Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 67320 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 269(@250wpm)___ 224(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67320 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 269(@250wpm)___ 224(@300wpm)
“Yep, we sure did,” my father answered with a touch of pride. “Poor fool thought he was going to get a portion of your life insurance policies. Dumb dick.” He shook his head from side to side. “One would think he might have wondered why we were looking for someone that looked a lot like you.”
One of the other guys laughed out loud. “Used to look like him! Dude splattered when he hit the concrete.” He bumped his fist with one of the other guys. “We’re talking closed casket.”
My father winked at me like it was nothing. “We needed to buy a bit of time, throw your precious bodyguard off long enough to get you out of Milan.” Leaning over me, he said, “I bet your mother won’t sleep with that cunt again, will she? Not after one of her superhero team members let her precious boy get himself abducted and killed.”
“Shut the fuck up!” I screamed…and then threw up again. What kind of fuck-ups were they where they held no value in human life? Had he ever loved me?
No. Never. I answered my own question.
“Look around you, baby boy,” my father urged. “Just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse, right?”
I didn’t have to look around; I knew exactly where I was…what I was on. It was a boat. We were on the water. He knew I was terrified of water—knew I couldn’t swim.
“It’s Lake Garda,” he said. “So beautiful, don’t you think?” He grinned down at me. “No? I guess not.” He looked at the two guys behind him. “My idiotic son is scared of the water. He’s always been such a pussy.” Looking at me again, he said, “Such a beautiful place to die. Wasn’t that nice of me? To let you be surrounded by beauty when you take your last breath on this earth?”
I tried to sit up but struggled since my hands were tied in front of me. He was going to kill me. Wow. My own father. I would never get the chance to fight for Landon, to prove to him that I was the man for him, not this Ari guy. Fuck, my mother would be crushed when she learned I was missing and then devastated when my body was found…if it was found.
The bigger guy stood up. “Let’s move, Gentry. I don’t trust that the bodyguard will fall for your little trick on the roof. He’s smart.” The man leered at me. “He’s also in love with your pansy ass. I have a feeling he’ll try to move heaven and earth to rescue him.”
The other guy joined his friend. “Yeah, I want this job over with. Toss the kid and give us our money. I’m gonna be on the next flight out of Italy…with my pockets heavy with American green.”
My father stood up slowly and said, “Yeah, about that…”
Two gunshots rang out, blasting the peaceful silence of the night. Both men were caught off guard and dropped where they’d been standing. My father calmly walked the few steps necessary to stand over them and fired another bullet into each of their heads.
I threw up more liquid bile as I watched their heads practically explode right before my eyes.
“Damn. What a mess,” my father said. “They were ugly before but this…this is just a shame.” He looked over his shoulder at me and said, “Now, let’s get them tossed overboard and then it’ll be your turn, baby boy.”
My mind, still sluggish from whatever drug they’d given me, frantically tried to come up with some sort of idea that might help save my life. I wanted to live. I wanted to live for Landon, for my mother. I wanted to live for me. It was supposed to be the next story of my life. I’d been so fucking ready to begin a new adventure. How could that idea have blown up in my face so quick?
Getting rid of the two over-sized men turned out to be harder than my father had planned. After nearly an hour of cursing and struggling with their bodies, he finally managed to roll them off the back of the boat. By the time he got to me, he was drenched in sweat and furious. My father didn’t sweat. That tiny vision gave me a bit of joy.
I guess I could have tried to get away while he fought to get the men off the boat, but where the hell was I going to go? It was inky dark and we were surrounded by nothing but water. I could hear it slapping against the boat, mocking me and my stupid fears. Landon had tried to convince me to let him teach me to swim, but I’d been afraid.
My only hope was rushing him and trying to knock him overboard, but the fear of me following right over the edge with him kept my ass glued to the boat’s floor. The only effort I’d made was that I scooted into a sitting position and had my back against the side. I was dizzy and my stomach was rolling from all the damn rocking of the boat.