“It really won’t be.” Everleigh snatched my collar and forced me up. She sent me flying. I crashed to the ground, skidding through dirt and leaves. “Get up and walk. We’re going to the car. If you try anything, you’ll regret it.”
“My car is the other way,” Wolfgang said. “I’ll take him and meet you there.”
“No!”
“Fine,” Everleigh replied over me. “Give me the code in case I get there first.”
Wolf snorted. “Nice try.”
He forced Victor to his feet, practically dragging him across the bank and away from me.
“No, let me go with him!”
“Like hell.” Everleigh shoved my back. “Get moving.”
I didn’t know what else to do but put one foot in front of the other, trudging away from the river Everleigh used to fish with her dad. Long after their father-daughter duo was torn apart, they were still spreading misery everywhere they went.
The sooner we get to wherever we’re going, the sooner I’ll be with Victor. And the sooner I figure a way out for all of us.
Alistair took off on his boat. He could be anywhere in the world by now, which gave me hours to make it right, get free and stop Everleigh, then do what I should have done that night she walked around clueless in the kitchen—having no idea I was right there watching her.