Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 151097 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 755(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 504(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 151097 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 755(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 504(@300wpm)
With only this flashlight to light the way, I slowly made my way to the east wing with Coco, searching for that cellar door near the room Abel and Hunter used for sparring. I was somewhere beneath the garage when I tripped and landed in a puddle of water.
It was warm.
Thicker than water should have been.
And it smelled strongly of copper.
I reached out, looking for Coco, whose carrier had skated off into the dark when I fell, but my hand met bare skin instead. I screamed, and Coco barked from somewhere close while I lunged for my fallen flashlight, swinging the light over whatever the hell I’d touched.
I could barely make out what was left of the man’s face. He looked as if he’d been stabbed a thousand times. His naked body was still bound to the chair that had toppled over, either by my doing or whoever had killed him. I was no expert, but it looked as if the bound man had been killed recently when Ocean hadn’t been home in days.
At least, now I knew why Ocean hadn’t wanted us down here. I was going to have a serious talk with my husband about keeping dead bodies in our basement. For now, I found an old blanket and covered the man up before leaving him behind.
Hunter needed me.
Collecting Coco and as if I hadn’t just found a dead body in my own home, I ran full speed for the east wing. The ranch house was shaped like a broad X, so it was easy to get turned around, especially down here.
It took some time, but I eventually found the steps to the cellar door.
I barely noticed the rain when I climbed out. It quickly soaked through my clothes as I ran around back and re-entered the house through the game room. Tiptoeing through the family room, I was about to enter the kitchen when I saw a dark figure step inside from the other end.
Before I could hide, a hand that smelled like blood and rain covered my mouth and yanked me back just as the masked man ahead turned, his eyes landing on the spot where I’d been.
I struggled against my captor, who was definitely not Hunter, as he lifted me off my feet and carried me back toward the game room.
“Quiet!” he ordered.
Too late.
I’d already kicked out, knocking over a vase. As soon as it shattered, I heard footsteps rushing from the kitchen. I was quickly pulled back through the sliding door I’d come through and out onto the roofed portion of the patio.
It was still dark, but I recognized the sharp angles of Kellan’s face and his shoulder-length blond hair secured into a top knot as he pushed me against the wall.
Coco whined just as the masked man stepped out onto the patio, but Kellan moved fast. He made quick work of disarming the assassin and then snapping his neck like it was a twig.
I gulped.
This was not the playful associate I’d come to know.
“Where’s Hunter?” he asked as he peered into the dark house to ensure there weren’t more.
I didn’t respond, didn’t breathe, didn’t hesitate as I set Coco down and moved toward the dead man at my feet, and slowly bent. When Kellan turned around, he found himself staring down the barrel of the rifle. “What the fuck?”
“Did you do this?”
He stared back at me incredulously. “Do what?”
“Are you trying to kill us?” I yelled.
“Keep your fucking voice down,” he whispered. When I didn’t respond or lower the gun, he swore. “Tell me what the fuck is going on.”
“You first.”
Hunter hadn’t been making a ton of sense earlier, but that was my bitch, so her word was the only one besides Ocean’s that I took blindly.
“My guess?” Kellan retorted sarcastically. “Malcolm found out where you were and sent out a hit on you and Hunter. I’ve counted eight of them so far. Two of them I found dead, and this guy makes three.” He nudged the dead body with his boot.
“Four,” I corrected. At his questioning look, I added. “There’s a dead body in the basement, but he definitely wasn’t one of them.”
“He’s not. His name is Michael Black,” Kellan informed me.
“Who is he?”
With deep-seeding hatred spilling from every word, he said, “A pimp with a knack for destroying everything he touches. Young women, most especially. He’s also a heartless fucking deadbeat. Ocean had some questions for him, but…” Kellan gave a lazy shrug while staring down at his bloody hands. “I got to him first.”
Oh God.
Kellan had killed the man in the basement.
He looked up, and I could see that the bloodlust hadn’t entirely left him. “Your turn for honesty.” Kellan’s green stare was uncomfortably piercing, and I realized Hunter’s instincts had been on point. It wasn’t just his eyes, which no longer held the playful twinkle that made him easy to trust. Kellan’s entire demeanor had changed. “Why do you think I want to kill you?”