Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 82517 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 413(@200wpm)___ 330(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82517 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 413(@200wpm)___ 330(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
“Fuck.” Marlo grabbed the back passenger door and was able to climb behind him.
Pushing his foot to the floor, he took off. The car jerked left and right with the speed that he was using. He didn’t care.
He needed to get Alex to the hospital. Glancing at her, he saw the blood seeping into her clothes. He pressed his hand to her stomach.
“Alex, stay with me.”
Marlo was on his cell phone, calling Liam. He was sure of it. Roman didn’t have that time to waste.
The nearest hospital was ten minutes away. It was the longest ten minutes of his life as he pressed his foot to the gas. He lost count of the cars he nearly hit. Alex was starting to look way too pale.
“Stay with me, Alex. I’m here. Stay with me.”
She didn’t speak, and he saw her eyes were closed.
“Fuck, no, no sleepy time for Alex. You need to talk to me. You need to stay with me.”
Marlo leaned forward, cupping her face. He’d already removed the headrest, and was able to get to her.
“Come on, Alex, wake up. You can’t go to sleep.” Marlo pressed his fingers to her neck. “Her pulse is strong.”
“Do not let her die.”
“Liam and your father are heading toward the hospital,” Marlo said. “Antonio and Cash will be with us soon as well.”
“Did … did we get any of them alive?”
“No. You told them to kill. Now they’re just cleaning up the bodies.”
This was bad. He knew that, but that fucker he’d been slashing, he had a gun, and he’d hurt Alex. She should have stayed behind the trash bins. She would’ve been safe there. This was all on him. He’d put his wife’s life in danger.
Arriving at the hospital, he parked near the front doors and climbed out, leaving the ignition running.
Roman rounded the car until he got to Alex and opened the door. Her eyes were still closed. With his wife in his arms, he ran into the hospital screaming. He didn’t know what the hell happened next, but Alex was taken from him, and he seemed to realize he was in a private room.
“Are you okay, man?” Marlo asked.
“What the fuck just happened?” He went to rub his face, but he realized his wife’s blood was on his hands.
“You threatened the hospital staff. You said if anything happened to your wife, you’d kill them all. I’m sure Lucas and Liam will handle everything you did. One of the nurses brought you here, and Alex was taken to emergency surgery.”
“She shouldn’t have been shot,” Roman said. “That shit is on me. She can’t die.”
“Man, do you care if she does?” Marlo asked.
He spun toward his friend, glaring. “Yeah, I fucking do!”
Chapter Eight
Sporting a black eye, Roman waited. Liam had already been by, and now he was dealing with the hospital staff as well as the cops. Lucas sat beside him.
Still covered in blood, Roman stared at the door.
Antonio, Marlo, and Cash were all present, but they were keeping their distance. His dad was pissed at him for making the mistake of turning his back on the enemy.
“That could have been you shot,” Lucas said.
“It would have been better if I was.”
“Do not say that.”
He turned to his father and glared at him. “My wife is in the operating room.”
“There will be more wives,” Lucas said.
Roman looked at his father, a little taken aback. “What?”
Liam wasn’t in the room, and Lucas sighed. “If his daughter dies at the hands of our enemies, then we are not responsible and you don’t have to stay married to her.”
“You wanted this union,” Roman said.
“I know what is good for the family, for our side, Roman. Do not be stupid and pretend you don’t know what that is. We all know what it is.”
He wasn’t sure exactly what he was hearing. “Did you … was this … do you want to kill Alex?”
“Of course not. I’m a man who sees opportunity.”
Liam entered the room. The man looked like he’d aged twenty years since Roman had last seen him. At least his fists weren’t clenched, and he wasn’t ready to take another swipe. “Any news?” Liam asked.
“Nothing yet.”
He was starting to have doubts about his father’s involvement in the attacks on Alex.
“I will go see if we have an update,” Lucas said.
Roman watched his father go, and he didn’t like the suspicion flooding him. It suddenly seemed way too convenient that their old enemies, the Smirnovs, were rising up. It was also a convenient time for it.
“The last time I was here when Alex was shot, I lost her mother,” Liam said, filling the silence. His honesty surprised Roman. “Hitting you doesn’t solve anything, and for that, I’m sorry. Alex will be worried when she sees that you have a black eye.”
“A lot of shit was going down. I don’t even know how or what the fuck was happening. We were about to enjoy our meal, and the next thing, masked men came into the restaurant, gunning for Alex.”