Total pages in book: 23
Estimated words: 22196 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 111(@200wpm)___ 89(@250wpm)___ 74(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22196 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 111(@200wpm)___ 89(@250wpm)___ 74(@300wpm)
“Kill?” I repeated.
“Stop repeating everything I say and listen very carefully.” He gripped my hips with his hands and let out a groan. “Damn, I’ve been watching you for weeks.” He bit out another curse and then seemed to refocus. “Nobody’s supposed to be here, least of all a bunch of college kids degrading Holy Ground that my family is one hundred percent willing to kill over. Your choice is to stay in the line of fire… or leave… with me.”
“And everyone else?” My heart slammed against my chest as drunken people stumbled around laughing.
“You care about them?” He seemed surprised.
“I care about human life, yes.” This was happening, wasn’t it? The rumors were true. Eagle Elite was mafia through and through, right along with a river of blood and tears.
“Interesting,” he said before spinning me around again and pressing his lips to mine. I gasped as his tongue slid inside, mouth hot, I let out a moan as he wrapped an arm around me then pressed me against the wall, deepening the kiss, but also shielding me. He pulled away, his eyes dark. “My room’s safe… you’ll always be safe with me.”
“Because of your family?” I was almost afraid to say the name out loud, not sure why, it was almost like I could feel the dead souls rise up from the grave, begging me not to curse them even in death. Blood had been spilled here.
“Because I have a gun…” He tilted his head. “Because of my cousin…” I knew who his cousin was, Nixon Abandonato.
And just like I’d conjured him, the door to The Spot jerked open wide, and there he stood, boss to one of the most notorious crime families in the world, and each of the four family bosses flanking on the right and the left.
Youngest mafia bosses in history.
They looked like they could still be attending classes, except for the massiveness of every single one of them.
“You have three seconds,” Asher whispered, reaching behind his back.
“Yes,” I said without thinking.
He grinned and then made a motion behind him, Nixon nodded just as the first gunshot rang out.
And then his mouth was on mine again, whispering against my tongue. “Close your eyes, princess…”
So, I did.
I closed my eyes as his hands slid up my shirt.
I squeezed them shut as the sound of gunfire went off.
I lost myself in his touch as he pressed my body against the cement wall, every inch of him hot and ready, his hands dipped into my hair, with a jerk he tugged my hair back his mouth made its way down my throat, and that’s when I made my first mistake.
I opened my eyes.
And saw blood.
“Asher…” My voice sounded funny as blood stained the once freshly painted concrete.
“Holy Ground.” Was all he said as he grabbed me and tossed me over his shoulder, walking through the blood, right past his cousin who seemed to look more amused than sinister.
Wait, were they laughing?
After killing at least a dozen people?
“They didn’t kill anyone,” Asher said, picking up his speed as he walked across campus, with me like a sack of potatoes over his shoulder. “All warning shots, more painful than anything, a few kneecaps blasted, a few arms hit clean through, nothing to be overly upset about.”
“OVERLY UPSET?” I pounded my fists into his back. “What kind of psycho world do you guys come from?”
“Oh, that’s easy.” He set me on my feet and then flicked my chin with his thumb and winked. “The only world that matters—ours.”
I gulped.
“So, what do I get for saving your life?” His full lips were swollen, I backed up just as he opened the door to one of the private dorms on campus, the ones that basically cost a billion dollars just to walk into.
I followed him.
In hindsight, a smarter girl would have run, but I was kind of out of choices at this point I’d already jumped in the minute he picked up my pencil… at least that’s what it felt like.
But more than that, being with him was this heady experience that almost felt like a dream. With trembling legs, I followed him down the hallway.
And then his door was opening.
And I was walking in.
He clicked it shut.
I sucked in a breath when I heard the lock turn.
“Claire,” he said my name like a prayer. “It’s time to collect.”
“I don’t suppose you’d be okay with a high five and homemade cookies?”
His laugh was devastating; it wrapped around me, it pulsed like it was a living breathing thing. His laugh could knock every girl up within a two-mile radius.
I gulped when he turned me in his arms and tilted my chin toward him. “I like cookies…”
“Yeah?” That’s what I had? Yeah?
“Mmm.” He braced my waist, and then his hands lowered until he bunched my short jersey dress up to my bare hips and nude thong. “And I am hungry…”