Total pages in book: 14
Estimated words: 12431 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 62(@200wpm)___ 50(@250wpm)___ 41(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 12431 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 62(@200wpm)___ 50(@250wpm)___ 41(@300wpm)
I took his hand, lacing our fingers together as I led him into his bedroom. I pulled back his thick down comforter and patted the mattress. He climbed on and rested on his back, watching me expectantly.
I shimmied off my clothes down to my underwear as well, placed our phones together on the nightstand, and nestled onto the bed beside him. I raised my arm in invitation, and Jersey nestled his cheek against my chest. I secured my arm around him and dropped kisses to the top of his head until I heard his breathing slow.
“Goodnight, sweetheart,” I whispered, and allowed my eyes to slide shut.
Chapter Four
Timber
I sat bolt upright in bed at the sound of Jersey’s phone beeping again. He shot up next to me and grabbed his phone from the nightstand. With a swipe of his finger, he brought up the camera feed, and we once again saw Bart approaching.
Only this time, he wasn’t carrying a gas can. Instead, he held a pair of bolt cutters. The asshole put his bruised, swollen face right in front of the camera, giving a smile and a wave before lowering the cutters, and the signal went dark.
Jersey threw the covers off of himself, but I stopped him from getting out of bed with an arm across his chest. I knew how guilty he felt about hurting Bart the first time, even if he deserved it. I didn’t care what happened to the man, but I would protect my mate, even from himself.
“He’s baiting you,” I warned. “I don’t know what he has planned, but whatever it is, let him do it. Whatever damage he does, I can fix it.”
“But the cameras are off. We won’t have proof and he’ll just keep coming back again and again.”
“Then we’ll call the police now and have them come and catch him in the act.”
I could tell he didn’t love the idea, but he let out a long sigh before nodding his agreement. But before he could dial the number, both of our attention was captured by…not a noise, but rather a lack of noise. The ceiling fan stopped spinning, there was no whirr of the furnace, and there were no more sounds of background electrical devices that you don’t notice until they’re silent.
It was still the middle of the night, so the room was dark anyway, and I couldn’t tell if the lights were affected. But when I attempted to flip on the lamp which sat on the nightstand beside me, nothing happened, and my fears were realized. “He cut the electricity.”
“The fucking bolt cutters,” he growled before jumping out of bed. I threw one leg over the side of the mattress, but paused when I heard an unmistakable sound in the distance; a door opening. “He’s in the house.”
Jersey rushed out of the room and in my haste to follow him, my feet got tangled in the sheets and I hit the floor. I shoved them away and hurried out of the room behind him. I made it to the living room and skidded to a stop at a sight that made my heart drop into my stomach; Bart was standing in the front doorway, pointing a gun at Jersey’s chest.
“I tried to do this the easy way,” he murmured between clenched teeth.
“By destroying my farm?”
“Hey, I made you a generous offer, but you declined. I did what I had to do.”
“You didn’t have to do shit,” Jersey countered. “You could have been a decent human being and found someone who wanted to sell.” He was speaking too boldly for my comfort to the man holding a gun. “And now I’m sure you think you have to put a bullet through my chest.”
“It wasn’t the original plan,” Bart shrugged, “Until you did this.” He waved his free hand in front of his face, gesturing towards the bruises and scabs. “But I can adapt. Once you’re dead, your land will go into foreclosure and I’ll be able to purchase it for far less money than I originally intended. Now, shooting you is going to be for pleasure as well as necessity.”
He cocked the gun and I stepped closer as I yelled, “No!” His cold eyes fell on me and widened, as if he hadn’t even realized I was in the room with them.
He gazed between the two of us, standing only in our underwear, and his lip curled. “Disgusting. Maybe it will be mostly for pleasure to kill you both.”
“What if we sell you the property?” I offered, though I had no intention in hell to do so. I was buying time as I hatched a plan. I focused my energy on the ground and crops I couldn’t see, but could still control. I curled my fingers and added, “Hell, we will give it to you. It’s not worth all this.”