Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 127941 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 640(@200wpm)___ 512(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127941 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 640(@200wpm)___ 512(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
My chest swells with happiness. Not a word is said between us but there are none needed. He reads me just as well as I read him, and while sometimes that can come up and bite me in the ass in the worst kind of way, right now, it’s nothing short of perfect.
“Come here,” Carver says, raising our joined hands out of the water and hooking them over my head. He pulls me in and I fall into the small space between the boys, keeping them both as close as possible, knowing that at any point in this world, this happiness could all be taken away from me.
CHAPTER 32
“Miss Ravenwood,” Earnest Brooks says through the phone, dragging me away from Cruz’s bedside and making him groan. After all, I was just two seconds away from giving him a complete rub-down. “A full council meeting has been called.”
“Called?” I question, stepping out into the hallway to find King standing in Carver’s doorway with his phone in his hand, looking just as confused as I feel. “Called by who?”
“That’s the thing,” Earnest continues. “The meeting was requested by an anonymous caller whom we are still struggling to track. I need your instruction on how you would like to proceed.”
Carver steps out into the hallway with us, staring intently as if he could hear what Earnest has to say just by looking at me. As I meet his heavy stare, he shakes his head. “Absolutely not. What if this is Paris attempting to make a move and take out the whole council in one swoop? It’s too dangerous.”
“But what if it’s not?” I argue. “What if this is something detrimental to Dynasty’s well-being? Am I just supposed to shrug off every little thing that comes our way because we’re paranoid as fuck that Paris is trying to make a move? At what point am I allowed to do my job?”
“When she’s in a fucking shallow grave,” King mutters.
I let out a sigh. “Give me a moment,” I say, pressing the phone against my chest and looking back at the boys. “What are my options?”
Carver runs a hand over his face, giving it thought as King straightens from his perch against the doorframe. “Tell him no. It’s as simple as that.”
I shake my head. “Not an option,” I say, looking to Carver, knowing that his suggestions probably won’t be any better.
He presses his lips into a tight line, looking deeper in thought than I’ve ever seen him. He curses before letting out a defeated sigh. “Okay, here’s what we’re going to do,” he starts. “At the very last moment, we will reschedule the meeting to be held here in the formal dining room where both Cruz and Gray can be present. That way if Paris has got something planned for the council chambers, she will be scrambling. Everyone must enter through the front door and will all be checked for explosives, guns, weapons … that kind of stuff. Give me an hour to check over the security system and call in backup for an emergency.”
My brows furrow. “Do we really need to go to those extremes?”
“Do you want to live to see tomorrow?” he throws back at me.
I let out a sigh and bring the phone back to my ear, knowing that in order to hold a meeting today, I have no choice but to follow Carver’s plan. “Alright, Earnest,” I say, not looking away from Carver’s intense stare. “Schedule the meeting for the council chambers in an hour. I want security in place and in the meantime, continue looking into the caller. I want to know who this anonymous caller is before they step foot into my council chambers.”
“Yes, Miss Ravenwood,” Earnest says before promptly ending the call.
My hand falls from my ears and I meet the boys’ hard stares. “Okay,” I mutter, feeling the nerves slowly begin to seep through my chest, knowing that I could very well be setting us up to fail. “Let’s do this.”
The boys nod and just like that, they disappear down the hall. Cruz dashes out of his room, his injuries long forgotten as Grayson flies past me, making sure to spank my ass as he goes. Not one of them waste a single second telling me how I can help and feeling as useless as a chick in a gay porn movie, I slink back to my room and get ready, making sure I look like the kind of bitch who shouldn’t be fucked with.
Ten minutes out from the meeting, I put in the call to relocate today’s adventure to my formal dining room and make my way down there, wanting to be the first in the room.
I sit down at the head of the table, drumming my fingers against the hardwood as the nerves pulse through my body. I hope Carver was just overreacting about this. Don’t get me wrong, an anonymous caller making a council meeting is about as shady as it gets, but after the bullshit yesterday and Paris’ attack in my bedroom last week, I’m not down for any more surprises—especially considering that I haven’t heard anything from Earnest about this anonymous caller’s identity.