Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 148962 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 745(@200wpm)___ 596(@250wpm)___ 497(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 148962 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 745(@200wpm)___ 596(@250wpm)___ 497(@300wpm)
I drag myself up from the lounge, grimacing as I nearly collapse.
“Jesus,” Angelo mutters. “You should let Mariella check you over when we get back.”
“I’m fine. Just give me a hand with the oxyacetylene kit.”
“I’ve got it,” Rafe tells me. “All you need to worry about is getting on the other boat.”
“No. This is my mess. I’ll clean it up.”
I try to limp forward, but my leg buckles and I fall back onto the lounge.
“Are we good?” Angelo fixes me with a dry stare. “Or do I need to let you fall a few more times to knock some sense into you?”
“This is my idea. If anyone’s getting blown up, it’s me.”
“Nah, fuck that.” Rafe heads for the kit.
“Goddammit.” I pull myself upright with a growl.
When I prove once again that I can’t stand on my own, Rafe doesn’t wait. He grabs the kit and glances at me. “Just take it down to the engine room and open the valves, right?”
I’m irritated as fuck that I can’t get my body to cooperate, so I don’t answer, but when he shrugs and starts to leave, I have no choice.
“Hold on a fucking second. Is the engine off?”
“It’s off,” Angelo assures me.
I stare at them for too long, trying to find an alternative. I don’t like putting my brothers at risk.
“Don’t worry.” Rafe nods at me. “I’ve got this. Just get your ass on the other boat so we’re ready to go.”
“Once you have the valves open, you get the fuck out of there. Don’t close any doors or touch any switches. Don’t touch anything at all.”
“Your concern for me warms my heart.” Rafe smirks as he presses a hand to his chest. “So should I give the remote trigger a wiggle just to make sure it works, or—”
“Fucking hilarious.” I glare at him.
“Okay, we’re losing time.” Angelo observes the horizon. “Let’s get this over with.”
Rafe hauls off the kit, and my gaze trails after him until Angelo pulls me up from the lounge.
“He’ll be fine. Come on.”
He helps me down to the swim deck and wheelbarrows me over the side of the other boat.
I slide down onto the deck like a limp bag of bones, and he jumps on after me and helps me into a seat.
A few seconds later, Rafe bolts toward us with a stupid grin on his face. “Boom, motherfuckers. Let’s blow this shit up.”
“Preferably while we’re not right next to it,” Angelo remarks dryly.
Michele navigates the boat, steering us back toward Seattle, and once we’re far enough away, I pull the remote from my hoodie.
“You want to do the honors, pyro?” I offer it to Rafe since he lives for this kind of shit.
He doesn’t need to be asked twice. He presses the button, and the explosion rockets into the sky, pieces of debris raining down like confetti.
“Holy fuck.” Rafe glances back at me. “That was awesome. We need to do that again.”
“They should be fish food now,” Michele says.
“Just get us out of here fast.” Angelo collapses into a seat. “I’m fucking exhausted.”
By the time we arrive in Seattle, I have a narrow window to get to the penthouse before Gabi wakes. After another argument with my brothers, they agree to take me there on the condition that I see Mariella today.
Michele stays with our prisoners, letting me know he’ll keep them alive until I’m ready for them. Angelo and Rafe drive me to the penthouse and help me into the elevator. When it opens, I try to move on my own and end up falling on my ass again.
“Jesus, you’re a stubborn fuck,” Angelo grouses.
“You think?” Rafe laughs.
“You’re getting blood all over the floor.” Angelo looks me over. “Where’s it coming from?”
“It’s just my leg.”
They’re in the process of helping me back up when the door creaks open down the hall.
“Fuck.” Rafe stares at me wide-eyed, making a split-second decision to toss me behind a decorative urn next to the elevator.
“Hey, Gabs.” Rafe positions himself in front of the urn as she approaches, obscuring her view. “What’s up?”
“Umm…nothing.” She pauses, and I can imagine her staring at the blood on the floor in question.
“Hope we didn’t wake you,” Rafe says.
“No. I woke up early.”
There’s a lingering note of sadness in her voice, and I wonder if it’s because I didn’t have time to leave her a note.
“Okay, well, we just need to grab something, and we’ll be out of your hair.”
“Is it just the two of you?” she asks. “I thought I heard someone else.”
“Just us.” Rafe covers for me. “And some conveniently placed décor choices.”
I roll my eyes, tempted to kick him in the leg.
“Alright.” Confusion colors her voice. “I’ll leave you to it then.”
They wait until she retreats to her room and shuts her door before they lift me up and drag me up the stairs to my room.