Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 89074 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 445(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89074 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 445(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
“Not going to shoot him. Yet,” she says, rolling her eyes at me.
“Yes. I did call my dad and tell him about the attacks on Rayne.”
My stomach turns. “Wes. You told Dad? And…”
“And he just said wow, that’s a shame.”
Briar smiles wickedly. “Does that make you a little sad, Hunter? Your father was aware, all this time, that we were putting your little loverboy at risk, and he didn’t do a goddamned fucking thing to stop it.”
She pulls away from Wes finally, yanking her arm out of my fist.
“I don’t believe it.”
“Well, you should start,” Briar says. “We had to make our bargaining chips better and better. And I was hoping to send your father a photo of all three of you, tied up and gagged, and then maybe, finally he’d give us what we deserve—”
“You’re insane,” I tell her.
She pauses, a bitter look coming over her face. “But now I’m thinking maybe the bargaining chip has to be a little more brutal. If your father is ever going to give us what we require—”
“Which is?”
“Eight million dollars, you silver-spoon ignorant idiot,” she tells me. “You really didn’t know that bar fight you got into on your last night in London was staged? The Thornwick family were trying to save you. It was your own father who was accidentally going to get you killed.”
I feel sick as I realize that she’s telling the truth.
They never wanted us.
Not really.
They wanted our father, the whole time.
“Your father owes us eight million, which we generously lent him three years ago under the condition we’d get it back with interest. We didn’t. The Zhang family doesn’t exactly play nice with the Thornwicks, so when we found out one of Knox’s sons was with the Thornwicks? It was perfect.”
“You were already trying to kidnap me, even in London?”
“We threatened to go after you and your father didn’t even care. But the Thornwicks wanted you alive.”
“That can’t be true.”
“We told your father we were going to kidnap you while you were still in London. And he didn’t make a single move to stop us. Only your chosen little crime family did that.”
The puzzle pieces start to snap together in my mind.
The Thornwick family made me think they were after me.
Because they wanted me to flee.
To protect me from my own father’s deal with the Zhangs.
And the only way they knew they could ensure I wouldn’t take matters into my own hands was by making me think they were after me.
The Thornwicks fucking saved me.
It fucking worked.
I fled London.
And now the Zhang family had found their way here, for a target that mattered more to my father, these days.
Weston.
My father’s company was worth hundreds of millions, yet he couldn’t spare a dime for me.
“He wasn’t willing to part with eight million,” I say out loud, to no one and to everyone. “And he was going to let me be kidnapped and killed instead. Earlier this semester, he was willing to let Rayne, James, and Ethan be hurt, too.”
“I’m not going to take over the Knox Corporation, Hunter,” Wes says suddenly, the words spilling from him in a panicked tone. “I’m never trusting him again.”
Something white-hot fills me.
It’s over.
Weston was never my enemy, after all.
We were both just pawns.
I’m not going to be able to hold back.
If they’re going to kill me, they can kill me.
But there’s nothing in the world that is going to stop me from protecting Rayne and Wes.
I look up at Rayne, giving him a look that I hope communicates one thing and one thing only: you need to stay safe. Don’t move an inch.
But Rayne gets something different from my look.
This whole time, I’d thought he was terrified.
But he was planning something.
My heart drops as he suddenly moves, in a quick instant, bringing his closed fist up under Briar’s hand and knocking the Glock right out of her hand.
Holy fuck.
“Rayne, no—”
I know how quick Briar is because I’ve been fencing with her for months now.
But Rayne’s movement catches her off guard, and as he moves, he manages to catch the falling gun before it hits the pavement.
And then he’s the one holding a gun, instead.
He whips around to face Kai instantly.
“Drop it,” he tells Kai.
No, no, no.
My heart races knowing how much danger Rayne is putting himself in.
I have to act fast.
There’s no time to think.
And even though Briar is small and quick, her brother is anything but. He’s thickly muscled, broad, and not as fast as me.
I get behind him and bring my knife forward at an angle.
He struggles.
Manages to get another shot off, and it hits the edge of Onyx House, nearly grazing his own sister.
I take my knife and slash at his gloved hand that’s holding the gun.
And his gun drops to the ground, too.
I grab it before he can, and I hold it steady at Kai.