Total pages in book: 44
Estimated words: 41558 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 208(@200wpm)___ 166(@250wpm)___ 139(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 41558 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 208(@200wpm)___ 166(@250wpm)___ 139(@300wpm)
I was dimly aware of Paulie’s agonized shout, but all I could see was John, his arm still arcing toward me despite the devastating blow I’d inflicted. I wrenched the knife from his flesh and drove it deep once again, tearing into his black heart. I twisted the blade, shredding any chance of survival.
Paulie howled and barreled into me, shoving me off his brother. His black eyes flashed with the promise of my death, and he raised the gun I’d dropped. I rolled, and the bullet grazed my upper arm as I barely dodged in time. Ignoring the pain, I slashed at Paulie. He screamed when my blade cut into his side, and he twisted away from me. The gun dropped from his hand as he clutched at his bleeding stomach. I snarled and lunged for him, ready to end his miserable life. My sadistic cousins would both be dead, and Allie would be safe. They would pay for what they’d done to her.
Paulie paled and stumbled back, reading his death in my savage glower. He shot one last, devastated glance toward his fallen twin before turning on his heel and running away. I took a step to pursue him; I couldn’t allow him to live. Not after how he’d hurt Allie. She wouldn’t have to live in fear of him for one more minute.
But when I caught sight of her pale face, her fear wasn’t directed at my fleeing cousin. Her freckles stood out starkly on her bloodless cheeks, with no trace of the pretty blush I loved so much. Her glittering eyes were wide, and her lush mouth hung open in horror.
“Allie.” Her name was raspy. Had I been shouting? The fight was a bloody blur in my mind. All I could see was her delicate features, drawn with fear.
But my cousins were gone; the heavy, uneven stomp of Paulie’s boots on the pavement had faded, and John was dead in my kitchen. She didn’t have anything to fear from them now.
My stomach dropped.
Me. She was afraid of me.
I released the knife from my grip, and blood splattered the tiles when it clattered to the floor. Allie cringed back and slapped a hand over her mouth as she gagged. Her wide eyes slid past me, and she moaned when her gaze landed on John’s corpse. His chest was a red, gory mess, and a crimson pool was rapidly spreading around his lifeless body. His dark, cruel eyes stared in her direction, unmoving and sightless.
I took a step toward her, blocking the view with my body. Her horrified gaze snapped to my outstretched, red-painted hands, and she retreated a step.
“Allie…”
She shook her head wildly and took another step toward the broken door.
“You can’t leave,” I growled, struggling to prevent my fists from flexing. I didn’t want to scare her even worse, but I couldn’t allow her to leave my sight. “Paulie might—”
“I can’t…” She gasped for breath, shaking her head. “You can’t…”
She couldn’t seem to find enough air to form any words. But her abject horror was enough to shred me.
“It’s not safe out there.” I forced the warning through gritted teeth. I couldn’t let her leave me.
She stared at the blood on my hands, transfixed by the gore. “I can’t…be here,” she managed. “I can’t do this.”
My heart tore. “I had to protect you.”
She swallowed hard and shook her head again, stepping toward the door. “Don’t follow me.”
I scowled. “You can’t—”
“Please, Max!” she shrieked, threading her fingers through her hair as though she was trying to hold herself together. As though she was crumbling into pieces, just like me. “Let me go.”
“It’s not safe.” The words were barbed wire in my throat.
“I’ll stay with Davis,” she said quickly, desperately. “Please… I can’t do this. I can’t be here for one more second.”
Her eyes darted toward John’s body again, and she shuddered. My hands dropped to my sides, all the fight draining out of me. I watched her flee, her soft sob slamming into my chest more keenly than any knife. Through the broken door, I saw her hail a taxi and jump inside, putting as much distance between us as possible.
Numbly, I turned to face the gory scene in my tiny apartment. Only minutes ago, I’d held Allie in my bed. Now, blood splattered the walls and coated the kitchen tiles, oozing into the rug beneath my couch.
I stared at my dead cousin for a few long seconds before my body began to move on autopilot. I had a job to do: a body to dispose of. That was a familiar task, something I’d done more times than I could remember.
Allie was probably only a few blocks away by now, but we’d never been farther apart. This bloody reality was my life. I’d known that I wasn’t worthy of her, and now she knew it too.