Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 78534 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78534 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
This was nothing like that. This was pure efficiency. I'm pretty sure Ghost had all five men down in just as many heartbeats, and he's already got the last knife back and is aiming his gun down the hallway in case there are more. I knew he was cool under pressure, but this was almost machine like. Somehow I'm falling for a man that can do… that.
I should probably be running the other way as fast as I can, but I haven’t lived the kind of life that has let me pretend bad things don’t happen. I already knew he was dangerous, and I’d rather have him at my side than anywhere else.
But man, it's chilling to see him in action.
I hold my breath while I wait. Ghost is absolutely still again, his gun hand unwavering. Is he getting new intel through his earpiece? Is everyone okay up there? Or are there more coming? Someone must've heard the gunshots.
I don't let my breath out until Ghost's shoulders relax and he sticks his gun into his belt. He gets up, collects his other knife, then wipes both of them off on the pants of one of the soldiers. The knives disappear wherever he keeps them hidden on himself, and then he finally looks at me. There's pain in his eyes. Regret? Not over killing them, but that I had to see it.
"Are you okay?" I whisper, knowing they didn't have a chance to physically hurt him. But that's not what I'm worried about.
He lets out a slow breath, then nods. "Fine. You?"
“Been better, but I didn’t throw up this time.”
“Shit, I’m not sure if I’m proud of you for being so practical or pissed that I’m even thinking that.”
I give him a shaky grin. I might be a little green around the edges but we’re alive. "Go with proud, because the other ship has already sailed. What about the others? How did they get all the way down here? Are Tex and Riot…?"
"They're fine." He taps the earpiece as he comes closer. Just the briefest of pauses as he looks at me, and then he unlocks the door to let me out.
I throw myself around him, not caring that there's blood on his jacket and a little on his cheek. I need to hold him, touch him, know that he's whole… and to let him know that he hasn't scared me away. I accept the darkness in him, even if he doesn't. A short sob escapes me, and then his arms are around me too, pulling me in close. When we come upstairs, there’s a line of bodies. They're all dressed in black and masked. With the Outlaw Sons knowing they were coming, they didn't stand a chance.
"Jessica!" Riot pushes through to us. Ghost still has his arms around me, but Riot grabs my head and kisses me like he thought he'd never see me again. I'm so shocked, it takes me a second to start kissing him back. He's okay. And then Tex is there too, jumping in as soon as Riot backs up, and I get another kiss. It's nice. It's life, celebrating that we pulled through without getting hurt.
Hellfire comes over, followed by a couple of grizzly looking bikers I don’t know yet. "Nice work," Hellfire says. "Barely a scratch, and twelve bogeys down. Any trouble downstairs?"
Ghost shakes his head. "None. Not convinced that Kane got his money's worth with these guys."
Or maybe they didn't count on there being a freaking ninja biker waiting for them down there.
"Hey, Boss. Kept one alive for ya." Between Poe and Sinner, there's a guy in black with his helmet and mask removed. They're as much keeping him up as they are making sure he doesn't get away. His hair is buzzed short, but the little he has is soaked with drying blood from an oozing wound on his scalp. His eyes look a little unfocused and his face is heavily bruised.
It's hard not to feel sympathy, even knowing that he and the others were coming in here to steal me and Anne away. On the other hand, I doubt he would have had any compunctions about blowing away Riot, Tex or Ghost. That thought hardens my heart pretty darn quick.
Poe holds out a little electronic device that looks kind of like a phone. "He had this. He was hanging back a little, and we figured he was the contact man. Either that, or so chickenshit that he hid in the bushes as soon as he got here. If we hadn't been waiting for them, we'd probably never spotted this fucker."
They shove the man forward, and he drops to his knees in front of us, catching himself against the pavement with his hands.
Hellfire takes the device and looks at it. Up close, it seems more like a pager, but who has those anymore?