Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 122206 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122206 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
“Thank you,” I said to the woman. “What’s your name?”
“Jennifer.”
“Jennifer.” I nodded. “I appreciate ye givin’ me these.”
She stared at me. “D’ye hate me?”
For a moment, I didn’t respond, then I shook my head.
“I don’t love Finn, and I now know that I never did. If I was in love with him, I’d think ye were a nasty person because ye knew about me and me relationship with him but ye still decided to fuck him anyway.”
Her face flamed. “We just want what Finn is owed, Ina.”
“Owed?” I repeated. “I don’t owe that man anythin’, Jennifer. Not a single thing.”
She stared at me in response.
“Where is he?”
“The bedroom. He’ll be comin’ out now.”
I didn’t wait another second. Finn wasn’t outside where he could grab me. He was in another room with the door closed. That made my decision for me. I made a lunge for the door, and when it flung open with ease, I bolted.
“Finn,” Jennifer screeched. “Finn, she’s runnin’!”
That evil fucking bitch.
“Help!” I screamed. “Please, someone help me!”
“Ina!”
My bare feet burned with pain as I ran over sharp stones and pebbles, but that pain was overridden when I was suddenly tackled from behind. When Finn’s body collided with mine, we landed on the ground on our sides. The impact stole my breath.
“Ye fuckin’ cunt!” Finn raged as he flipped me onto my back and hovered over me. “Ye ungrateful, good for nothin’ bitch!”
I felt my skirt rip as I tried to scramble away from an infuriated Finn who was hell-bent on getting his hands around my throat. I had never seen him this angry before, and it terrified me. I screamed bloody murder, hoping to Christ that someone would overhear me and come to my aid. It was still beautiful bright out with clear skies, but it was late in the evening. The likelihood of someone walking in the middle of nowhere was slim to none.
“I’ll never marry ye!” I shouted up at Finn. “Ye’ll never get a cent outta me, and ye’ll never get a single thing from me again, ye cowardly dirtbag! You’re not a real man!”
Finn’s smack to my face knocked my glasses off, and another whack dislodged my right hearing aid from my ear. I felt hands slither around my throat, and though I was dizzy, I was very aware of what was happening to me. Finn was strangling me. I couldn’t draw in much more than a rasp of air, and the pressure from it made my eyes hurt as well as my lungs burn. I reached up and smacked at Finn’s face. I even raked my nails over his skin.
He roared but didn’t let up.
“Finn!” Jennifer screeched. “Finn, stop. Finn! Look, he’s gonna kill ye.”
Her voice started to sound like it was far away.
“Ina!”
Dante?
The immeasurable pressure around my throat suddenly disappeared, and I could breathe again. I coughed and choked on spit as I desperately drew in deep lungfuls of air. Breathing hurt, my throat felt like it was on fire, and my head suddenly ached so badly that I couldn’t move. My body felt heavy, so I lay on the ground for a few moments, simply staring up at the blues and pinks of the even sky.
It was beautiful.
I heard commotion from my right, but before I could move, a person replaced my view of the sky. He moved closer, which enabled my vision to bring his face into focus. Harley Collins’s blue eyes worriedly ran over my face. My body deflated with relief because if Harley was here, that meant Dante was too.
He found me.
“Harley,” I rasped. “Harls, is your daddy okay?”
My voice didn’t sound like my own. It sounded raspy. Like I had just smoked twenty cigarettes in a row, then spent the following hour screaming nonstop. Another body appeared next to Harley. They were talking, but it took a moment for the ringing in my left ear to go away so I could hear.
“Me aid and glasses,” I choked out. “I need them.”
I blinked a couple of times when my glasses slid into place, and my hearing aid was held against my ear. The person holding it was Mr Collins, and he was struggling as he tried to put it in place.
“Sir.” I began to cry at the sight of him. “You’re okay. I was so worried about ye.”
I helped him with my hearing aid as he said, “Honey, are you okay? Christ, your poor neck. My God, he was tryin’ to kill ye!”
My head was so fuzzy that I felt like I needed to have my brain reset.
“Dante,” I said, swaying as Mr Collins helped me to my unsteady feet. “He found me. Where is he, sir?”
It was then that everything in my head straightened itself out, and things became clear. The sound of a woman screaming made me jerk my head around. Jennifer, Finn’s girlfriend, was being restrained by Gavin. She was trying her hardest to get to Finn, who was on the ground being punched and kicked by Dante.