Total pages in book: 161
Estimated words: 154882 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 774(@200wpm)___ 620(@250wpm)___ 516(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 154882 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 774(@200wpm)___ 620(@250wpm)___ 516(@300wpm)
I grasped Bane’s shoulder, silently moving him to the side.
“You had me in that factory, and you just let me go.” He shook his head in mock disappointment. “Set me free to snatch up your little girlfriend and stash her away where I get to have my fun with her again... again... and again.”
An emotion sludged through my veins—thick, cloying, and familiar.
“Mackenzie’s already made me money. That pretty little white baby of hers will sell for a great price. Then Mackenzie will sell over and over until I toss that slut in the trash like a used condom. What are you going to do about it, Sunny? Aw, let me guess.” He snapped his fingers. “Crack another joke, flounce around acting the fool, then get someone else here to do what you can’t stomach and force the information out of me. Admit it. You’re so predictable.
“I mean, the thought that— that we could be afraid of you,” he wheezed. Adams howled till his eyes watered. Vito and his subdued men joined in. “No one is afraid of you! All of North Quay laughs behind your back. So, go ahead, clown. Put on another show for us, then excuse yourself so the big kids can talk.”
I nodded along, lips pushed out. “Wow, Adams,” I began, chuckling. “You’ve given me a lot to think about. There may even be some truth to what you say. I am the guy cracking jokes, chasing a good time, and waking up in the morning with a daily affirmation on my tongue. I can see how I may have gotten a certain reputation.”
“As a pathetic fool who still has his momma’s milk on his upper lip,” he helpfully clarified.
“You see, here’s the thing.” I erased the distance between us step by step. “Reputations are tricky. Easily manipulated, shattered with a word, repaired with a single act. Anyone can be just about anything in the eyes of those who see only what you allow them to see. But if there’s one thing I learned from my parents”—my smile, my laugh, my sunny personality leeched away—“it’s the benefits of wearing a mask.”
“You—”
My hand whipped out, burying my blade in his torso. Adams’s eyes bugged, and the laughing stopped. He grasped the knife.
“I wouldn’t do that,” I sang. “I just severed something very important. Pull that knife out and you’ll bleed to death in exactly seven seconds. Keep it in and you have time to stumble your way to a hospital. Maybe they save you, or maybe they won’t. But those odds beat seven seconds.”
Luca choked, jaw working. I patted his shoulder. “What everyone gets wrong is that I don’t refuse to kill because I can’t stomach it. I hold off because I tend to get carried away. But what can I say? Crazy’s genetic. My father is proud to know that of all the Savage Princes”—I tugged a gun off Bane and shot Vito through the thigh—“I’m the worst one.”
“Ahhh!” Vito collapsed, clutching his thigh.
I shrugged. “Ah, what the hell?” I shot three more guys—their screams echoing in the empty shipyard.
“Here’s how it goes,” I shouted over their noise. “Whoever tells me in the next ten seconds where Mackenzie and Laurel are, gets to live. For the rest of you, your prize is bleeding out on the floor to the last sound you’ll ever hear—this clown laughing.”
“The boss’s house!”
“The hotel!”
The hired hands shouted me down, clawing over each other for their lives.
“You can’t let me die,” Vito half sobbed. “I know... things. I can help you!”
I advanced on him. “What exactly do you know? And be quick. If that bleeding isn’t stopped, you’re dead in five minutes.”
“This wasn’t about Blaine,” he rushed out. “That was just to get you here. We—”
A hand gripped my shoulder. “W-wait.” Luca ripped my sleeve, hanging on to keep himself up. “Help me. She’s at... 152 Bayview Way. I swear.” Blood dribbled down his cheek. “Help me... please.”
Smiling, I said, “Of course.” I ripped the blade out of his chest. The pure shock on his face was as good as sex.
Luca slid onto the floor. “You... said...”
“You hurt my girls.” I kicked him away. “Should’ve known I was lying, dumbass.”
He flopped flat out on his back, light dimming in his blackened soul, and whispered one final word.
“Demone.”
“River, Bane,” I said. “152 Bayview Way. I’m right behind you.”
They didn’t waste another second tearing out the door. I kneeled in front of Vito, my knife tip dripping Luca’s blood on his pants. Pain washed him out, soaking his face and chest with sweat. “I believe you were in the middle of bargaining for your life by explaining why anyone would do something so stupid as to come after my girls.”
“I have information too,” shouted Athena’s captive. The three goons were begging and carrying on, but I focused on Vito. He’d been at the heart of this since Genny’s warehouse blew up six months before. I was very interested in what he had to say.