Total pages in book: 31
Estimated words: 28523 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 143(@200wpm)___ 114(@250wpm)___ 95(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 28523 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 143(@200wpm)___ 114(@250wpm)___ 95(@300wpm)
“Have things with Baros escalated?”
“Baros is dead.”
I froze, right there in the middle of the sidewalk, forcing people to go around me, but I didn’t even notice.
“Please tell me you had nothing to do with that,” I growled in a low voice.
“Of course not. Though I can’t say it never crossed my mind.”
I certainly had no cause to reprimand him for that since I’d had the same thought many times.
“What happened?”
“There was an earthquake about four miles from here.” Cano sighed, sounding exhausted.
“Son of a bitch,” I breathed. “How bad?”
“It was a 6.9. We have some minimal issues here, but it severely damaged the city. Our biggest problem is that it busted water pipes and cracked the foundation of the headquarters. A dead tree on Baros’s property broke off its roots and fell on his roof. They dug his body out of his bedroom about twenty minutes ago. Three of his staff are dead as well, one broken leg and some broken ribs among the others. One of our construction crew fell when the concrete cracked, but he just sprained his ankle. As far as I’ve been able to tell, we haven’t had any other injuries or fatalities.”
“Shit. I’ll be on my way as soon as the jet is ready.”
“You don’t have to—”
“Fuck that, Cano,” I growled. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
I’d spent six months in that area when we began construction on the headquarters. There were many villagers I still kept in touch with, and I needed to see for myself that everyone was all right and help deal with the aftermath.
Spinning on my heel, I dialed the number for my chauffeur and walked back toward the coffee shop. Then I sent a text to my pilot and told her to get the jet ready.
As I strolled up to the glass door, it opened, and Faith and Grace exited the shop.
“Faith.” Their heads swiveled in my direction, but I only had eyes for my girl. “I need to speak with you for a moment.”
“Um…” She looked bewildered, so I just grabbed her wrist and led her a few feet away. We moved up against the building so we didn‘t block the pedestrian traffic.
“I have to leave town unexpectedly.”
“Why—um, okay.”
The corners of my mouth tipped up at her quick backpedal. She hadn’t yet grasped that nothing about my life was a secret to her. But I didn’t have time to get into that.
“There’s a problem with one of my foundations that I need to address myself. I didn’t want you to think I wasn’t showing up for coffee for any other reason than the truth. And to know that I will miss seeing you every day.”
Her mouth formed an O, and her blue eyes lit with delight. “Me, too.”
“I wish like fuck I could kiss you goodbye,” I told her after drawing in a ragged breath. “But I know that once I start, I won’t be able to stop.”
Stunned, she stared at me, and I gave in to a smaller temptation, brushing a kiss over the pretty blush on the apple of her cheek.
“Be good. Don’t let any little shits put their hands on you, and I’ll see you on your birthday.”
Her breathing became choppy, and her tits bounced enticingly, making my cock ache to be inside her. The time away would be even more hell than the past ten months because I would be so fucking far away from her.
“Okay,” she whispered.
“If you need anything, Grace gave you my number, right?”
Faith nodded, still seeming a little dazed.
“Things are going to change between us when I get home, blue eyes,” I warned her. “So prepare yourself.”
“Change? How?”
“I don’t have time to explain, baby.” A sleek black car pulled up to the curb and honked. “Fuck, I have to go.” I kissed her cheek one more time, then took a step back, but before I could stop myself, I leaned in and put my lips to her ear. “Don’t even think about going to the doctor for birth control, Faith. I’m going to claim you, your tight little virgin pussy, and your fertile womb the day you turn eighteen.”
When I pulled back, she was leaning against the wall as if her legs couldn’t hold her up. Her expression was a mixture of shock and raging desire. I was torturing myself, so I patted her sexy ass, then spun around and dashed to the car.
6
Rush
When the plane landed on the small airstrip we’d built just outside of town, I turned on my phone to call Cano and let him know I’d arrived, but I had no signal.
The door to the cockpit opened, and the copilot—who happened to be the pilot’s husband, Dean—stepped out, frowning. “You need to rethink your employees here,” he grumbled. “The runway was so covered in debris, we almost turned around. Would have if we weren’t low on fuel.”