Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 79211 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79211 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Oh God.
I take a small sip of my drink as he drones on and on about his stupid fucking cars, his words getting more slurred by the minute.
Aria continues. “Hurt him, Harper. Do it for all of us. Don’t ever let this asshole assault another woman again.”
I nod, ostensibly because I’m listening to his boring, self-serving stories, but I’m making a promise to Aria. To Polina.
To the whole female population.
Leonardo stumbles right into me. I frown and help him stand upright. I can’t kill him if he’s passed out.
“Found you.”
Shit.
Saul and Marco come out of the dark. I look around me. The bar is vacant. Nikko’s gone. Even the bartender isn’t here anymore.
Did Saul do something?
I make a quick mental assessment of the sweet, loaded metal I have in the harness strapped to my leg.
“Shit, what happened to your hand?” Saul asks.
“Your clumsy sister broke a beer bottle and cut me,” Leonardo the Douchebag says. I open my mouth to tell them off when a deeper, darker voice comes from the shadows.
“Now, now, Saul. Leonardo. You should know better than to come to my event and speak disrespectfully to my wife.”
I breathe more freely when Aleksandr steps out of the shadows.
“Oh, hello, honey,” I say brightly, raising my drink to him. It might be my heightened senses, but he looks twice their size and so damn sexy my heart does a little somersault in my chest. If I wasn’t passionately in love with him, I’d be terrified.
“Your wife hurt my friend,” Saul has the audacity to say, not backing down, his hand on my arm.
Oh you stupid, stupid man.
Aleks speaks calmly, but I am very familiar with that look in his eyes.
“Take your hand off my wife, Bianchi. Touch her again and you’ll lose that fucking hand.”
Aleks’s hand is still in his pocket as if he’s only having a casual conversation, but Saul releases me and steps back.
That’s right, you jerk. Touch me and die. He’ll kill you first, and if that doesn’t work, I’ll kill you second.
“I feel like shit,” his friend says, shaking his head. Saul’s eyes cut to him.
“Who gave you that drink?”
“Your sister.”
“You put something in that drink?”
I shrug innocently.
Aleks is right there, and if Saul touches me he’s dead, so I suppose it’s time.
“Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t. What would you know about roofies, Leonardo?”
“You motherfucking—”
Aleks moves so fast he’s a blur and Leonardo’s on the ground, covering his face.
“What did I tell you about disrespecting my wife?” he asks in a placid voice. “Get up, you fucking pussy, and face her. You owe her this.”
Saul steps back and Marco only stares as Leonardo gets to his feet, shaking.
I glare at him. “I’ve confirmed your identity. I know who you are and what you’ve done. Your friend raped me at that party, Saul.”
Saul’s eyes widen. He didn’t know. I don’t know if that helps his situation or not.
My voice trembles, but it’s the only part of me that does.
“Prove it,” Leonardo says through bloodied fingers. Saul stares, his gaze furious, and Marco turns as if to run.
“Don’t move,” I say calmly. In one swift move, I take my gun out and cock it.
I go over my rules automatically.
Always act like your gun is loaded.
Check.
Never point at anything you aren’t willing to destroy.
Check.
Be aware of what’s behind the target.
Check.
No finger on the trigger until you’re ready to shoot.
Last. Fucking. Check.
“If you try to run, I’ll kill you,” I say calmly. “I have perfect aim.”
Marco has the nerve to make a derisive noise.
“Call them, Aleks,” I say calmly.
“The left corner flag,” he says, his own fixed gaze daring them to move.
“Red one or white one?”
The white one’s no more than a speck.
“White, baby. Then take out the turret and hit the streetlight at the outermost corner of the lot.”
“Easy.” I aim and shoot in rapid succession as Aleks pins them with his gaze. The flag turns to shreds, the turret and the light shatter.
“Holy shit,” Saul mutters under his breath.
“All this time you had a fucking skilled markswoman under your own roof, but you and your father were male chauvinist pricks,” Aleks says, shaking his head. “And you fucking wasted her skill.”
I turn to Leonardo. “I had a child because of you. I believe you owe her some money.”
Aleks nods. “Take out your bank information and send all the funds directly to the information I give you. It’ll go into a high yield savings account,” he says, likely more for my benefit than anyone else’s.
It’s satisfying to see Leonardo’s trembling hands as he makes the transfer.
Saul is cursing under his breath. “You set us up.”
Aleks takes a step toward him. “Remember your place, Bianchi.”
“What do you want from me?” Leonardo whines.
“Retribution. Admit what you did.” He nods to Saul. “You and your friend will leave your other friend with us.”