Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 119942 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 600(@200wpm)___ 480(@250wpm)___ 400(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119942 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 600(@200wpm)___ 480(@250wpm)___ 400(@300wpm)
A paling Silas nodded and, after one last look at Harper, quickly scampered.
Devon stepped into the room with Raini. “That was really all a test?” Her face suddenly scrunched up and she hissed at Tanner, looking ready to pounce.
Pure male amusement took over the sentinel’s face. “What’s wrong, kitty?” Yeah, hellhounds and hellcats had an instinctive aversion to the other.
“Tanner, follow him,” ordered Knox. “I want to know who sent him.” The sentinel swiftly left and, taking a deep breath, Knox held out his hand to Harper. “Come.” He needed to get out of there, and he needed her with him to keep him calm. Levi should have arrived in the Bentley by now, considering the expertise of his driving skills.
“I’m at work,” she pointed out.
“But she can totally leave early.” Raini was such a bitch. “I’m Raini, by the way. That’s Devon.”
Knox gave them a simple nod of greeting before gripping Harper by the wrist. “Let’s go.”
Harper was impressed by how easily Knox shrugged off Raini’s succubae allure. Tanner, too, seemed to have withstood it very well. As Knox hauled her outside where Levi waited and practically shoved her into the Bentley, she cursed. “You might find this surprising, but I don’t like being dragged around.” He didn’t respond. “Where are we going?”
“My home.”
His ‘home’ turned out to be a goddamn mansion. Holy fuck.
They had barely reached the door when it opened wide, revealing a tall, elegant demon who nodded respectfully at Knox. “Evening, Mr. Thorne.”
“Dan, this is Harper Wallis, my anchor.”
Dan presented her with a polite smile. “I’m happy to meet you, Miss Wallis.”
Unaccustomed to gentility, Harper merely responded, “Um, you too.” No sooner had Dan taken her jacket in the marble foyer than Knox urged her into a high-ceiling living area that was like something out of a magazine. With its mahogany walls and light pine flooring, it might have looked plain if it wasn’t for the blue-tinted windows, the incredible paintings, the ocean blue Persian rug, and the spotlights in the ceiling and on the walls.
At Knox’s gesture, Harper gingerly sat on one of the two beige half-moon sofas that circled a pine coffee table, feeling completely out of place and unable to relax.
A few moments later, a small Hispanic woman appeared. “Mr. Thorne, dinner won’t be ready for another hour. Can I get you and your guest anything?”
“Meg, this is Harper Wallis, my anchor. Harper, this is Meg – the best cook you’ll ever have the pleasure of knowing.”
Flushing, Meg smiled at Harper. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. Is there anything I can get for you?”
“I’m good, thanks.”
“We’re both fine for now, Meg.” With a respectful nod, the woman scurried away. When Knox saw Harper open her mouth – most likely to castigate him for not asking in advance what she’d like to eat – he said the one thing guaranteed to distract her. “I had a visit from Carla today.”
She blinked. “Really?”
“She wanted to know if there was any truth in the rumors that you’re my anchor. I confirmed that you are.”
“Did she cry?”
Her expression was so hopeful, he had to smile. “No.”
“Damn,” she muttered. Knox moved to a little bar behind them that she hadn’t even noticed until then.
“Drink?” She shook her head, so Knox simply prepared himself a small glass of gin and tonic. “What did your family tell you about her over the years?”
“Not much, actually. Just that I should never think there was anything wrong with me simply because my mother dumped me; that some people are just too selfish to care about anyone but themselves.”
“She claims she tried to see you over the years, that Jolene and Lucian kept her away.”
Harper snorted. “They probably would have kept her away if she’d tried. But I’m pretty sure she didn’t.” Knox’s expression was inscrutable, but she suspected, “You believe her.”
Knox lounged on the sofa, directly opposite her. “What I believe is that it’s important for you to have the facts about your life.”
“The fact is that the woman doesn’t, and never has, wanted me.”
“She asked me to tell you that she’s always loved you, thought of you often.”
“I’ll bet she did.” Carla was, according to Jolene, as cunning as they came. “She’s taking preemptive steps, worried I’ll switch to your lair and request for her to be cast out.”
Knox did want Harper to join his lair, but they’d get to that at a later point. He had to do things one step at a time with Harper or she’d withdraw from him rather than accept his place in her life. “You’re very sure she doesn’t care for you?”
“Since moving to Vegas, I saw her a couple of times. She dismissed me with a haughty look. So, yes, I’m very sure.”
That had anger bubbling inside of him. “Knowing that makes me want to cast her out.”