Total pages in book: 147
Estimated words: 136048 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 680(@200wpm)___ 544(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 136048 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 680(@200wpm)___ 544(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
A pain twists deep in my gut.
This is different. She’s not going there and seeking trouble unexpectedly. No, she’s walking right into a fucking trap, and unlike last time, I can guarantee that Elias will be ready.
39
HARPER-RAYN
Overwhelming rage and fear pound through my veins as I race toward my mom’s place, right on the edge of losing my sanity. How the fuck could she have done this? I get her wanting to hurt me. It’s what she’s always done. It’s the only way she knows how to behave, but to bring the twins into this? I won’t stand for it, and she sure as fuck won’t get away with it. I’m ending this shit once and for all. She doesn’t get to hurt those girls and walk away, and she sure doesn’t get to use me to do it.
Izzy’s phone rings from the center console of my car, and I speed through the streets, desperate to get to Mom’s house, and hoping like hell that’s where she has taken the girls.
Knight’s name flashes on the screen. It’s not the first time he’s tried calling, and it’s gutting me not to answer, but I know exactly what he’s going to say. He’s going to tell me to stop. To pull over. To wait for him. But I can’t do it. Every second I waste is another second Haylee and Taliah could end up in Elias’s hands, and I know he understands that.
It kills me that I’m breaking my promise. I stood on the side of the road after being released from jail, promising him that I would never recklessly throw myself into a dangerous situation, that I would be levelheaded and allow Knight to share my burden, but sometimes promises have to be broken. Sometimes putting your own life at risk far outweighs the alternative, and damn it, I would willingly hand myself over to Elias if it meant setting those girls free.
Tears well in my eyes as my gaze drops to Izzy’s phone, my heart breaking, knowing the fear Knight must be feeling. “Fuck,” I say a moment later, grabbing the phone and taking the call.
I hit the speaker button as I fly through the streets. “I’m sorry,” I murmur, struggling to hold myself together. “I have to.”
“Doll, please. I can’t have you go in there alone.”
“They’re my nieces, Knight,” I tell him, willing him to understand, to know why I had to leave. “I can’t just leave them. I have to do this. Every second counts, and if I have to put myself at risk to save them, then I will.”
He lets out a breath, and in the one tiny sound, I hear his whole world crumbling. “Baby, please. I’m only ten minutes behind you. Just wait for my team to get there. We’ll get them out. I promise.”
“Ten minutes?” I tell him as the tears roll down my cheeks, my voice breaking with heartbreak. “I’ve seen little girls on my autopsy table who’ve died in less than thirty seconds at the hands of men like Elias. I love you, Knight. You’re everything to me, but I need you to understand that I can’t hold back on this one. I have to get them out of there. I know you understand that.”
Knight sighs, pure agony in his tone, fearing the worst just as I am, but knowing that nothing, not even his breaking heart, is going to keep me from storming into that mansion and getting those girls.
“I love you, Harper,” he says, a hardness creeping into his tone. I can imagine the way he’s probably gripping the steering wheel, the terror rising in his chest as helplessness consumes him. It’s exactly how I feel now. “I swear, if you die . . . If you leave me . . .”
“I won’t,” I vow, knowing that’s not something I could possibly guarantee. “Would you . . . Would you be able to call Jonah and let him know what’s going on? We tried, but there was no answer.”
“I’ve tried too,” he tells me. “All we can do is our best and be what the twins need until they’re safe in their parents’ arms again. But baby, you need to understand the likelihood that this is a trap designed to lure you out.”
I let out a breath, my thoughts running so wild. “I know,” I tell him, my heart tearing right down the center. “But it doesn’t change a thing. Those girls come above everything else.”
“I’ll be there as soon as I can. Just hold on,” Knight says, that brokenness in his tone crippling me. “If he overpowers you, fight. Use everything you’ve got. Nails. Teeth. Elbows. Knees. Whatever you can do, just stay alive. Please. Just stay alive.”
I take a shaky breath, the tears uncontrollable now. “You have to know I never intended to break my promise,” I murmur as I reach the gated community that Mom lives in. When I find the main gate left open, I sigh in relief. “But this . . . It’s different.”