Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 139088 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 695(@200wpm)___ 556(@250wpm)___ 464(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 139088 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 695(@200wpm)___ 556(@250wpm)___ 464(@300wpm)
Oh, Knox was going to do something all right.
And, oddly, the man missed me saying the word “nine.”
Oh, and not incidentally, he wasn’t a dick.
He was a total asshole.
“So is this about getting your stuff back, or getting one over on Knox?” I asked to keep him occupied while the guys prepared to do whatever they were going to do.
His gross smile came back.
“I get a twofer with you,” he crowed. “More, actually, because it’s me who’s pulling the strings with those badasses who think they run the entire fuckin’ west. The hit to their rep I’m gonna deliver that I got one of theirs and made them do my bidding is gonna be hard for them to live down.”
Right, so he wasn’t an asshole either.
He was a motherfucker.
On this thought, something exploded.
Unh-hunh.
Exploded.
Too late, I put my hands to my ears (because explosions were loud) and leaned forward, because even if there was no destruction where we were, some dust rained down on us, and I actually felt the concussion of the blast.
Once I recovered from the shock, I saw Mr. Chambers was up.
So I got up.
He saw me get up, so he shoved some papers aside on the desk and there was a gun.
He went for the gun.
I went for it too.
We scrambled for it.
I didn’t get it, but I managed to swipe it off to the side with enough force, it clattered to the floor and skidded under a table by the wall.
Okay, that went all right. At least I wasn’t going to be the next one filled with holes or held over Knox because his dad had a gun to my head.
I heard shouts and the exchange of gunfire, and it freaked me, like a whole lot, but I couldn’t focus on it because Mr. Chambers was coming at me.
I let him.
When he got close, he made a grab at me.
I did the same to him.
His shoulders.
That steadied me so I could put full force behind kneeing the shit out of his groin.
I made impact and did it hard.
He groaned, his hands went there, he sank to his knees, and I twisted, took hold of the chair I’d been sitting in and smashed it against his side.
He fell to his other side.
That was when I raced to the table, dropped to my knees, did a ducking skid under it, grabbed the gun on my way and hunkered down, gun aimed out.
More shouts, more gunfire, and a pounding up the metal steps.
Someone was coming.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
More gunfire.
Fuck.
There was movement at the door.
I aimed the gun there.
Knox came through, fortunately no blood was visible, and he was wearing a vest.
I pointed the gun to the floor.
He looked toward where I left his dad and then to me.
“You disarmed him?”
My position made it awkward, but I shrugged.
Lee Nightingale walked through the door.
Nope.
The man strolled through the door like he owned the joint and didn’t make his entrance through an explosion and a gunfight.
Jeez.
These guys.
His eyes did the same as Knox’s, going first to Mr. Chambers then to me.
“Get him up,” he ordered, not to Knox.
Shaw and Liam were coming through the door.
They went to Mr. Chambers.
Knox came to me.
He held out a hand, and I gave him the gun.
He took it and shoved it in his waistband, held his hand out again, then said, “No, baby, you.”
I put mine in his and he pulled me out and up to my feet.
I let him go to dust off my knees.
When I straightened, he was framing my face with his hands, his face in mine.
“Yeah?” he whispered, peering deep into my eyes.
“Yeah,” I whispered back, taking his hands with me while I nodded. “Is everyone okay?”
“Yeah.”
Thank God.
He held on a second, held my gaze that second before he let me go, took gentle hold of me and drew me to the center of the room.
Mr. Chambers was standing, flanked by Shaw and Liam, facing Lee, and now Mace and Hector were with us.
“So,” Lee started it, “this is how it’s gonna go.”
Knox wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me to his side.
It was then, I noticed his father had his gaze on his son, and it wasn’t leaving even if Lee was talking, and Lee was a man you paid attention to.
“Knox is gonna walk out of this warehouse, and when he does, he ceases to exist for you,” Lee finished.
“She fucked me, son,” Mr. Chambers told Knox.
Knox’s dad’s full body jerked when Lee caught his jaw in a supremely ungentle hold and forced his attention back to him.
“I change my mind. He ceases to exist for you now,” Lee gritted. Then to Knox, without taking his focus off his dad, “Take Luna and go.”
Knox started to lead me out.
“She was with Vincente all this time!” his dad shouted.
Ah hell.
Knox stopped us.