All Chapters of The Billionaire's Contracted Desire : Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

25 Chapters

CHAPTER ELEVEN: SHADOWS

ISLA POVMore car doors slammed outside in the driveway. Then came the sharp sound of weapons being loaded. Several vehicles had arrived.I gripped the black folder so tightly that the edges dug into my palms. Declan looked from the photographs in my hands to the door behind him. A line of sweat ran down the side of his face.“Put it away,” he said. “Right now, Isla.”I didn’t move. “Who were they? Tell me everything.”I yelled the words while standing my ground. He looked at me for a long moment. Something in my voice must have told him I wasn’t going to let this go. He let out a long sigh, turned around, and closed the door to the medical room, shutting out the heavy sound of boots moving through the hallway. The doctor and assistant suddenly focused on cleaning their instruments, but I knew they were listening to every word.Declan faced me again. “This is not a good time.”“It has to be right now,” I shot back, my voice shaking from anger and the dizziness from giving blood. “Vict

CHAPTER TWELVE: ESCAPE

ISLA POVAdrian's grip around my wrist was too tight as he held me close against his chest, using his body to shield mine as gunfire tore through the hallway right outside the medical room."Declan, get the weapons!" Adrian roared over the screaming alarms. "Tonight we burn it all down if we have to!""Boss, we can't!" Declan shouted back, pulling a pistol from under his jacket. "The safe house is surrounded. We have to move now!"The wall exploded and dust filled the air making breathing difficult for me. A storm of bullets tore through the medical cabinets, showering the floor with broken glass. I buried my face in Adrian's shirt, the smell of his fresh blood and gun smoke choking me.Adrian tried to raise his weapon, but the movement made him gasp as his body shuddered, and dark blood poured from under his bandages, soaking his trousers and dripping onto my shoes. He was tearing his stitches apart just by standing there."Adrian, stop!" I screamed, grabbing his tactical vest. "Yo

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: CROSSFIRE

ISLA POVVictor pulled the trigger.The bullet punched straight through the armored windshield, missing Kol and Declan by inches. The glass cracked and tiny shards stung my cheeks.“Duck!” Declan screamed as more shots were being fired at our vehicle.He bent down, opened the console and grabbed something that looked like a flask with a pin. He opened the door and pulled the pin on it with his teeth and rolled it out under the door towards Victor's trucks.One second.Two.BOOM.The explosion was blinding. A flashing white flash lit up the entire road. I screamed and covered my ears as the shockwave rocked the SUV. Victor’s men shouted in pain, stumbling with their hands over their faces.“Now!” Declan yelled.Kol slammed the SUV into reverse and floored it. The vehicle shot backward down the narrow forest road at high speed. He kept one arm hooked over the headrest and looks out the window as he speed off.A few wild gunshots hit the front of the car, but they were shooting blindly

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: RUINS

ISLA POVThe cabin appeared out of the darkness, sagging and forgotten, carrying the heavy stench of mold, damp wood, and decay.There were planks nailed over the windows and one side of the porch had completely collapsed. Kol had called it "off the grid." He should have just said abandoned."Inside. Now," Kol ordered, dragging Adrian toward the broken steps. "Declan, sweep the back."I took Adrian's other arm. His heavy boots scraped through the thick mud and dead leaves. His head hung completely forward, his chin pressed against his chest. Every single breath he took sounded wet, shallow, and full of pain.The wooden front door wasn't locked. It barely closed at all.We laid his massive frame onto a dirty cot in the corner. The mattress reeked of mold and rot that was important I immediately pressed both hands against his waist. The gauze was completely useless now and my palms were instantly slick with his blood."Declan, find something for bandages," Kol yelled, checking his weap

CHAPTER FIFTEEN: THE EDGE

ADRIAN POVThe gun felt too heavy in my hand. I tried to stand keeping my back pressed against the burning wall and with shaky hands I aimed at the shattered doorway.The blood from my side hand slowed to a wet trickle not because the wound was closing but there just wasn't enough left inside me to bleed.Smoke burned my lungs with every breath I took and the wooden roof crackled overhead embers drifted down through the haze, landing on my arms and my chest but I had gone numb so I didn't feel them burn.Twenty minutes, I told Isla.It had been twenty-five already And nobody was coming.I heard footsteps out and voices shouting orders out in the dark as they rushed to the porch.I pulled the trigger.BANG.A man screamed and a body hit the floor with a heavy thud.BANG. BANG.I fired too more shots and two more went down. I heard one of them gurgle, choking on his own blood.BANG.A fourth shot. A fourth body.Then the slide locked back with a sharp, empty click.I reached for anothe

