Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 113272 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 566(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 378(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113272 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 566(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 378(@300wpm)
Lee/Liam snorted. “You don’t think he fed her those drugs?”
She shook her head. “No. No, he wouldn’t have.”
“He boasted to me about it,” Lee/Liam said smugly.
“Oh my God.”
She bent over and threw up again.
“Ew. That’s disgusting,” Deputy Doofus said. “Can we get rid of her now?”
“Why . . . why kidnap me when I didn’t know any of this,” she said, gasping for air.
Had her father murdered her mother? But why?
“If you’d just disappeared and remained quiet, I probably would have let you be,” Lee/Liam said to her. “But now you feel like a loose end. Also, I’m fucking angry. At you. At your father. At her.” He glanced down at Ravina. “Stupid, incompetent bitch. “
She glanced at Ravina and swallowed. “She loved you.”
“She loved my money. But one of the main reasons we needed to have a chat is because of those men of yours. Two men? Didn’t think the ice princess had it in her. How much do they know?”
Oh God.
“I don't . . . I don't know.” She knew what was going to happen once she told them what they knew.
She’d be as dead as Ravina.
She couldn’t die. Not when she’d just found the guys.
“I . . . I . . . I don’t know anything. I don’t know what they know.”
“You know something!” Lee/Liam roared, stepping closer and raising the gun.
“I don’t!” She closed her eyes, waiting for the gun to fire. Waiting for the pain.
I’m sorry, Eli.
I’m sorry, Kellan.
I love you both.
She heard the bang and waited for the pain. But all she heard was a strange howling, then someone screaming.
Opening her eyes, she saw that Lee/Liam was fighting off a large dog.
“Horse!” she screamed.
“Arabella! Get down!” Kellan yelled as he dove at Deputy Doofus.
Eli was next into the room and ran toward Lee/Liam who was scrambling for his gun.
“No!” she screamed, running toward Horse.
No! She couldn’t let him hurt her dog.
But she was too late. A shot was fired and Horse fell onto the ground on his side with a whimper.
“No! No!” She fell onto her knees with a scream and then started crawling forward.
Horse. Horse.
She had to get to Horse. She had to save him.
“Horse!” she screamed. “Horse!”
Finally, she got to him, placing her hand on his side which was soaked with blood. Sobs broke free from her.
Don’t leave me, Horse.
Please!
“Arabella! Are you all right? Baby, are you okay?”
Glancing over, she saw that Lee/Liam was lying on the floor with his hands cuffed behind him.
Eli kneeled next to her. He ran his hands over her as Kellan kneeled down on the other side of Horse and whipped off his top, placing it over Horse’s injured side and applying pressure.
“Arabella,” Kellan said sharply. “Are you injured?”
“W-what? No. No. Horse is. Help Horse. Help him.” She sobbed. “He s-saved me. Lee wanted to k-know what you knew about the d-drugs and I said I didn’t know. I k-knew he was going to shoot me. Like he s-shot Ravina. But Horse save me. I can’t live without him.”
“Let’s get him to the vet,” Eli said. “Kellan, pick him up. I’ll keep the pressure on him. Arabella, stick close to me. Do not leave my side.”
She nodded. She’d do whatever they said as long as they saved Horse.
“Is he all right?” Jake asked.
“We’re taking him to the vet,” Eli explained as Kellan lifted him up. “We’ll help process all of this later.”
“Don’t worry about that. Go,” Jake said. “I’ll call Colin and let him know.” He glanced at Arabella. “He’s a hero. He located you, led us right to you. And he’ll be all right.”
She nodded, but she couldn’t say anything. Her voice was gone and it didn’t return as she sat in the back of a car with Horse’s head in her lap. Or when they made it to the emergency vet’s. It wasn’t until he was wheeled away that she broke again.
She sobbed and screamed while being held between Eli and Kellan.
They just held on, letting her lose her mind until finally Kellan picked her up and carried her to a chair, sitting with her on his lap.
Then he held her tight and began to rock her gently.
“It’s all right, baby,” Eli murmured. “It will be okay. Horse will be fine.”
“He’s mine. I love him so much.”
“So do we,” Eli told her. “And he really is a hero like Jake said.” He cleaned up her face. “Are you sure you’re all right? They didn’t hurt you?”
She shook her head and told them everything.
“God, that fucking bastard,” Kellan said. “We were nearly too late.”
“But you weren’t,” she said as Eli took her hands in his. “You made it on time. You guys saved me. I love you so much.”
“I love you,” Kellan told her.
“I love you as well,” Eli said. “And soon you’ll be able to tell Horse how much you love him too.”