Total pages in book: 55
Estimated words: 51051 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 255(@200wpm)___ 204(@250wpm)___ 170(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 51051 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 255(@200wpm)___ 204(@250wpm)___ 170(@300wpm)
“The cult is pretty new,” Zeke says. “Maybe he’s in the good guy stage. Not that I’ve accumulated enough power to show you all the crazy I’m about.”
“We’re going to see Markus Issacson,” Alaric states. “He’s the one in charge of Mona’s care.” He turns to Lev. “You have the money?”
“Yes,” Lev says. “One billion dollars.”
My heart drops to my stomach. “One billion dollars? Lev, do you even have that kind of money?”
Alaric laughs. “Levinston is worth one hundred billion dollars. You don’t know who his parents were? The Cartwrights were filthy rich. Generational wealth in astronomical amounts.”
I’ve always understood that Lev had money, but apparently, he has God-like amounts of money.
Zeke bends and whispers in my ear, “You were a kept woman and didn’t even realize it.”
I glare at him. “Pardon me?”
Zeke laughs. “Who do you think paid for you to go off and save all those women?”
If someone punched me in the face right now, it would feel less shocking. “What do you mean? I was working with various organizations. Ex-military and martial arts experts. I worked with humanitarians.”
I looked at Lev, standing with one of Alaric’s hired guns.
“He paid for it all, Az. He said that if you were going off to do foolish things, he’d ensure you were safe. He gave them all explicit orders to leave you alone unless you were in danger. Their entire purpose was to protect you. He’s spent billions over the years.” Zeke drapes his arm around me. “I told you, you’re his security blanket. He was mostly fine until you went to Iran. That’s when he lost his mind and made some unfortunate decisions, like taking Mona.”
“I wish he’d shown Mona his face. She might not have run off if Lev had told her it was him the whole time. I have no idea why he didn’t.”
Zeke kisses my cheek and pulls me close. “Love makes people blind, deaf, dumb, and stupid. He couldn’t see anything other than you. He regrets his choices. You probably won’t be able to forgive him, but you should. His broken pieces are a little more complicated. Besides, he didn’t have you to help him like I did. Not when he was young, scared, and alone.”
Lev stands straight as he speaks with Alaric. He’s focused, and I know that deep down, he’s kicking himself for what he’s done. If we get Mona back safe and sound, I won’t hold it against him. As much as a part of me wants to make him beg and wallow, a bigger part of me loves him too much to deny him. I’ll find other ways to punish him, but refusing him my love will not be part of the equation. I won’t break his spirit like his mother did.
A black limo pulls up to the hangar.
“Everyone ready?” Alaric asks.
“Let’s do this.” Cyrus beams. He’s always ready for anything that entails a fight. If The Purge was an actual event, Cyrus would do a year-long countdown in anticipation of the big day. I should be worried about how much he likes carnage.
The limo pulls up to an abandoned warehouse. It looks like an area that was booming at one time, but all that remains is abandoned warehouses and industrial plants.
I survey the area as we exit the limo to see if there’s any way they can infiltrate us. I can’t see any people, and only one car is in the parking lot.
Zeke startles me as he grabs my hand, his fingers squeezing. “It’s gonna be all right. I won’t let anything happen to you or Mona.”
“No.” I shake my head. “I won’t let anything happen to Mona or me.”
He smiles, but it doesn’t reach his eye like usual. “You know it’s not sexist for a man who loves you to want to take care of you, right? It’s not like I’m asking you to be barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen.”
We all approach the decrepit cement stairs leading to a steel door. Alaric tugs the metal handle, and the door opens. A simple tug. No security, no codes.
I shiver as the stench of vomit and piss assaults me. Fear clutches at my throat, making it hard to breathe. “This is where they’ve kept my sister?”
As the words leave my lips, I see all the blood. I don’t want to pay these men and go on my merry way. I want them to suffer. Mona is privileged to pay to get out of this circumstance, but what about the other girls these monsters abduct?
I squeeze Zeke’s hand, and he lowers his ear to my mouth. “He has to die.”
I don’t know when I decided that death is an acceptable outcome for certain people. It sure wasn’t from my mother, who firmly believed in tolerance. Even with all she went through, Nasrin Baran demonstrated the virtue of mercy.