AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Alaric smirks at my admission. “We’ve noticed.”
“I guess I understand now why he hasn’t answered his phone. I must have sent fifty texts to him.” I cringe and start twisting the cuffs covering my hands.
Ryth tugs lightly on my hair. “Out with it. What else is bothering you?”
“The video.”
“Yeah, you might want to delete that.”
Alaric retrieves my phone from the nightstand and places it in my hands.
“Here’s the thing. It’s not on this phone. This is a backup burner. Besides, that’s not what has me worried. I sent the video to Wolfe. Ya know, as a backup in case you caught me and forced me to delete the evidence.”
“Smart girl,” Ryth says but doesn’t look happy.
“Yes and no. If he’s lost his phone, who has it? Because in case you didn’t know my brother isn’t known for putting locks on his tech. Anyone who picked it up has access to the phone.”
All three men look at me and I can see them mentally connecting the dots. Alaric speaks first while the other men grab clothes and weapons.
“We will have to assume the wrong people have access to that material.”
Blood drains from my face and my fingers start to tremble. What have I done? “I am so sorry. I’ve messed up royally.”
I’m so gutted and thrown off balance by my stupid actions I don’t realize it’s not me moving, but the building until one of them yells, “Explosion!”
Glass shatters and the next thirty minutes of my life turn to chaos.
“What’s going on?” Ryth wraps his body around me, and Alaric does the same from the opposite side. I can’t see much past the shield of muscle smothering me, but I can tell the light hanging over top of us is about to fall. It sways back and forth violently. Plaster falls. It feels like it’s going on forever and then everything suddenly grows quiet.
And then everyone is moving in fast forward.
CHAPTER 9
NYX
“Get her the fuck out of the building!”
I lick my suddenly dry lips. “What just happened? What’s going on?”
“Revenge, most likely.”
I’m moved to Marco and he’s shoving my skirt into my hands. I rush through getting dressed while they do the same. Plumes of smoke rise into the morning sky and we all pause looking at each other.
This is bad. Very bad.
“The Finelys?” I piece together as I shove my feet into my Kicks. I don’t know where my bra is so I leave it off and button up Ryth’s shirt. Going commando is the least of my problems right now. I tackle the sleeves next as I’m shuffled past the elevator and down twenty flights of stairs. People running for their lives flood into the stairwell alongside us.
Women with children. Men worried about their families. All in different states of disarray. Some are even wrapped in their towels with soap dripping out of their hair.
This is all my fault. I wanted to be the nosy sister. The heroine of the story and now I am no better than a villain. Floor after floor pass. Smoke funnels up the stairwell and it’s getting harder and harder to breathe.
“My baby. Someone open the door. I have to get to my baby!”
The frantic cries of a woman banging on a closed metal door whirl me around. We’ve come to the third floor and this close to the flames, the heat is nearly unbearable. I turn to Ryth and he backtracks up the stairs at my silent plea.
“Stand back!” He shoulders the door but it’s not budging and then I realize why.
“Look! The floor. It’s buckling.”