CHAPTER SIXTEEN: THE LIVING

CHAPTER SIXTEEN: THE LIVINGISLA POVThe interior of the black sedan smelled like leather and expensive peppermint. A jarring contrast to the smoke and rot of the cabin we had just fled.Beside me, Kol and Declan sat rigid, their weapons still raised, barrels pressed against the back of the driver's headrest."Lower the guns," Elena Voss said calmly, her eyes meeting theirs in the rearview mirror. "If I wanted you dead, I would have left you for Victor's clean-up crew.""Shut up and pull over," Kol snarled, his finger tightening on the trigger. "You're dead, Elena. I personally helped scrub your apartment after the coroner bagged you.""Adrian paid that coroner a million dollars to fake the crime scene photos, Kol." Elena said. "I was on a private flight out of the country before the ice in that bathtub even melted.""That's a lie." Declan's voice trembled with fury. "Adrian wouldn't hide that from us. We run his entire security network. If this was a setup, we would have known.""You

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: THE ARRIVAL

ISLA POVElena turned off the headlights and the sedan was plugged into darkness.The only illumination left was the dim glow of the dashboard. "What are you doing?" I whispered, my knuckles white against the armrest."Losing them," Elena said in a low voice. Her eyes flicked between the unlit road ahead and the rearview mirror. "There's a scout car behind us about two miles back, it's been tracking us since we hit the highway."I twisted around to look outside but I couldn't see anything,everything was total darkness."Are you sure?" Kol ask holding his gun tighter"Positive." Elena took a sharp turn into an unmarked dirt road. The sedan bounced violently "They're keeping their distance for now probably just watching. Waiting for us to lead them to the main safe house."Declan cursed under his breath. "So we can't go there.""We don't have a choice Adrian is being transported there right now. If we don't show up, Kai will be worried" Elena said."So what's the plan?" I asked but she

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: THE WEIGHT OF MORNING

ISLA POV The sunlight grew brighter as it stretched across the concrete floor in thin lines of light I didn't move from my spot, my forehead stayed pressed against Adrian's knuckles my hands still wrapped around his cold fingers. I must have dozed off because the next thing I knew someone was gently shaking my shoulder "Isla." Elena's voice was soft beside me. "You need to eat." I lifted my head and my neck screamed in protest. My eyes felt swollen and gritty. "I'm not hungry." "That wasn't a question." She crouched down next to me and held out a chipped ceramic mug. "It's just coffee. Black. Don't worry I didn't poison it." I almost laughed…. Almost. I took the mug the warmth seeped into my palms I didn't drink it just held it close and let the steam hit my face Kai was across the room packing away his instrum

CHAPTER NINETEEN: THE SUMMIT

ISLA POVThe warehouse went completely still, Declan's phone screen glowed in the dark showing the message over and over Victors name at the bottom the summit time tomorrow noon."Let me see that." I grabbed the phone from his handThe text was short ‘Emergency summit called… High Board room noon tomorrow following Adrian Vale death…succession contract to be presented by Victor Reyes,,all territory heads required to attend.’My hands shook reading it"He's not dead," I said"Obviously." Elena stood up from the pillar, her face hard in the lamplight. "Victor doesn't need him to be dead, he just needs the Board to believe it."Kai was already on his feet packing "How many people on this Board?""Seven," Elena said, "including Victor now. He's been stacking it with his loyalists for years."Declan ran a hand through his hair pacing "If he gets that contract approved he controls everything the ports the money the territory. We'd be hunted like dogs.""And Adrian?" I looked at the cot wher

CHAPTER TWENTY: THE LONGEST HOURS

ISLA POVAdrien's hand went limp after he woke and I sat there for a long moment just staring at his face waiting for him to say something else to open his eyes again to do anything but he didn't. His eyes stayed closed and his breathing was shallow and Kai was already moving toward us with that careful look on his face that I was starting to hate."What?" I finally snapped when I couldn't take it anymore."His temperature is rising." Kai pressed the back of his hand to Adrien's forehead and his expression tightened. "The wounds are clean but his body is fighting something. Blood loss, maybe. Or it could be an Infection starting."My stomach dropped. "Can you give him something?""I already did." Kai's voice was quiet. "It's not working fast enough."I looked at Adrien's face. He was Pale,Too pale. His lips had lost what little color they had and He looked worse than when they dragged him out of that SUV."He was awake," I said, and my voice came out smaller than I wanted. "He talke

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