Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 79349 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79349 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Remembering what I did for five euros so I wouldn’t starve has my head jerking to the side and my hands closing in fists.
What happened in that cab, during one of the most brutal winters Lisbon ever saw, is my deepest, darkest secret, which I’ll take to my grave.
We’re just about to meet in Dominik’s room when the rumbling of motorcycles has me stopping dead in my tracks.
I move fast, pulling my gun out while shouting at the guards, “Get ready for an attack.”
Leo’s door swings open, and as he comes out, he asks, “Attack?”
I point toward the road. “Sounds like the MC is heading our way.”
Cassia, Dominik, and Santiago join us.
“Go back inside and don’t come out until I say it’s safe,” Santiago tells Cassia. When she scowls at him, he shakes his head. “You’re pregnant. Go.”
She audibly huffs while she returns to her room and slams the door shut.
Leo chuckles, glancing at Santiago. “She’s going to let you have it later.”
“Fine by me,” Santiago murmurs, his eyes locked on the bikers as they come down the road in groups of two.
One breaks away, indicating to us that he’s the leader, and when he brings his bike to a stop and climbs off, I take a few steps forward.
“I heard the motel was fully booked,” the man says as he glances at the guards before locking eyes with me.
He’s easily in his sixties, and the patch on his cut shows he’s the president of the club.
“The name is Ricky. I don’t appreciate you coming into my town and shooting my men.”
The other motorcycles stop in a row across the parking area, and I calculate it will take me a couple of minutes at most to put a bullet in every man.
When I continue to stare at Ricky, he lets out a chuckle and looks at Dominik, Santiago, and Leo. “Do any of you speak English?”
Santiago bursts out laughing as if it’s the funniest thing he’s heard, then he asks, “Please, can we make him pick one of my cards?”
“Soon,” Dominik mutters. “First, let Enzo deal with things.”
When I lift my arm, gesturing with my barrel at Ricky, the members of the MC all scramble to draw their weapons, panic flashing over their faces, which has all our guards training their submachine guns on the idiots.
Santiago snorts, and even I have to admit it’s funny.
“A hundred and twenty-five thousand,” I mutter.
Ricky frowns at me. “What?”
“That’s how much it will cost you for ten minutes of my time,” I say, my tone emotionless. “Come back when you have my money, and we can sit down and talk.”
“I have to remember that line,” Leo whispers.
I turn around and gesture to Cassia’s room. “Let's have our meeting so I can head out to the factory.”
“You better watch your back,” Ricky calls out. “The roads around these parts are dangerous.”
I open the door, and as I step inside, Cassia looks at me, her arms crossed over her chest.
The sound of engines starting fills the air, and I’m surprised when the MC actually leaves.
Shaking my head, I say, “All bark and no bite. It takes all the fun out of the war.”
“That sounded pretty anticlimactic,” Cassia mutters. When Santiago comes into the room, she levels him with a glare. “Never again. If I can’t stand beside you, what use am I to the alliance?”
“I’m only thinking of the baby,” he replies. “And Knight would kill me if I let something happen to his wife and unborn child.”
“So that’s the MC?” Leo asks, wisely changing the subject. “I only counted nineteen men.”
“There are more,” I reply. “Probably double that number. Ricky wants us to underestimate him. My guess is he came here to see what he’s dealing with before they plan an attack.”
“I think so, too,” Dominik agrees. “Just as well half our guards are sleeping right now, so the MC doesn’t know how many we have in total.”
Santiago lets out a chuckle. “None of the MC members looked trained. They don’t stand a chance against the five of us, never mind our guards.”
Dominik looks at me. “How do you want to play this?”
“Let them sweat and bring the war to us,” I say. “I’m going to the factory. I have work to take care of instead of worrying about a bunch of idiots.”
“I’m coming with,” Leo says. “I’ll die of boredom if I stay at this motel a second longer.”
“Field trip,” Santiago jokes.
So much for getting some time away from the alliance.
As much as I appreciate having them here, I’m not used to being surrounded by people, twenty-four-seven.
“You guys have fun.” Dominik walks to the door. “I’m calling my wife.”
“I’m going to check on Jenna.”
My eyes snap to Cassia. “Really?”
She shrugs. “She seems like she could use a friend, and I need some female company. All this testosterone is a bit much for me.”