Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 99191 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 496(@200wpm)___ 397(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99191 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 496(@200wpm)___ 397(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
He fought down panic. It wouldn’t do anyone any favors. “What do you want for your help?”
“Always the tit for the tat with you.” Romanov sighed. “My Keira seems quite fond of your Charlie.”
“She’s not your Keira.” The words were reflex, but he didn’t try to take them back. They were the truth as far as he was concerned, and no temporary alliance would change that.
Romanov continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “I think that riding to your rescue and saving your fiancée would be the perfect wedding gift.”
He gritted his teeth. Working together or not, that didn’t mean he was willing to go along with the Russian’s intention of marrying his baby sister. Now wasn’t the time for that argument, though—not with Charlie’s life on the line. “Can you find her?”
“I suggest you start for New York. By the time you’re here, I’ll have pinpointed her location.”
That wasn’t a distinct confirmation, but if Romanov was half as interested in Keira as he let on, there was a good chance he’d follow through on helping Aiden find Mae. “How can you know where she’ll go? She’s barely an hour ahead of me.”
“The Eldridges are nasty creatures, but also habitual. Mae has several locations where she likes to bring her victims. She’ll have planned this and set up the appropriate one. I suggest you start driving, because I doubt she’ll want to wait upon arrival.”
He was already heading for the door. “I’ll see you in three hours.” It would require some creative driving to cut the time that much, but at least there shouldn’t be much traffic at this time of night. He hung up and stopped short when Mark appeared at the bottom of the staircase with one of Aiden’s shirts. “You should go to the hospital.”
“I already called. The bullet was a through-and-through. It didn’t hit anything vital, so he doesn’t even need surgery.” Mark gave a brief smile. “I imagine he’s pretty pissed she got the drop on him.”
He would be. At least he’s okay. He couldn’t think about that yet, though, because Charlie was in danger of worse than a gunshot wound. Mae could hurt her in ways that would make Devlin’s death look like a blessing. Yet another thing he couldn’t dwell on. “If you’re coming, let’s go. We don’t have time to waste.”
“I have a contingent of men already waiting in the garage.”
“Good.” Aiden yanked on the shirt and strode out the door and into the night. Three hours to New York, and they were almost a full hour behind Mae. The woman could do a lot of damage in sixty minutes.
Hold on, bright eyes. Just hold on. I’m coming for you.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Charlie woke up in the trunk. She wasn’t even sure how she got there to begin with. One second, she was eyeing Mae’s gun and considering how best to attack, and the next, she was waking up here. She moved, realized her wrists and ankles were zip-tied together, and cursed. Apparently, Mae was taking no chances when it came to her. Damn it. She tested the ties, but they weren’t in a good spot to try to break them and she didn’t have enough range of motion to even attempt it.
Her heart beat harder despite her best effort to remain calm. She’d been in sticky situations before, but she couldn’t remember one this sticky. As tempting as it was to pretend Aiden or her dad would ride in on a white horse to save her, she couldn’t plan on it. She’d just gotten done telling her dad off, and as far as she knew, Aiden was still waiting for her to get over her snit and come back.
She was beginning to understand why Aiden wanted to eliminate Mae altogether.
Shouldn’t have been so single-minded. Should have stayed and talked to him—talked it through.
It was too late now to worry about making the crappy decision to walk away from Aiden. She suspected that Mae had been just waiting for the right time to swoop in and take her. If it hadn’t been tonight, it would have been the next time she and Keira ventured out, and then there would have been another potential victim in the mess.
Like Liam.
She pressed her lips together against a sob. I hope he’s okay. So many mistakes, all hers. But she couldn’t focus on that. If Liam survived, she was going to do something to make up for being the biggest pain in the ass in the world—just as soon as she got out of this trunk. If I get out of this trunk.
As if on cue, the car rolled to a stop. Charlie listened hard, picking out the sounds of the door opening and shutting, and heels on pavement circling around to the trunk. She tensed, ready to spring out as best she could, but when the trunk opened, she once again found herself facing down the wrong end of a gun.