Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 122216 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122216 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
The only thing I can guess at this point is the Capetti family was too chickenshit to kidnap me themselves, so they promised these bozos some decent cash or maybe a cut of some sort for whatever they’re after from Nick. The Dragoons sent out these two dumbasses to grab me because they’re expendable.
“We delivered her so can we go?” Bo asks.
“No.”
“That wasn’t the deal. We got the girl. Our end is done.”
“You’re done when I say you're done. Now sit down and shut the fuck up.” Everything goes quiet. I step back from the wall, putting space between them and me. This isn’t going to end well. Lark is likely connecting dots himself and seeing that he’s not going to be making it to Christmas this year.
The thought no sooner goes through my mind when gunfire erupts.
Christmas has come early. I smile. I guess Lark is going to make it after all.
6
NICK
I lower my gun once I’ve sprayed some bullets into the sky, the aurora borealis floating overhead in tones of blue and green.
The cinder block shack ahead of me is painted a dull white to blend in with the snowy landscape, but the idiots who dared take my wife didn’t bother to hide their vehicles behind the building or one of the snow banks nearby. Fucking amateurs.
I hunker down as the light inside the shack goes off.
My phone buzzes. Keeping my scope sighted on the building’s front entry, I pull out my phone.
B: I’m a click to your north. Heat sigs show three hostiles inside, and your wife is in the rear of the location. She’s alone and hunkered down.
I stow my phone. That’s all I needed to know. My brilliant queen already took cover when she heard my shots, just like we practiced. She knows I’m here for her, and she knows the blood I’m about to spill. It puts a burning coal of pride in my chest.
“Cara mia.” I smile as I put my eye back to the scope.
When the doorknob begins to turn minutely, I fire five rounds.
“One down.” I stand and sprint through the snow, pulling out my pistols as I fling myself against the cinderblock wall.
Gunfire erupts, splintering the front door as a man falls out of the opening and lies face down in his own blood.
“Get out the back!” someone inside yells. “Go!”
I don’t fucking think so. I swing around into the doorway and fire two shots into the first body I see. He drops, dead before he hits the ground.
The other man disappears into the back room.
I chase him, and he grabs Sophia from the ground and yanks her up.
My blood catches fire, and I aim for his head. Then I recognize him. “Franco Capetti.”
“Look, Nick.” He holds a gun to my bride, to the sun in my sky. “This was just a thing that got out of hand. You don’t want to take it any further than this.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Franco.” I glance at Sophia.
She gives me the slightest nod.
“I’m going to take this all the way to the grave.” I shrug one shoulder.
Sophia reads my signal and ducks to the side.
I fire, and Franco Capetti’s brains splatter all over the gray cinderblocks.
Rushing to Sophia, I take her in my arms. “Are you hurt?”
“No.”
Capetti gurgles. I point my pistol down and fire two more shots into his heart. He goes silent.
“Are you certain?”
She nods as I holster my guns and scoop her up. “I’m sorry.” She sniffles against my neck as I carry her out.
“Don’t cry, cara mia. I’m here.” I kiss her forehead.
“I didn’t realize it was a trap until it was too late.” She pulls back, her eyes wide. “Is Evangeline okay? What about the kittens?”
“Everyone’s fine. Everything’s going to be okay. I only regret I didn’t have time to make them suffer as they deserved.” I kiss her mouth, tasting her tears as I tongue along her lips. Pausing, I turn, then jerk my chin down at my vest. “Take one.”
Her eyes glint as she looks at the grenade clipped on my chest. “Really?”
I nod. We’re going to destroy any evidence left behind. No one will trace this botched kidnapping attempt back to us, and the Capettis will get the message–one that says I’m coming for them.
She holds the grenade up. I snap my teeth, and she puts it to my mouth. I grip the pin between my teeth and yank my head back.
“Throw it, my love.”
She smiles, childlike amusement on her face, and tosses the grenade into the shack.
I turn and run with her.
When the place explodes, a rush of warmth hits me in the back and spurs me onward. With my wife in my arms, I practically fly back to the landing strip, and I don’t put her down until she’s in our bedroom.
“Are you warm enough?” I rub her hands.