Total pages in book: 55
Estimated words: 53212 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 266(@200wpm)___ 213(@250wpm)___ 177(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 53212 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 266(@200wpm)___ 213(@250wpm)___ 177(@300wpm)
I freeze, and when I look up, I find the tallest man of the three invading my personal space. His eyes are narrowed and dark in ways my brain can’t comprehend.
When I try to yank my hand away from his hold, he leans toward me so we’re almost nose to nose. “Don’t,” he says, his voice harsh.
I want to scream, but when I open my mouth, nothing comes out. My breath is sharp and frantic, and I twist my arm back and forth manically, trying to pull free from him.
But his grip just tightens around my wrist.
“Stop, Kylie. We don’t have time for this.”
How he even knows my name when I’ve never seen him in my entire life makes my panic spike into something that feels a lot like lava. “Let go of me!”
I try to scream again, but it comes out strangled.
“Relax—” he starts to say, already dragging me toward their Escalade, but another voice cuts through the air.
“Take your hand off her.”
The man stops, and I turn my head to find Rook Slater walking up my driveway. He’s not in his uniform or work boots, but in jeans and a dark jacket, hair messy like he didn’t sleep. His eyes are locked on the man still gripping my wrist, and this isn’t the grumpy demeanor I’ve grown accustomed to.
It’s harsher. Sharper. And it looks like he would burn the world down for me rather than against me.
Kane and Calloway follow behind him.
Kane is looking directly at Rook, while Calloway’s gaze slides over the men like he’s counting them.
“Rook Slater.” The man with the light eyes smiles faintly. “We heard some rumblings. Guess I shouldn’t be surprised to see you here.”
Rook doesn’t smile back.
“This doesn’t involve you,” the man still holding my wrist says.
“Yeah, it does.” Rook takes one more step forward. “Because it involves her.”
“She’s coming with us,” the man says.
Rook tilts his head slightly. “No.”
And then, he moves.
It’s not fast like a normal person fast, but fast like my brain can’t keep up with what I’m seeing. One second, he’s standing there. The next, the man holding my wrist is within Rook’s grasp, and choking sounds are coming from his lungs.
I stumble back, wrist suddenly free, but shock making my knees weak. It takes all my strength to stay on my feet.
The man with the light eyes lunges and Kane intercepts him like a truck hitting a deer, and the impact is loud and violent in ways that make their hockey brawls look like child’s play.
Calloway’s already on the other man, shoving him back against the Escalade with a sound that makes me flinch.
Someone swears. Someone grunts. Something cracks.
Everything is happening faster than my eyes can track, but the man who grabbed my arm is on the ground now and his eyes look lifeless.
Oh my God! Is he dead?!
My heart hammers so hard in my chest that it hurts.
But it feels like someone puts life in slow motion when Rook turns toward me. His eyes find mine, and the urgency and command in his voice are undeniable.
“Kylie,” he says. “We have to go.”
“Who? What is—?”
“Now, Kylie!” he shouts, and his tone slices through me. “We have to go now.”
But I’m frozen in place. My head bobs back and forth, my mind a disoriented swirl of fragmented thoughts. “Rook, I—”
“I’m sorry, Ky,” Rook says in apology as he gets even closer, my feet now treading backward toward the garage. “Really, I am.”
“Rook…” I beg, both knowing what’s coming and praying I’m wrong. “Please. Don’t.”
He’s on me in less than a second, pinning my arms to my sides and hoisting me over his shoulder like I weigh nothing. I open my mouth to scream and do it loudly. “Rook, no! Put me down!” I gasp, kicking instinctively.
He doesn’t.
He carries me across the driveway and toward their Suburban idling at the curb. Kane is already at the driver’s side, yanking the back door open.
“Rook!” I fight harder, pure terror taking over. “What are you doing?”
His jaw is locked so tight it trembles. “Saving your life.”
“By kidnapping me?!”
“You can hate me later,” he snaps. “Right now, you’re breathing.”
I open my mouth to scream at the top of my lungs, but Cal is there already, holding a hand over my mouth while Kane keeps hold of my legs.
I scratch and fight as hard as I can to no avail as the three brothers carry me to their Suburban. I swear, even if I’d have been able to get a scream out through Cal’s hand, it wouldn’t have been loud enough to wake anyone.
Rook shoves me into the back seat. It’s neither gentle nor cruel, but efficient.
Calloway hops into the front passenger seat, slamming the door, and Kane peels out so fast my head snaps back against the seat.
The locks click automatically.
The world outside blurs.