Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 107376 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 537(@200wpm)___ 430(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107376 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 537(@200wpm)___ 430(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
This is going to be a shitshow.
We took out the head of the operation, and sure, that always comes with fallout. It’s inevitable, but I didn’t expect such a fast response. It can take months before the new head of operations gets his shit together and figures out the identity of the men behind a hit, but I’ve got to give this new guy credit where it’s due, he was quick. He caught us off guard, and that shit very rarely happens.
These are Antonio’s family. Not the guards or the men hired to protect him.
These are his cousins. Brothers. Uncles. Nephews. The men who’ve built their lives around his empire, who’ve profited off every move he ever made. These are the ones who feel the hurt, the ones whose blood was spilled, the ones who have the most to avenge, which make them the ones to be wary of. They’re going to be dangerous. Ruthless. Vengeful. But that right there? That’s my exact brand of heroin. The exact thrill that gets me hot and bothered.
I’m about to have the time of my life. Who would have known? A night where I not only get to slaughter men in the street, but also get to fuck my girl while Hunter can do nothing but sit there and watch. It’s like Christmas.
The glass window of Black Velvet shatters behind us, and I hear the girls who are closing up the bar scream in terror. I can only hope they have the sense to drop down and hide, because this shit is about to get ugly.
“Oh, hell no,” Lyra roars with fury beside me, transforming into an avenging angel right in front of my face. “Nobody shoots up my bar!”
The once quiet street erupts with chaos.
DeLuca’s men descend on us, guns blazing, and I go to grab Lyra when a bullet comes searing right toward her, but she’s already in motion, sprinting forward toward the asshole who shattered the glass.
No guns? No fucking problem.
Hunter springs into action, and I don’t bother watching his back. He can handle it. All that matters tonight is taking out these bastards and ensuring as minimal damage to the bar and the people inside as possible.
Every detail slows around me, and I become hyperfocused on the enemy. Every movement sharpens, every drop of rain against the pavement, the glow of the bar’s neon lights reflecting off parked cars—even the way Hunter’s posture shifts.
I don’t miss a thing as that usual easy-going asshole disappears, and the killer within takes over.
Three more men emerge from the left, and another five from the right, moving out from behind parked cars and alleyways, shifting through the darkness like shadows, and I smile. The more the merrier.
I hold my hands out in welcome. “Let’s see what you got.”
Lyra scoffs, probably rolling her eyes as well, but she’s too busy on some asshole’s back, choking him out, to have any sarcastic comments.
“Don’t be stupid,” Hunter warns me, already in motion. “It’s the fucking cartel.”
I grin, more than aware. “Uh-huh.”
Marcus and Dean race out the front door, guns already braced in their palms, no strangers to a little violence. Though from their expressions, they certainly are strangers to seeing Lyra in action.
“What the fuck?” Marcus grunts, watching her for only a split second before realizing just how capable she truly is, though I’m positive these two men won’t stop watching her back until every last one of these assholes in the street are dead.
The armed men seem to hang back, preferring to shoot opposed to getting close, and I can’t help but wonder if they’ve seen the surveillance footage from the compound and know just how fatal we can be in close quarters. But if they’re not going to come to me, I have no problem taking this party to them.
I charge straight ahead, letting the real Maddox shine. A gun shifts toward me, and I grab it by the barrel before the asshole has a chance to pull the trigger, and I yank him toward me. He stumbles forward, his eyes going wide just as I spin him and turn his own gun on him, taking the shot that was intended for me.
The gun rings out, the bullet lodging right between his eyes and before his brains have even hit the pavement, I discard the body and relieve him of any weapons.
Now it’s a fucking party.
I move from one to another, and when one charges at me with a knife, I step aside at the last second, letting his momentum send him crashing headfirst into a parked car. The impact knocks him out cold, but I put a bullet in the back of his head anyway. I won’t leave anything to chance when Lyra is on the playing field tonight.
Between the three of us, plus Marcus and Dean, we’re working through them quickly. Some start retreating, realizing they’re no match for us, while others just get angrier, which is when they start making mistakes.