Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 60604 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 303(@200wpm)___ 242(@250wpm)___ 202(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60604 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 303(@200wpm)___ 242(@250wpm)___ 202(@300wpm)
No such luck. The doors slid open to an empty reception area. Karen wasn’t at her desk, and Ben’s door was closed.
“Close the doors and hit P1.”
She hesitated.
“Do it!” he snarled.
She obeyed. “Who are you?”
The shifter’s lip curled. “I am Sandoval.”
She looked at him blankly.
“He has not told you about me?” he asked, sounding offended.
She shrugged, trying to look unconcerned.
“I am the wolf who’s going to make your lover boy pay.”
“What did he do to you?”
The doors slid open in the garage and the nasty wolf shoved her forward, out of the elevator. “Tomás Solís murdered my wife and children.”
She sucked in her breath, the blast of hatred from the man almost palpable. She didn’t know who Tomás Solís was, but she didn’t think it was the right time to ask.
He marched her forward, his fingers on her upper arm digging into her flesh. Two younger men jumped out of a dark car and one of them held the door open for Sandoval. “Get in,” he snapped, shoving her forward.
“Who’s this?” one of the younger men asked. He resembled her captor—perhaps he was his son or nephew.
Sandoval pushed in to sit beside her. “The Solís pup’s mate.”
“What do we want with her?” the other man asked.
“Just drive the car,” Sandoval snapped. “Back to the house.”
The car backed out and sped out of the parking garage. She scanned the cars coming in, thinking she might try to flag down help, but she realized the windows were too tinted for anyone to see her inside.
The older wolf’s son twisted around in the front seat to look at her, and then his father. He said something in Spanish.
The older man said something back, then turned to her, a nasty smile on his face.
“I killed Solís too fast. I should have made him watch while I tortured his pups before his eyes.” He picked up a lock of her hair and twirled it between his fingers. “But now I can rectify that.” His dark eyes glinted. “His son can watch his mate defiled, then killed. And then, when I finish the youngest Solís, my vengeance will be complete.”
Was Ben the youngest Solís?
“I-I’m not actually Ben’s mate. It was a mistake—he didn’t mean to mark me. I’m human.”
“Which makes you all the more fragile.” The man smiled. “Torturing a human is so rewarding.”
She shuddered.
The car pulled up to a villa-style vacation rental—a self-contained unit, two stories high with a wall surrounding the property.
Terror had seeped in, turning her entire body cold. She took deep breaths, trying to keep her wits. She had her phone. Maybe she could find a way to text Ben or Zolla. Zolla might be able to trace her location.
Sandoval shoved her out of the car and pulled her into the house, sitting her down and taping her ankles to the legs of a chair. He taped her wrists behind her, so tight the wood from the chair dug into her arms. Rummaging in her purse, he pulled out her phone and scrolled through it. “Where is lover boy’s number?” he asked, not seeming to expect an answer. “Ah, here it is.” He hit dial on the number and held it to her ear. “Say hello to him.”
Ben answered on the second ring. “Ashley,” he croaked, sounding relieved. She remembered with a painful twist in her chest that they were at odds, and she hadn’t returned his phone calls. Tears of regret stung her eyes.
“Ben—”
Sandoval took the phone away from her and said something in Spanish.
“Ben, don’t come—it’s a trap,” she yelled.
Sandoval struck her with the back of his hand, slamming her head back. She tasted blood as pain exploded in her mouth, jaw, and neck.
“Don’t come,” she repeated, as Sandoval walked away with the phone, still speaking into it.
Sandoval had Ashley. Ben’s vision domed, his senses razor-sharp. It took him only three seconds to determine his course of action. He called Zolla as he drove to the address Sandoval had given him.
“Are you crazy?” Zolla demanded. “You can’t go in there alone—you’ll never walk back out. Tell me where and I’ll meet you.”
“No. I’m going alone and unarmed, as instructed. I’m not taking any chances where Ashley’s concerned.” He hung up before Zolla could begin his arguments and pressed his foot down on the gas.
He pulled up at the address and stepped out of the car. For once, his mind was perfectly clear where Ashley was concerned. A strange peace had settled around him like a cloak, giving him a serene sense of power. He walked to the door and knocked.
The curtains moved and a shadow passed in front of the peephole of the door. It opened a crack and the butt of a gun emerged. “Pásale.”
He stepped in and waited as he was patted down for a gun with his hands on his head. Two thugs from Sandoval’s pack flanked him and walked him into the living room, where his female was bound to a chair. Seeing her like that—her face bruised, her eyes wide in a pale face—almost caused him to lose his calm determination.