Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 23329 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 117(@200wpm)___ 93(@250wpm)___ 78(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23329 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 117(@200wpm)___ 93(@250wpm)___ 78(@300wpm)
I reach for it, but he doesn't release it. When I look at him, his brows are furrowed, deep grooves between them.
"I called the sheriff, Aurora."
My eyes widen and I rear back in shock.
"Easy, starlight. Easy," he murmurs. "I know you're leery of trusting anyone right now, but your dad trusts him and so do I. He wasn't involved in what happened to you. Dillon isn't that kind of man."
"How do you know?"
"Because I know the kind of men capable of things like that, and I've met Dillon. He isn't one of them, Aurora. You can trust him."
I hesitate for a long moment and then nod, putting my fate in his hands for the second time in less than twenty-four hours. I hope he's right.
"I need a favor when he gets here, starlight."
"What?"
"It's going to require you to lie." He grimaces apologetically. "I wouldn't ask, but there's no way to hide the fact that the men I killed in that house weren't killed in self-defense. Dillon is bound by the law. He can't let that go without a good reason."
"You need me to give him a reason," I guess.
He nods. "I need you to tell him that you were banging on the window for help when I was driving by. I fucking hate even asking, starlight, but if I go down, they'll try to take Dante and Dimitri with me. I can't allow that to happen. They have families."
"If it were just you, you'd let them send you to prison just to keep me from lying, wouldn't you?" I gape at him, stunned. "Why, Constantine?"
"You shouldn't be in the middle of any of this, Aurora."
"I'm in the middle because they put me in the middle," I cry. "You didn't."
He touches my cheek. "I've never had anything worth protecting before, starlight."
I swallow hard at the look in his eyes. "You do now?" I whisper.
"Only the brightest star in the sky."
"Constantine."
He grins at me, brushing his thumb along my bottom lip. "Call your dad, starlight. I'll go wait for Dillon to give you some privacy."
I stare at him until he walks back inside, my heart in my throat. Or maybe it's in his hands. I'm not sure, but I'm falling in love with him. Is that even possible?
Yes, my heart whispers.
Chapter Seven
Constantine
"The fact that Dante actually let me into the compound this time makes me nervous," Dillon growls, eyeing me sideways as soon as I open the front door for him. "I think I preferred being barred from passing beyond the goddamn gates."
"Yeah, well, the situation changed." I hold the door open for him, allowing him to enter the house.
For someone who claims he's nervous, he strolls in like he's been here a thousand times. To his credit, he doesn't snoop. He glances around with mild interest and then stops a few feet into the living room, not trying to go any deeper into the room.
"Armstrong," Dante says from the far side of the room where he's seated with Dimitri.
"Arakas. Dimitri." Dillon inclines his head in a nod at the two of them before turning back to me. "Where is she?"
"Out back. Give her a minute. She's talking to her dad."
"Good. It'll give you time to explain what the fuck is going on," he growls.
"I was out driving and saw her banging on the window," I lie smoothly. "Figured since you were looking for her, I'd go in and get her."
"Uh-huh," he says, not believing my story for a minute. "And you didn't think to call me first?"
"I was in Copper Creek. Didn't seem like the wait twenty minutes for the cops to show up type of situation."
He glowers at me, one hand on his utility belt. "You ever heard that saying you're so full of shit your eyes are brown?"
"Hazel."
"I've got kids, Attias. I've changed enough diapers to know what comes out the other end looks a whole helluva lot like your eyes," he mutters.
Dante and Dimitri both chuckle.
"Ask her if you don't believe me."
"I'll do that." He glances from me to Dante and Dimitri. "And the fact that he just so happened to be driving by the place where the Carmona Kings—the same cartel who targeted both of your wives—was holding her hostage is just a great, big co-inky-dink, I suppose?"
"Not at all," Dante says. "We've been looking for the motherfuckers. I won't deny that. But for the sake of whatever fucking paperwork you have to do, let's just go with the rest of it and save all of us a lot of time."
"Jesus Christ." Dillon laughs abruptly. "The day the three of you and Bruno leave town, I'm throwing a fucking party."
"You know you'll miss us," Dimitri says. "We've single-handedly resolved your cartel problem."
Dillon narrows his eyes on Dimitri. "I'm still writing fucking reports from the last time you resolved part of my cartel problem."