Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 126485 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 632(@200wpm)___ 506(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126485 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 632(@200wpm)___ 506(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
My lips curled in contempt. I turned on my heel and returned to the deck. Maksim leaned on the rail above my head. “Everything settled?”
“Indeed. Enjoy the Caribbean,” I muttered with a salute. Then, I disembarked the boat, hating how the ground felt under my feet when I returned to land. I wasn’t a fan of boats and yachts, never had been. I liked a steady life that a house or apartment offered.
Seamus caught up with me while I ordered an Uber on my phone. “No luck?”
“She’s determined to use Maksim until she has what she wants. A new sponsor with more money and better contacts.”
“He’ll dump her before that happens. The Doom Loop is full of desperate, very pretty girls.”
“I know, and I believe so does she. She thinks she’s clever, and maybe she is, but definitely not as clever as she thinks.”
“Aislinn will want to talk to her.”
“Probably,” I said. Even if Aislinn trusted me, which she didn’t, she would want to talk to her sister in person once I told her the truth. She believed her sister was a good person. She was wrong. “But I won’t tell her. It won’t make her feel better. It’ll only aggravate her.”
The Uber car pulled up and we got in. The driver scanned us with obvious worry but drove anyway.
“She won’t just forget her sister. She’ll keep looking and fearing the worst, or maybe even suspect you.”
“She asked around. Nobody saw me with Imogen. Why should she suspect me without any leads? She’ll be busy with Finn for a few weeks, and maybe by then, Imogen will be crawling back to New York with her tail between her legs because Maksim found a new cunt.”
Seamus watched me with drawn brows. “At some point, you’ll have to tell her, you know? The truth will come out. It always does.”
“To what outcome?”
“She’ll be heartbroken but uncertainty can be just as bad.”
“You got your calling wrong. You should take Gulliver’s place and appeal to people’s conscience. You’re better at it than he is.”
“He doesn’t care about people’s conscience. He wants them to follow God’s bidding. There’s a difference.”
“You’re grating on my nerves. I won’t tell her, end of story. For now things are good between us.”
Seamus shrugged. “Maybe you’re just worried she’ll run once her search for Imogen doesn’t bind her to New York.”
“Careful,” I warned. “If I wanted my brain dissected, I’d go to a shrink.”
“It’s not your brain I’m talking about.”
I pulled my gun and pressed it against his balls. “All right, Seamus. You’re my best friend, I’ll give you that, and I’ll be very sad if I have to watch you bleed out at my feet, but you should know when to shut your fucking mouth. Maeve will be heartbroken if you lose your dick.”
The driver looked ready to pull the car off the road and run away.
Seamus raised his palms. “I’m just worried, my friend. No need for violence. And it was my mouth that enraged you, not my balls, so please aim at my face.”
“You bastard. I still need your loose mouth for business, not your hairy balls.”
“My voice would be unpleasantly high if you castrate me.”
“Oh shut up.” I shoved my gun back into my holster. I didn’t like to think about the fact that Seamus might be right, that Aislinn would run if she found out her sister didn’t need saving, and I liked even less that it seriously bothered me. Our marriage was still far from my ideal, but I liked Aislinn, her feistiness, her caring side—even if she hadn’t showed it to me yet—and her wanton innocence. If she ran, I’d probably hunt and catch her, but it would turn our marriage into something even less like what I aimed for.
After I’d picked up Aislinn and Finn at the airport, we rode home together. Aislinn never left Finn’s side. She carried Finn up the stairs. Seeing her motherly side made me appreciate her all the more, especially considering how lacking her sister was in that department as I’d witnessed in Miami yesterday.
She finally set Finn down when I’d unlocked the apartment door and gestured them inside. He was a tiny slip of a boy. I had several nephews and nieces, more than I cared to count (I had thirty-two cousins and they all bred like rabbits), and some were his age but definitely taller and sturdier. He didn’t release Aislinn’s hand as she showed him the apartment. I had a feeling she wouldn’t have left his side anyway. The protective vibes she gave off were strong. She was in mother bear mode and ready to bite my head off if I made the wrong move toward the boy.
I carried the three bags with toys into the guest bedroom. Aislinn had bought Spiderman bedlinen to make it more child friendly. When she entered the small room with Finn by her side, he immediately tugged her toward the bed and touched the linen.