Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 64366 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 322(@200wpm)___ 257(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64366 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 322(@200wpm)___ 257(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
Santori, apparently unconcerned with my mewling, told us all to sit down. We did, but all I could do was stare at Kage’s lifeless form on the floor, his hands tied at his back with something that looked like a necktie. That made me think of the time Kage had used one on me, and my heart ached even more. So many things he and I would never do.
“Is he dead?” I asked, not meaning to. I didn’t think I wanted to hear the answer.
“No,” Santori said with a wave. “He’s just very sleepy.” Then he turned to Aldo. “We have a problem. I was supposed to give Jamie an injection.” He glared at me like I was the most annoying piece of shit on the planet. “But my nephew got suspicious after the phone call. He came in here threatening me, so I had to do something fast. I tased him, and then I used the syringe on him. Only the amount in the syringe was precisely measured to make it look like an accidental overdose— for Jamie. Not this big animal. I’m afraid all that dose is going to do for him is keep him incapacitated for a bit. Then he’s going to be very angry.”
“What should we do, boss?” Aldo asked. “Want me to throw him off the balcony?”
“Of course not!” Santori spat the words out. “All that would do is draw attention to us. I don’t want these bodies found anywhere near this hotel. Understand? The Tick-Tock Inn. We discussed this. I’m just waiting for my source to deliver some more of the drug. Then we can get this all taken care of and go back to business as usual. Put it behind us.”
I sat there completely sober, listening to them discussing my murder like it was nothing. It was surreal. My brain was whirling the entire time, trying desperately to come up with a superhero plan to save the day, but it just wasn’t happening. Kage and I were going to die of overdoses at the Tick-Tock Inn, and no one would be the wiser. It would be chalked up to a wild night of partying, or a lover’s pact like Romeo and Juliet. After the Twitter fiasco from a few weeks back, it wouldn’t be hard to sell that story. Gay lovers, under the threat of public outing, commit suicide together in a seedy motel. The tabloids would eat it up. Vanessa could play the grieving— and scorned— fiancé. Santori could walk around with a devastated expression and say, “No comment,” when asked for a statement. Kage’s UFC rivals would talk about what a shocking blow it was to the MMA community, while secretly breathing a sigh of relief that they weren’t going to have to face him in the octagon. It would be quite a media frenzy. And then it would die down and be forgotten, leaving my parents to mourn in obscurity. It was almost poetic, almost romantic. And it was not going to happen if there was anything I could do to stop it.
I had to guess from the fact that Santori and the goons hadn’t even bothered to subdue me that they saw me as no threat. That was a definite point in my favor. It gave me the opportunity to surprise them. Only there was no way I could overpower three men, especially when one of them had a taser, and the other two probably had guns under their jackets.
“If any attention is called to this hotel,” Santori continued, “I won’t be able to do anything to Michael, though he certainly deserves it after the way he talked to me.”
I gasped without meaning to. But dammit, could the man get any colder? He’d just said his own nephew deserved to die because he was disrespectful to him. As if it was just some punishment like standing in the corner. The man truly was a psychopath. I wondered how Dr. Tanner had been unable to see it for all those years, or if she had just been in denial. Money was a powerful motivator, especially when she could pretend she was earning it by helping a young man in need.
Kage stirred on the floor, and every bit of my attention went to him. I tried to drop off of the sofa and crawl to his side, but Aldo grabbed me. It surprised me when Aaron reached down and removed Aldo’s hand. “Let him go,” Aaron said, and his voice was strange and wonderful in that moment. The only friendly thing in a room full of impending death.
I continued on to Kage’s side and curled up next to him, looking into his handsome face as tears started to fall from my eyes. He was so vibrant, so powerful, and he was going to be put down like an animal. He would never fight again, never love again, and never have the chance to get completely past all of the horrible pain he’d suffered in his short life. He was destined to be a shooting star, and it broke my heart.