Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 126823 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 634(@200wpm)___ 507(@250wpm)___ 423(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126823 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 634(@200wpm)___ 507(@250wpm)___ 423(@300wpm)
“I’ll be there in a few. Don’t shoot me, Qadri.”
“No. No, that’s why I called. You can’t come here.” A sob welled up, and she jammed her fist in her mouth to cover the sound before she took another choking breath.
“Keep talking,” he said tersely.
He was still moving. She hadn’t stopped him. She needed to. “Please, for once in your life, listen to me. I never call you. I wouldn’t have if this wasn’t absolutely imperative. Two men claiming to be Interpol agents came here asking questions about an assassin they called Deadly Storms. They said they were from Paris, but I don’t believe them. They claimed the assassin worked for Scorpion, but their story didn’t make any sense. They weren’t asking about Scorpion, only Deadly Storms.”
“When did they talk to you?” His voice was clipped. Imperious. So Rainier.
“Yesterday. The day before. I don’t know. I’m mixed up. Just take your life back. Thank you for everything. I would never have gotten this far without you. You mean the world to me, Rainier, but I want you to live your life free of worrying about me. Be safe.”
There was that lump choking her. Tears wouldn’t stop. She was sick to her stomach. Rocking like a two-year-old. Grateful he couldn’t see her. She could hear the engine of a car, and he was snapping more orders into another phone.
“You didn’t call me the minute they questioned you?” Now his voice dropped even lower, always a bad sign with Rainier. “These men are extremely dangerous. Were you alone?”
“No, Raine and Zahra were here.”
She was terrified she was going to be sick, her stomach lurching terribly. Her skin was sweaty, but she was freezing, shaking with cold.
“I’ll be talking to Raine, asking her why she didn’t call. One of you should have.”
There would be no stopping Rainier once he made up his mind. How many times had she screwed up his life? So many times. She groaned and curled her palm around the familiar cherrywood handle of her pistol. No matter how much work she put into standing on her own two feet, he thought of her as a child. This was why. She fell apart and couldn’t pull herself back together no matter how hard she tried.
“I didn’t want Raine to call you. I told her I would. Please don’t blame her.”
“But you didn’t.”
When she needed him to hear her and believe her, he ignored her. “Rainier, please don’t come. Please let me go.”
His breath hissed out, a long slow exhale. She wiped at the tears on her face, but they kept falling. How could she save him, when she couldn’t save herself?
“Where are the dogs, Qadri? I need to know where your dogs are.”
His voice, soft like velvet, penetrated the black fear.
“I’m so tired of fighting, Rainier. Of being alone. I really despise pity parties. And crying and feeling sorry for myself. I’m tired of being terrified every minute of the day.”
“Tell me where your dogs are, Shabina.”
She opened her mouth to answer him. A sob escaped. He had to have heard. She tried again. “Outside. In the garden. I put them outside.”
She heard the brakes on his vehicle shrieking, as if he had been going full speed and slammed them on at the last minute.
“Do you remember when we first talked, baby? I told you there would be times like this. They come, but they always go away. You hang on, ride it out. I’ll be there soon.”
“I’m tired, Rainier.” The moment the words came out of her mouth, she felt pathetic, but she always told him the truth.
She was tired of fighting against the inevitable. Scorpion had left her alone for the last few years, but she knew he was out there, and he would come for her. Rainier knew it too. She worried about everyone around her, fearing Scorpion would use them against her. For one brief moment, the idea of simply surrendering to him entered her mind. At the thought, her entire body shuddered, rebelling. Bile rose. Her fingernails bit into her skin. She couldn’t breathe with the roaring in her head. No, she couldn’t face him ever again. It would be better to be dead.
Her hand tightened around the grip of her gun. She just had to make the decision. She’d put the dogs out for a reason. She wouldn’t end her life with them inside. She just needed to get a clear head and think things through, but she was too terrified. Too long without sleep. She wasn’t certain what the right decision was.
“Rainier.” She whispered his name. For him. She had to make certain he was safe. If she was in the world, he never would be safe because, like now, he would come to her when she had a problem. She would always have a problem. One didn’t get over her kind of trauma. “You need to be safe. I have to make sure you’re safe.”