Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 100332 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 502(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100332 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 502(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
“Dad! Grenade!”
Maximus pressed me to the ground and covered my ears with his hands. The following explosion still rang in my ears, and the blast sent a shiver through my body. Glass from the bursting car windows and shrapnel from the chassis mixed with dirt and wood splinters rained down on us.
“Ryan!” Cara screamed through an opening in the front door. “Ryan?”
Maximus’s expression reflected the shock I felt, but his face also showed fury and determination. “I’ll kill those fuckers.”
“I called in reinforcement!” Cara screamed. “You better run before they hunt you down!”
I realized she was shouting at the Russians.
Maximus peered out from behind his car, probably to check on his dad, but more shots forced him to pull back.
“Maximus, if you don’t come out, I’ll bomb your mom to pieces too!” a man with a heavy Russian accent shouted.
“It’s okay. Help your mom,” I breathed even though I was terrified for myself and our baby.
“I won’t leave. They’ll kill us all if I don’t kill them. They won’t spare anyone.”
Maximus squatted and pulled his second gun, looking thoughtful. “Fuck. I know Dad would never do it, but I don’t see another chance.”
I wasn’t sure what Maximus meant. I tried to catch a glimpse under the car to see Growl. The other truck was a mess. I couldn’t imagine that anyone would survive being close to it. My heart ached thinking about Growl.
Suddenly, Bacon appeared beside us. He must have hidden because of the explosion. He wagged his tail against me. In the light from the spotlights, which was dimmer now because two of five had been destroyed by the blast, I could see that he had a wound in his flank. A graze shot from the look of it.
Maximus still seemed to mull over what to do. Then he gave a resolute nod. “I can’t beat them alone.”
I frowned. “Maybe reinforcement will be here soon.”
“Not soon enough.”
“But we have reinforcement,” Maximus said, and his eyes moved to the dog cages.
My eyes widened.
As if Cara had read his mind, she opened the front door and rushed outside, followed by her four pit bulls. The dogs sprinted in the direction of where Growl had to be, but Cara ran toward the cages.
“Mom seems to have the same plan.”
Maximus glanced at me.
“Help her!”
“I won’t leave you.”
“Help her, or we’ll all die. Bacon can protect me.”
A grenade cut our conversation short as it landed a couple of feet beside Maximus. He moved quicker than I thought possible and kicked the thing away. It flew toward the cage of Houdini and exploded, tearing a hole into the fence. Maximus aimed into the woods and fired several shots, then ducked back down. He grabbed my arm and tugged me around to the back of the truck.
Suddenly, Houdini was there, baring his teeth. I had never gone close to his cage, heeding Maximus’s warning. Maximus raised his gun, but the dog rushed away, soon chased by more dogs freed from their cages by Cara. Shots rang out as barks and snarls erupted in the forest, closely followed by screams and more snarls and shots.
Maximus pulled me toward the remains of the other truck. Before we even reached it, I could see blood pooling on the ground.
Cara ran in our direction, her expression filled with determination.
Maximus and I finally reached Growl. His calf was torn apart, but a belt around his thigh, right above the knee, seemed to have stopped the blood flow. “He’s alive!” Maximus shouted as he sank to his knees beside his father. He felt for his pulse and nodded, looking relieved. “He must have passed out after he stopped the blood flow.”
Cara threw herself down beside him and touched his cheeks. “Ryan? Ryan!”
Maximus removed his own belt and wrapped it around the thigh as well.
Growl opened his eyes and looked at his wife. Relief flooded me, and tears ran down my cheeks. Maximus squeezed my hand. “You okay?”
“I’m fine.”
He glanced at my belly. “What about her?”
“She is too.”
I could feel her moving. The excitement was definitely affecting her.
Maximus pushed to his feet. “I’ll hunt the attackers now.”
“You should stay,” Cara said. “Your father is in no state to protect us. You need to protect Sara and your father, Maximus.”
Maximus looked torn between the need to chase the attackers and his need to protect us. Eventually, he nodded and gazed into the woods with his guns pointed in that direction. The screams and snarls had quieted, and there were no shots.
He patted Bacon, who had stayed by our side.
“The dogs will have taken care of the attackers,” Maximus said quietly. “There were too many.”
“They protected us,” I whispered.
“Houdini was out for carnage,” Maximus said.
A few minutes later, my dad and brother and more reinforcement arrived at the house. Dad and Flavio immediately led me into the house, while Growl was taken to the Famiglia hospital by Primo. The rest of the men searched the woods for the attackers, Maximus included.