Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 79685 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 398(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79685 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 398(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
The doorbell rings, and Dominik gets up. “No one kills anyone until I’m back.”
Santiago lets out a chuckle. “Grace loves me too much.”
“You can thank your lucky stars for that,” my sister mutters.
A serious expression settles over his face as he captures my gaze with his. “I’m fine with you being pregnant. I love kids and can’t wait for us to have our own.”
“It’s way too early to tell,” I reply. “But if I am, it’s okay.”
The corner of his mouth lifts into a grin, and I can see he likes the idea of me being pregnant with his child.
There’s a flutter of excitement in my chest, and I begin to hope that I am pregnant. Probably from all the talk about babies.
A server brings the food to the table while Dominik picks up Kristian, where he’s lying in a bed that’s positioned in the middle of the living room.
Dominik comes back out and takes a seat, and when the server is done placing trays with finger foods down in front of us, he says, “Thanks, Maja. Just let yourself out.”
“Enjoy the meal,” she replies before leaving.
Dominik stares at Grace again, and it has her grabbing a meatball while muttering, “Stop staring. I’m going to live in ignorant bliss until the morning sickness either starts or doesn’t start.” She pops the meatball into her mouth and gives Dominik a look clearly telling him to drop the subject.
Unable to keep the words in, I say, “I think it would be wonderful if we’re pregnant at the same time.”
Grace’s face lights up, and she reaches between our chairs to place her hand on my arm. “Oh, my God! It would be awesome.”
“But if I say anything, I’m in trouble,” Dominik mutters.
We all burst out laughing, and while we nibble on the platters, I lean my head against Santiago’s shoulder.
Chapter 31
SANTIAGO
Ciara: Be safe and come back to me in one piece.
I grin at the message, then type a reply.
Santiago: If I get hurt, will you kiss it better?”
Ciara: Don’t even joke about it! But yes, I’ll kiss it better.
“The men are ready,” Pedro mutters. “Put away your phone.”
“Now you know how it feels when you sit and play that stupid game,” I say while turning the device off so it doesn’t distract me when shit’s going down.
Pedro starts the engine and drives up the road that leads to the hill where Javier Rojas’ house stands.
I left Ciara with Astrid after promising her I’d be home within twenty-four hours.
Checking the straps on my armored vest and the magazine of my submachine gun, I suck in a deep breath.
“I’m getting too old for this shit.”
“No, you’re not,” Pedro replies. “It’s just hits different when you have someone waiting at home for you.”
When we’re a few yards away, he stops the SUV, and we climb out just as Eladio and Miguel launch the SM-2 missiles from their truck.
I’m letting the two men hang back today.
The explosions send a blast of energy through the air, then all my men move in on the mansion.
Stepping over rubble, my heartbeat is steady until the first cartel soldier points his gun at us from where he’s hiding behind what’s left of the security booth.
I open fire, riddling the structure with bullets before sticking close to Pedro, who’s slightly ahead of me.
Every one of my senses is on high alert, and I’m aware of my men moving across the property as gunfire is exchanged.
We’ve carried out so many attacks we can do this shit blindfolded, but today’s hit is the motherload. If I can get my hands on Javier, it will set the cartel back and give us a few months of peace while they scramble to rebuild.
That’s if someone else takes over. After I killed the leader of the Mendoza cartel, the survivors scattered.
Pedro and I open fire on three men as we near the gaping hole in the side of the mansion where smoke is billowing into the air.
Pedro hits one of the soldiers in his leg, and as he goes down, another bullet slams into his chest.
As I take down the other two, Pedro staggers back. “Fuck.” His breaths turn heavy from the pain of a bullet hitting his vest and I kill the fucker who shot at him.
I move forward, taking the lead while asking, “You okay?”
“Yeah. Keep going.”
“I’m in,” Samuel's voice sounds up via the earpieces we’re all wearing.
“We’re coming in through the hole in the wall,” Pedro replies as we climb over the debris.
“The front door would’ve been so much easier,” Samuel chuckles.
The sound of gunfire increases suddenly, before it dies down completely. Silence falls heavy around us, and my eyes scan over every possible hiding place as we walk through what’s left of the dining room.
As we step into a hallway, Pedro pats my shoulder and indicates we should go left. We creep toward whatever’s at the end of the hallway, hearing sporadic gunfire somewhere in the house.