Total pages in book: 168
Estimated words: 153571 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 768(@200wpm)___ 614(@250wpm)___ 512(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 153571 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 768(@200wpm)___ 614(@250wpm)___ 512(@300wpm)
"They held a fucking gun to his two-year-old son's head," I snap, reminding him exactly why my partner has every right to want to tear Guerrero and his people apart. "They torched my house with Mila inside. So I don't really give a fuck about your delicate sensibilities right now, Finn. The only reason I'm not out there with him, dismantling Guerrero's little cartel, member by fucking member, is because of her. Because I'm not leaving her side so long as she's still in this city."
I pause as another nurse appears in the hall, hurrying past without even glancing in my direction.
"You better pray to God you find him before I do," I tell Finn as soon as she's out of earshot, my voice deadly quiet. "Because I'm telling you now, I don't give a fuck if I'm a cop or not. If I find him, I will kill him. And so will Brady."
Finn rattles off a string of curses, and then he shocks the shit out of me. "When you and Brady find him, you better make damn sure he takes the first shot, Roman. You hear me? You make sure he takes the first shot, and then you kill the son of a bitch."
"Already planned on it," I tell him.
"Good. Get her out of town, and then go find Brady."
"Yeah, on it," I mutter, pushing off the wall to head back to her room.
"And Roman?" he says before I can hang up. "You better not fucking die, and you better not get caught. If she's pregnant, she's going to need you, and I have a feeling we are too. This shit isn't going to end just because he's gone, I can guarantee you that."
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Mila
"You can't just send me to Sacramento, Roman!" I yell, slamming my hands down on my hips to glare at him from across the hospital room I've been trapped in for the last four hours.
"I'll be outside." Officer Livingston wisely slips outside, pulling the door closed behind him. I should probably feel bad for yelling at Roman with him standing right there, but at this point, I don't care who hears me.
"Baby, you gotta go." Roman plants his feet apart as he stares at me, sounding far too calm and reasonable. He's been through hell today, and it shows. His eyes are shadowed and bruised beneath from lack of sleep. Soot, grime, and blood splatter from where he broke that officer's nose stain his clothes. The sight tugs at my heart, but I refuse to let it sway me. I know exactly why he wants me out of the city, and I'm not going.
"No," I tell him, refusing to budge. "I'm not going."
"Mila," he says, his voice soft and his expression even softer as paces toward me.
I back up, trying to keep him from getting his hands on me because I know I'll cave and give him whatever he wants as soon as he touches me. When he has his hands on my body, I can't deny him anything, no matter how hard I try. And I have every intention of denying him this.
I'm not leaving so he can go on a rampage and get himself killed. I see the rage swirling in his eyes when he thinks I'm not looking. I see the way Livingston watches him, as if he's here to keep him from doing something stupid, even though they told me that he's here to help keep me safe.
I saw Roman flinging those officers around like they were inconsequential toy soldiers when he thought I was still in the house. If Finn hadn't been there, I don't think the entire Los Angeles Police Department would have been able to keep him from going inside. He would have taken them on one by one until they had to shoot him or let him run inside. He was out of control, raging like a demon, and they would have had to kill him to stop him.
I'm terrified there won't be anyone to stop him this time. If I leave, he'll go after Guerrero, and he'll die.
"I'm not going," I repeat.
He stalks me until I'm pressed up against the wall with nowhere else to go. As he saunters toward me, his eyes heat and darken, turning that predatory hazel color that lets me know he wants me, even in the midst of this disaster. He cages me in before I can dart away from him, one hand on either side of my head to keep me trapped where he wants me. His body presses into mine, searing me in one long line.
I grit my teeth and clench my hands into fists, refusing to give in to the desire threatening to consume me.
"You gotta go." His breath washes across my face, his chest rumbling against my breasts as he crowds me even deeper into the wall. "Being here isn't safe for you right now."