Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 74220 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 371(@200wpm)___ 297(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74220 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 371(@200wpm)___ 297(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
Half of his food was still on the plate, and I’d never seen him not finish a meal, so I asked, “Did you not like the food?”
He didn’t blink. Kept up the hard stare like he saw someone he recognized but didn’t want to see.
I started to turn to look over my shoulder.
“Don’t move.” His voice was quiet, and his words were quick.
The relaxed ambiance between us suddenly disappeared when I detected the warning in the air. When I felt the hostility pour off him in waves. It seemed like my heart had stopped because I took his words so literally.
He continued his hard stare, not blinking once.
“Should I be worried—”
“Get down.”
“What—”
He didn’t ask me again. He got to his feet and flipped the table, our food falling to the floor and the plates shattering. He pushed me down to the floor and shoved the table up against the wall, putting me in a cage without a roof.
I let out a little scream when I hit the floor because someone came at Bastien from behind, brandishing a long knife.
Bastien executed a series of moves that happened so fast, throwing up his elbow to hit the assailant in the face before he grabbed the guy’s arm and spun it down, slamming the blade into his thigh.
The guy screamed, the knife impaling him.
Bastien punched him hard before he yanked the knife out by the hilt and threw him aside.
I saw the guy hit the floor, screaming in anguish as he gripped his thigh and he tried to stop the bleeding.
Then I heard gunshots.
“Oh my god…” I stayed there, staring at the man bleeding to death on the floor, terrified the same would happen to me but with bullets instead of knives.
I could hear the commotion, hear the sounds of grunts and yells as the fighting continued. I knew Bastien was alive because there would be no fight if he were dead. Desperate to see what was happening, I inched closer to the man who continued to scream, and I peered around the corner.
Bastien made a flurry of moves that looked like action stunts in a movie from Hollywood, successfully spinning the gun out of his enemy’s hand and then firing at the next guy who came at him with a knife. It was three on one, but Bastien managed to hold his own, kicking ass in a fight he hadn’t known was coming.
He slammed one guy’s head onto the edge of the table, and his neck cracked when it broke. He was dead on the floor, eyes wide and lifeless.
The guy screaming next to me looked at me, but he seemed to be too distressed to come for me.
Bastien grabbed the next guy then literally threw him, sending him crashing into another table.
The last one hesitated before he faced off with Bastien, like he knew he was in deep shit.
Bastien tossed the gun aside like he preferred hand-to-hand combat rather than a cheap shot. He came at him in a rush, throwing a fist hard into his face before pummeling him again, moving at a speed that seemed impossible with his large mass.
The guests in the restaurant had already run out. The waiters had ditched too. Police had probably been called and were rushing to the scene, but by the time they got there, the fight would already be over.
Bastien grabbed the guy by the throat and slammed him down into the floor like he weighed nothing. Then he loomed over him like an intimidating statue about to come to life. He lifted his heavy boot and propped it against the front of the man’s neck, but he kept his weight on his back foot.
The guy lay still, his chest rising and falling with his deep, labored breaths.
Bastien stared down at him. “Tell me who sent you, or I’ll break your windpipe.”
I should duck behind the table again because I didn’t want to see this. Didn’t want to watch Bastien make good on his threat right in front of me. But my eyes stayed in place, needing to see the outcome of the attack. The guy beside me had started to bleed out and went silent. He continued to breathe because he was still alive, but not for long.
The man under Bastien’s foot kept his silence.
“And you know breaking your windpipe is only the beginning.”
He trembled on the floor, straining to draw breath as Bastien applied more pressure with his foot. “Based on the pathetic way you guys came at me, he sounds like an amateur. Are you willing to die for an amateur?”
Once Bastien applied more pressure, he tried to grab Bastien’s shoe and push back, but since Bastien had to weigh over two hundred pounds in muscle, it was pointless. “Please… If I tell you, he’ll kill my family.”
Bastien kept his foot in place with a stonelike expression. “Then this is your fault for working for a man who has no honor. And you deserve what’s about to happen to you.”