Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 135958 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 680(@200wpm)___ 544(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135958 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 680(@200wpm)___ 544(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
“I don’t know, to be honest. I mean, I hate you.”
“Of course.” His tone was dry.
“I tried to stab you.”
“It was a good try.” Wry this time.
“I thought you killed that guy.”
“As is typical when relationships are starting.”
My mouth twitched at that. “You kidnapped a bunch of my friends.”
“I kidnapped you.”
“Oh yes. Good point.”
“That’s what I’m here for.”
I settled into the bed, the warm baritone of his voice washing over me.
I yawned. “I saw you shoot a woman.”
“Foreplay.”
I laughed. “You baited me into running away from you to see if Blade would let any information slip.”
“Which I hated doing, by the way. I didn’t like thinking of you being cold.”
“Aw, thank you for that.”
“I care. Sometimes.” A pause. “Don’t get used to it.”
I laughed again. “You burned a house down because you cared.”
“I more had it explode than burned it down, but yes.” He chuckled softly. “And thank God these phones are encrypted.”
My mouth snapped shut. I’d forgotten. “Oh, shit. I’m sorry.”
“You’re fine. We use them for a reason.”
Right. Because he’s in the mafia.
I screwed my eyes tight, rubbing my forehead and feeling a pressure there. I’d been enjoying myself, but one reminder about our true reality, and everything came rushing back.
He was mafia, and not just any mafia. He was the mafia. Other mafia feared him. And he was gone, probably doing mafia stuff. Which was why I didn’t ask where he was.
“What are you going to do about my dad?” I asked. Everything had changed from our conversation on that boulder.
“I’m going to kill him.”
The pressure moved to my neck, spreading down my shoulder blades.
“Because of me?”
“Because he got a man inside my team. That doesn’t work for me.” He bit out, “Ever.”
“Why do you tell me these things?”
“You asked,” he said. And after a moment added, “I only share what’s pertinent to you, and what I feel you will hold in trust. I don’t tell you the secrets I know will violate your moral compass.” He dropped his voice low. “I wouldn’t do that to you.”
But there it was. The issue with us. I was on one side, he on the other.
My throat stung.
“What are you going to do with your sister and her boyfriend?”
“What I told you before.”
He was going to use him. “Brooke too?”
He was quiet a moment. “I love my sister. I’ll take care of her, like I always have.”
“And what if she wants something different?” The sting in my throat morphed into a different pain, which ran all the way to my fingers. “What if she wants to be free one day?”
“Then…” His voice was soft. He had to know what I was really asking. “I would let her go.”
I exhaled sharply. All the molecules in my body relaxed, all at the same time.
I opened my eyes, a tear sliding to my cheek. It was a good tear.
“Okay,” I rasped.
“Okay.”
I could still hear an alarm going off outside my room. “Brooke will be okay?”
“She’ll be fine. She’s not stupid.” A beat. “That stupid.”
I laughed softly. “Okay.”
“Okay.” He mocked me softly, but I could hear his grin through the phone. “I have to go, but I’ll be back soon.”
That felt good. It shouldn’t have, but it did.
I smiled into the phone, slinking back down into the bed. I tried not to say it, but who was I kidding?
“Hurry.”
CHAPTER FORTY
“…leave her alone until she wakes up.”
“I know. I’m just saying, I should check on her.”
“Kai said to leave her alone!”
The other voice sighed. “That’s what I just said. I’m going to check on her—”
“Kai said—”
“I don’t care what my brother said!”
The conversation was taking place outside my door, and though it’d been a soft lull at first, now Brooke was almost yelling at whoever she was talking with in the hallway.
“Eric—”
Eric. Ah. The security guard she enjoyed flirting with, even though Levi was her heaven on earth.
“They’re idiots.”
I looked over to the window, not alarmed but comforted instead. Kai stood there, his hands in his pockets. He’d been turned to look outside. Hearing them start to bicker again, he raked a hand over his face.
“I apologize for both of them,” he said. “If I could fire Brooke, I would.”
“You’re here.”
A brief nod. “They don’t know I’m in here, though. They think you’re sleeping, and they have strict instructions to leave you alone until I arrive.”
“You snuck in?”
It was early in the morning, early enough that it was still dark. The slight coloring on his cheeks indicated he’d just gotten in himself.
“I snuck in. Brooke called Eric into her room down the hallway for a second.”
“Would you fire Eric?” I pushed myself to a sitting position, scooting back to rest against the headboard.
He came over, keeping his voice quiet as he stood next to me. He reached idly for my hand, caressing my fingers. “Eric was purposefully assigned to Brooke. They dated when they were younger. If anyone will watch over her, Eric will.”