Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 75783 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75783 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
As much as I want to be out hunting for him alongside them, Harper needs someone with her. I trust that Quinton and Xander will get the job done, though. This is what they do.
As it turns out, it’s my dad. I have half a mind to ignore the call and pretend like he doesn’t exist. I’m furious with him. He’s the one who orchestrated this entire ordeal, and he has no idea what Harper has gone through. He doesn’t even care. But at the same time, a part of me thinks that he might know about where I can find Malik, so answering seems important.
I slide the answer button to the right, and I have to blink a few times to make sense of what I’m seeing. It’s dark, and I have to squint my eyes to try to make out the shapes in the center of the screen. When I realize my father is in the center, tied to a chair, I know this is exactly who I’m looking for.
“I’ve heard about what you did at my estate,” Malik says as he turns the camera around to show him in the frame in front of my dad and Diana, who I’m now realizing is there too. “All of this for one whore? You have no idea what you’ve just started.”
“I know exactly what I’m doing. If I had to, I’d do it all over again,” I say, standing up and clenching my fist at my side while I watch him walk around my father and Diana.
“We can end this right now. Bring Harper here to me, without Xander at your side, and I’ll free the rest of your family,” Malik says.
I almost want to laugh. Malik must think I would do anything to spare them. I don’t want to see them hurt, but risking Harper to protect either of them is foolish. But at the same time, I know this isn’t going to end until Malik is gone. If he’s about to give me his location, I have to go through with this.
“Send me the location,” I say through gritted teeth as if I’m reluctantly going along. Malik smirks before hanging up the phone and texting over an address.
I immediately search for it on Google Maps and see it’s an old, abandoned warehouse seemingly in the middle of nowhere. It’ll be about an hour from where we are now.
The only reason I accepted his offer is because I won’t be going alone. If he doesn’t want Xander to come with me, Xander won’t. But he didn’t say anything about Quinton. Quinton is the next best thing. Xander raised him to be a near replica of himself, and if what happened Friday night is any indication of his abilities, I know we’re going to be able to make Malik regret ever messing with us.
I call Quinton and update him on everything that’s happening. He promptly agrees to meet me at the safe house so we can head to the warehouse together.
The hard part is explaining all of this to Harper. She’s already been through so much, and the idea of putting her back in Malik’s crosshairs is gut-wrenching, but I don’t have a choice. She wants him dead as much as I do. This is our opportunity to make that happen.
She reluctantly agrees and gets ready to go as Quinton arrives, and we go over the plan. I’m going to bring Harper in like a bargaining chip to save Diana and my dad. Before she’s handed over to Malik, Quinton and a few of his men are going to creep around the back of the warehouse and get the drop on him. We took out a lot of Malik’s army, so we won’t have many guards to contend with. But we’re positive there are going to be more of them.
When all of us are filled in on the plan, we make the drive to the warehouse in silence. I sit in the backseat with Harper to make sure she has company, but she keeps her eyes glued to the window while she nervously taps her foot on the ground.
As the warehouse comes into view, we park, and Harper and I get out of the car. Quinton and his men immediately begin swarming the warehouse as I approach with Harper in hand. When I slide open the doors to the warehouse, I see Malik standing in the center with his hostages, no other guards in sight.
Malik doesn’t say anything, nor does my dad. But as soon as Diana sees both of us, she starts shrieking and crying, almost unintelligible at first. I see everyone in the room looking at her with disgust on their faces, as they should.
“She’s here now! You can let us go,” Diana shouts at Malik. He looks down at her—tied to the chair—with frustration etched on his face. I can’t blame him; I’m furious with her myself. “None of this would even be happening if that whore had kept her legs closed!”